Polaris Migration Hub

Calendar

(work in progress, subject to change)

Sierra to Polaris Glossary

(work in progress, subject to change)

    Training 

    Coming Q2 2027

    FAQ 

    Coming Q2 2027

    Question Form

    Coming Q2 2027

    Marketing

    Coming Q1 2027

    Overview of the Lakeland Library Cooperative ILS Evaluation Project

    • July-December 2024: literature review of ILS evaluation, trends, updates, and surveys of other Michigan cooperatives’ impressions of their ILSes by LLC ILS Manager, initial Lakeland staff meetings to discuss project and survey
    • January 2025: survey of LLC membership to define ILS needs; members overall were looking for a more modern ILS
    • April 2025: formation of the ILS Evaluation Committee, composed of representatives from various class sizes of libraries and roles in the library (including two directors); meetings begin
    • April-June 2025: developed a list of requirements for a new ILS
    • July 2025: researched and identified different ILS vendors to invite to a RFI
    • August 2025: finalized RFI document, published it publicly on LLC website for any vendors to respond to, and also invited five vendors (three traditional, two companies who manage open source ILSes) to respond
    • September 2025: due date for RFI responses; three (traditional) companies responded
    • September-October 2025: evaluated RFI responses, selected and notified vendors to invite for demonstrations
    • November 2025: vendor demonstrations
    • December 2025: met to discuss impressions of products and rank choice; selected one vendor to invite for an additional demonstration
    • January 2026: second demonstration by Innovative staff of Polaris; Committee members tried sandbox version of it. The Committee unanimously voted to request a quote for Polaris, as well as TLC’s Carl products.
    • February-March 2026: LLC staff requested and reviewed quotes for both ILSes. Carol and Ann met with Innovative and TLC to discuss their individual quotes.
    • March 16, 2026: demonstration of Polaris for all members of LLC. Members were invited to post their questions about the product and answers are visible to all.
    • Middle of March 2026: contacted two additional other cooperatives, similar in size to Lakeland, for references on Polaris
    • March 24, 2026: The full Committee members unanimously voted to recommend purchase of Innovative’s Polaris ILS to the Advisory Council. Discussed the Polaris quote.
    • April 9, 2026: LLC staff and ILS Evaluation Committee members discussed the project and their impressions of Polaris at the Advisory meeting.
    • May 2026: a vote went out to all member libraries for each library to decide if Lakeland should migrate to Polaris. 41 members voted yes; 1 member voted no.
    • June 11, 2026: Innovative gave a demo of Polaris and answered questions for the Lakeland Board. Present Board members unanimously voted to approve migration to Polaris (with one member absent).