Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 5, 1995 TAG: 9504060030
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-14 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Short
County and library officials will review the proposals over the next two weeks. By the April 19 Library Board meeting, the staff should have developed cost comparisons for the proposals that take into account major hardware differences.
For now, the cost proposals are "all over the place as far as what they're offering," said Karen Dillon, library director.
Dillon and other library staff are aiming for a computer-system price of about $230,000. Of that, $150,000 will come from last fall's $1.88 million voter-approved bond sale and the balance will come from state funds, library savings and a local fund-raising drive. The goal is to purchase a public-access computer checkout system by late summer or early fall.
Before finishing the cost analysis, the staff will: check if the companies complied with Montgomery's request for proposals; compare the systems with their manuals and other documents that describe them; and check with other libraries that already use the systems. The county also will invite the computer vendors in to demonstrate their software.
In a related development, Montgomery last week rejected the single bid for the Blacksburg branch renovation and expansion project after it came in 37 percent higher than the $1.73 million construction budget. (The balance of the $1.88 million in bond money is to pay for the construction.) The deadline to submit new bids is April 14. The expansion will nearly double the usable space in the branch library at 400 Draper Road.
by CNB