Camden Council joins SELMS consortium to maintain and improve library services

North London libraries to benefit from Civica consortiums unique know-how and shared IT functionality for library management

16th February 2012, London: Camden Council in North London has joined the South East Library Management (SELMS) consortium, in order to support and enhance front line services. Serving over five million people across the South East of England, the 11 member SELMS consortium benefits from a centrally managed service provided by Civica, a market leader in specialist systems and business process services that help organisations to transform the way they work. Camden, which hosts over 2.2 million visits by the public every year, joined SELMS to share resources and expertise with other library authorities, underpinned by Civicas Spydus library management systems. This move is part of Camdens continuing drive to enhance its front line services, achieve wider and cross-boundary collaborative working and streamlined administrative processes. SELMS was formed by six authorities in 2006, as a forward-thinking partnership with Civica to optimise resources and support for continual improvement of library services. Through SELMS pioneering model and shared approach to working and resources, members operate under a common procurement framework, based on a common hosted systems platform. This enables all of the consortium members to develop new best practices, enhancing the services available to staff and the public while maintaining their local character. SELMS requested the system to be developed to allow interoperability of all authorities cards to enable greater flexibility. This innovative consortium functionality of the customer cards enables users to transfer between different authorities and have greater access to services. Civicas Spydus software is provided as a managed service to its members and improves their library management systems (LMS) functionality and ability to share resources and lending arrangements between all participants. Spydus integrated and automated system can include web-based and mobile solutions. These can accommodate the growing traditional book and e-lending workload and optimise resources across all of the member libraries. This includes staff training, purchasing power, developments and available stock management. Diane Chilmaid, SELMS chair and Business Support Manager for Kent County Councils Library and Archives Service, commented: Camden will be able to drive service enhancements using SELMS members expert know-how and the consortiums common processes and system resources that have been developed and refined over a number of years. Simon Parkes, director, libraries and learning, Civica, commented: With libraries facing unprecedented change and pressures under the coalition, we are proud to be a part of SELMS ongoing development and drive for innovation. We are delighted that its scope continues to grow with library services, such as Camden, which are at the heart of their community. The consortium functionality allows all 11 members to

operate across all boundaries in order to deliver greater services and resources to its end-users.
Notes to editors SELMS members are Brighton and Hove City Council, Buckinghamshire County Council, Kent County Council, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Medway Council, Milton Keynes Council, The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, Slough Borough Council, West Berkshire Council, Hertfordshire County Council and the London Borough of Camden Camden Councils library visits data is available at: http://tinyurl.com/8693fwf
About Civica Group Ltd Civica (www.civica.co.uk) is a market leader in specialist systems and business process services that help organisations around the world to transform the way they work. Through experienced people who understand service delivery, the Group applies software, managed services and outsourcing to help customers streamline their activities. Civica supplies more than 2,000 organisations in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the USA, helping our customers to achieve a successful and more cost-efficient way of working.

Press contacts: Mark Walker/Lucy Houghton/Paul Crouch/Kris Towse Chameleon PR: Tel: 0207 680 5500 civica@chameleonpr.com