Library Events Calendar Roundup

An important function of the library is communicating our upcoming events to the community. There are lots of ways to do this, one of which is by having an online calendar.

Of course, there are also lots of software for online calendars and for patrons to reserve meeting rooms. My library just switched calendars, and so did the Blue Hill (ME) Public Library. Since we each evaluated a number of different calendar options, Rich Boulet and I combined our notes, in the hopes of saving other libraries a bit of legwork when looking at calendars.

There are more calendars than what is listed here (in no particular order), and our pro/con notes reflect the needs, requirements and situations of our individual libraries. If you have questions about how we made our decisions, you can contact me through my contact form, and Rich through Blue Hill Library's staff page.

Library Insight     (Rich, Brian)

• See Groton (MA) Public Library for example
• Patrons can submit room requests online
• Comes with 1200 images
• Marquee of upcoming available for index page
• SIP2 compliant
• Will not disclose how many clients use product, but says they are "in 20 states"
• $695/year plus $600 setup fee
• Contact: Steve Bolduc / 978-808-1089
• More info: http://libraryinsight.com/products/rmInsight.htm

Google Calendar     (Rich)

• See Lewiston Public Library for example
• Free
• Patrons cannot submit room requests, but can browse room availability
• More info: http://www.google.com/intl/en/googlecalendar/about.html

Evanced     (Rich, Brian)

• See Chelmsford (MA) Public Library and Blue Hill (ME) Public Library (calendar, room reservation) for examples
• Looks like most comprehensive product available
• Used by Maine State Library, Web Junction and many public libraries
• Allows user-initiated requests for room reservation
• Allows attendee registration and cancellation
• Somewhat pricey relative to others in market, but unlimited in number of listed events, and no module pricing (except credit card processing is extra)
• Allows some design customization, to make it look like your website
• Most powerful calendar search options
• Locally-hosted installation requires Microsoft IIS 4.0 or higher and has more up-front costs, plus 18%/year maintenance fees
• Remotely hosted solution carries ongoing subscription costs
• Seamless integration between web calendar and room reservation software allows users to click off on room policy
• Calendar allows events to be downloaded to Outlook
• Offers customizable rss feeds based n search criteria
• Can be used to track program stats
• Contact: Claudia Hackworth / 317-352-2188 x109
• More info & demos: http://evancedsolutions.com/demo.asp

Calandarix     (Rich)

• See Rockport (ME) Public Library for example
• Very attractive and very affordable web calendar
• Does not apparently allow patron-initiated requesting of rooms
• Compatible with Apache or IIS
• No remote hosting option, requires local install
• Cost: Advanced edition is $50 for non-profits; also comes in a
  free basic version
• More info: http://www.calendarix.com

Eventkeeper     (Rich, Brian)

• See Hingham (MA) Public Library for example
• Seems to do everything that Evanced does, but in a very different style
• Pricing is generally less than Evanced, but is somewhat variable based on modules and number of events
• Can customize and brand calendar for additional one-time fee, integrate it more with the look and feel of the rest of your web site
• Also "EK Feed" can can be rss feed marquee of upcoming events for library's homepage
• Only available as remotely hosted product, no local installation
• Currently have 1200 customers
• Exceptional customer support
• Can be used to track program statistics
• No maintenance fees (other than annual hosting)
• Eventkeeper: $275/year; EK Rooms: $250/year; EK Feed (marquee)
• Contact: Jim Stewart / 508-942-4209
• More info: http://www.eventkeeper.com

Meeting Room Manager     (Rich)

• See UCLA for example
• Ruled out for BHPL because requires login
• More info: http://www.netsimplicity.com/room-scheduling-software/ (login info provided on the page)

ConnectDaily     (Brian)

• See San Bruno (CA) Library for example
• Reasonably priced
• Remotely hosted with varying contract lengths
• Allows a great deal of design customization, to integrate with the look of your website
• Serves as both a calendar and meeting room reservation system
• A limitation is that it is designed as an "in-house" product (example, a school would use it for the teachers to reserve meeting rooms). It does have a public room reservation form, but take a little work to customize to be easy enough for the public to use
• Allows for multiple calendars (Childrens, Adult, Teen, etc) all to be fed up into one master calendar
• Events available in rss and iCal formats
• More info: http://www.mhsoftware.com/connectdaily.htm

Calcium     (Brian)

• See Cuyahoga Community College (OH) Eastern Campus Library or list for examples
• Just events calendar (not room reservation)
• Fairly basic and very stable, handles all aspects of an events calendar well
• Easy to use
• Limited design customization to match your website
• Has three pricing options: free calendar (includes ads); locally-installed version (one-time price); remotely-hosted option (monthly fee)
• More info: http://www.brownbearsw.com/products.html

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