The Chelmsford Library will be changing to a new catalog on May 31st, along with the rest of the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium. The new catalog, called Evergreen, will still contain all the books, movies, music, and other items in the libraries of the Merrimack Valley, but will also include new features and conveniences.

Although the launch isn’t until Memorial Day weekend, we’ll be posting information about the new catalog – including answers to common questions – at https://www.chelmsfordlibrary.org/newcatalog

Some common questions so far are:

• Why change – can’t we keep the old catalog?
• Will Service be Disrupted?
• What happens to all my holds and requests?
• Why did you spend money on a new catalog during these tough economic times?
• Evergreen is “open source” – what does that mean?

Please check out the answers, and if you have any questions at all, please contact Brian Herzog, Head of Reference, at bherzog@mvlc.org or 978-256-5521 x211.

Although development on the new catalog is still progressing, a demo version – for testing purposes only! – is available. Give it a try, and let us know what you think.

This is a major change for us – we’ve had our existing catalog for over 10 years. The new catalog is designed to continually upgraded and improved, so we expect more new features to be added after the launch, too!