Capita’s library division announces it is to support the UK’s first fully integrated university and public library.

The Hive project, a library and history centre bringing together Worcestershire County Council and the University of Worcester, has selected Capita’s library management system (LMS) to manage a range of library services. This will benefit over half a million citizens and over 9,000 students who will have access to more varied and numerous resources than ever before, including books and journals as well as local historic collections.

The LMS will allow the project to provide improved library facilities for users, with intuitive services such as a fully integrated catalogue and extensive self service features including payment of charges via kiosks. The single catalogue will allow citizens and students to join the service online, request items online and receive notifications via email and potentially SMS.

It will also enable efficiency savings to be realised by automating some of the back office processes such as managing interloan requests or enabling individuals to join the library.