Faith-based organisations like the Evangelical Alliance rely on their library collections to support mission, study, and community life – making it essential to have a system that is both affordable and easy to use. Based in London, they manage a specialised faith library collection supporting their community and mission. After facing unexpected cost hikes and poor customer support from their long-standing library software provider, they sought a more flexible, cost-effective, and supportive solution.
Kim Walker had relied on the same system for seven years when the supplier suddenly imposed a significant price hike.
Escalating costs: “The price increase was not justified – the old system was becoming too complicated and inflexible.”
Lack of support: Even simple tech queries were difficult to resolve, with poor responsiveness from the supplier.
System fatigue: The existing software no longer met the needs of a growing and evolving library service.
At a CILIP LMS showcase event, Kim discovered Simple Little Library System.
Risk-free trial: “I was very excited about the opportunity to have a 30-day free trial without any obligations.”
Scalable and modular: SLLS allowed the library to start small and expand the system as needed.
Responsive support: “I could speak to a named person in the SLLS Client Support Team and my queries were dealt with quickly.”
Kim also made use of the onboarding resources, webinars, and proactive support team to tailor the system to her faith-based library’s needs.
"Simple Little Library System could do everything my old system did - and possibly a little bit more - or a much lower price. I was able to trial it freely, get real support, and expand it as needed. It’s intuitive, flexible, and the customer service has been brilliant from day one"
The impact of switching to SLLS was immediate and measurable:
Better value for money: “SLLS was very good value—it could do everything my previous system could do (and possibly a little bit more) for a much lower price.”
Seamless transition: During the migration, including data conversion, Kim was kept informed at every stage.
Ease of use: Colleagues now find the system intuitive and can retrieve information independently.
Improved archiving: Customisable lists enable the team to respond quickly to archive-related enquiries.
“Everyone was keen to help me find what I really needed and what would work well for me.”
"Great customer support"
She didn’t think that the price increase was justified as the old system was becoming too complicated and inflexible. In addition, Kim found that it was very difficult to get hold of anyone in support to have even the simplest questions answered.
Kim decided to trial Simple Little Library System, which she was made aware of at a CILIP LMS showcase event. She was very excited about the opportunity to have a 30-day free trial without any obligations. Kim was able to add to the system, play around with it and see how it would work for her requirements without any commitments.
Simple Little Library System suited Kim’s current library collection situation perfectly. She could buy additional modules as and when she needed them, which meant that when her library collection grew the library system could easily expand with it.
Kim had a brief introduction at the start of her trial and attended webinars. She could speak to a named person in Support and her queries were dealt with quickly. She found that everyone was keen to help her find what she really needed and what would work well for her.
Throughout her free trial and the process of switching over to Simple Little Library System, which included a data conversion, Kim was kept up to date with what was happening and who was dealing with it.
Her colleagues find it easy to use and they can now look up information by themselves. For the archiving side of things, she can produce customised lists easily which is very helpful for the enquiries she receives.
17/01/2018
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