July Door Count - 25,057
August Door Count - 24,289
New Board Report Format - Now Accessible!
For September’s Board meeting, we have begun using our new in-house developed system, which you’ve likely noticed. The change, though not necessarily this format, was required by the adoption of WCAG 2.0 recommendations and federal ADA laws covering website and digital accessibility regulations. We chose to create an HTML version of our Board reports for a variety of reasons. Primarily, we went with this option because we had a web developer available and, given the state of the mandate, which is currently on hold with no real direction from authorities, other options would have been only a partial fix and a bigger departure from our current methods.
Our meetings will be built using a form builder by entering the basic content of what we want to convey to the board with the ability to use lists and tables, inject images and documents, with the server and custom code arranging content so the webpage is easier for screen readers to navigate, with titles, headers, lists, and images properly tagged and noted, allowing equal access for anyone struggling to read and providing a consistent package for the Trustees and the public.
This will be the first use of the new system and we will make every attempt to submit a good product but we also fully expect to continue to enhance this setup as we more forward and by the time the mandate date rolls around, with lawful penalties, we will have a great, clear and accessible product.
Connectivity
Updating and keeping abreast of newer more secure technologies is important for us. As Brendon has done for much of the website over the last few years we also apply the theory to the networks and internet connections. We update our servers and computers as often as feasible to allow the newest security patches to be applied, and firewalls, routers, and switches are constantly assessed, updated when possible, and replaced if their usefulness or security status is out of date.
We currently have about 10 main switches, routing traffic to our computers and devices, 4 firewall/routers inspecting and routing traffic in and out to the internet, and about a dozen devices between servers and utility devices that deliver the content, applications, and data to our staff and patrons every day. The library is fairly “connected” and will likely only grow with time. On our radar is a new cloud phone system and security door updates which will move some of those network applications out of the building and in-turn make us more reliant on those network devices.
Hotspots
We have acquired 3 more hotspots to add to our dwindling set of lending hotspots. Over the years our stock has broken or neglected to be returned and we were discussing whether to discontinue the service. The three that remain were seemingly always out, so it was a difficult decision that we were waffling on. TThen, out of the blue (through a trade show or cold call), Mission Telecom offered discounted hotspots at a very low monthly cost, so we decided to refill our jar of enthusiasm for the service and see how many more people might need this critical service.
Wondering how they could deliver this service at such a discounted rate had us all a bit wary, but the contract was solid, and our interactions with the representatives gave us no reason for concern. We found out during our onboarding call that this company had purchased portions of the 5G spectrum years ago, before it was commonly used for phones, and leveraged that position to obtain deep discounts on service by leasing frequencies to T-Mobile. They then turned that into a decent business model for working with nonprofit type organizations.
Website Updates Continue.
Now and since the public website changes were published allowing us this beautiful, accessible update, Brendon has moved over for a bit and is working on the Staff Site. That is also in need of updating and he rotates between the half a dozen web properties we manage updating the content when provided and the code base when necessary. Upgrades and the rewrite of the code for staff site is his current focus to maintain compatibility to server software upgrades, and offer future security upgrades. In addition he manages to squeeze in the maintenance of many of the integrations we utilize daily from the OPAC to our event calendar, LibCal, back around to google analytics and investigations into new technologies and tools.
Public website contains 517,837 lines of code and 4,100 files.
Our staff site contains 255,383 lines of code and 3,082 files.
Websites we have created to run common SSPL items, such as some of our display screen slides, or history room’s Digital Archive offering:
- sspl.org (cms)
- staff (framework)
- card (pages)
- digitalarchive (cms)
- screens (pages)
- saratogareads.org (cms)
Sincerely; Don and Brendon