NEDERLAND — On July 31, the Director of the Marion & Ed Hughes Public Library was notified by that Houston Area Library Automated Network consortium was dissolving and Houston Public Library would not be renewing library contracts when they came up for renewal.

In addition to the Nederland library, the Port Neches and five other libraries were also affected by this abrupt decision to shut down HALAN.

Since notification, the library staff has worked to put in place all the necessary technology infrastructure and services required to keep the current level of library services.

The staff’s primary goal during this process was to keep the impact on services to the public at a minimum.

The transition to the new Integrated Library System and network will take place the first days of next week. While the library will be open Jan. 27 and 28, services will be extremely limited.

“We regret the impact on our patrons during a time of year when we typically see high library use,” library officials said. “Unfortunately, the switchover requires that the network be shut down during the transition.”

While the project has been underway for some time, the impacts most noticeable to patrons will occur during these two days of limited services. Unless some major issue develops, officials anticipate the majority of services will be available again beginning the morning of Jan. 29.

Users should be aware that there may be some delays or periodic service interruptions. Patrons will be kept informed via the library website and catalog, social media, and information provided at the library.

Jan. 27-28 library services are limited:

• No items will be checked in. Keep your items a couple of days longer! During this time, no items will be due and no overdue fines will be charged.
• No holds will be processed on books or other physical library materials. Holds already waiting for you won’t expire.
• No renewing items in person, on the phone or online.
• No payments will be taken for fines, fees or other financial transactions.
• No items will be processed through our “Place Hold” system.
• You will not be able to access your library account online.
• No user records can be updated or added to the system so we won’t be able to issue new library cards or renew them.
• Internet access will be unavailable as we switch out equipment.
• Items saved to “My List” and “Reading History” in current accounts may not transfer to the new system. Patrons should print or email it to themselves, just in case.

Services available Jan. 27-28

• Checking out books and other items that are available on our shelves. You must bring your library card to check out.
• Checking out most digital items (eBooks, eAudiobooks, and streaming video) as well as using digital resources remotely from home or work.
• Placing holds on physical library materials by coming in or calling the library staff. Staff will accept a hold request and will place it in the system once it is available.