Userful Case Study: Warsaw Community Public Library

Warsaw Public Library

A Case Study by Userful Corporation

The Library
In 2004 the Warsaw Community Public Library (WCPL) was listed among the top 10 busiest libraries for a city of its size. In a span of five years Warsaw’s population jumped from 20,000 to 26,000 and the number of public computers in the library grew by 400%. Harper Apted, the Network Administrator, had a front row view of the phenomenal growth in his community and the increase in demand for computers running concurrent sessions in his library. He also had a front row view of the growing problems associated with managing public computers.

The Need
To meet the dramatic increase in demand for public computing, the library added more workstations and more staff to support them. Unfortunately, the headaches created by trying to use Windows PCs as public computers were becoming unmanageable. To deal with the many well-publicized computer security threats Mr. Apted had to load his computers with a host of add-ons such as anti-spyware and for the most part, this software did not work as promised.

The Solution
Mr. Apted first saw Userful Desktop in action at a conference and was impressed with the fact that, although Userful Desktop was not Windows-based, the user experience was essentially identical. Userful’s technical design didn’t create any of the support issues he experienced with Windows.
Userful worked closely with the library to develop a fully customized public computing station for Internet access that integrated with their other public computers. The rollout of the 20 new workstations was a complete success. “I was very happy with Userful’s patience and willingness to work with the library. It made it easy for patrons and staff alike to master OpenOffice. As an added bonus the USB keydrive support allowed floppy disks to be phased out, which has been very well received by all patrons.”

The library saves over $4,500 every year on the hardware costs of its public computers alone. Not having to constantly babysit the computers and invest time resolving problems; patching and installing software, and assisting patrons in using the PCs has been a great relief. Mr. Apted reports his total cost of ownership (TCO) for Userful Desktop to be an impressive 75% less than the cost of purchasing and maintaining the computers Userful Desktop replaced.

The Future
Warsaw plans to roll out more Userful Desktop workstations in the near future. Mr. Apted expects an additional 50% growth in demand for public computers and Userful Desktop will remain the solution of choice.

“Userful Desktop is well tested, does what it is supposed to do, and can be transitioned to invisibly. What more could you ask for?” questioned Mr. Apted.

Download: Warsaw Public Library Case Study (PDF - 694KB)