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ADOPT A RESOLUTION APPROVING FINDINGS IN SUPPORT OF AN EXCEPTION TO THE COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROCESS AND APPROVING A MASTER AGREEMENT WITH SIRSIDYNIX FOR AN INTEGRATED LIBRARY SYSTEM
recommended action
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a Resolution:
1. Approving findings that support an exception to the competitive bidding process;
2. Approving a seven-year Master Agreement between the City of Stockton and SirsiDynix Corporation for an Integrated Library System in the amount of $1,979,133; and
3. Authorizing the City Manager to take all appropriate and necessary actions to carry out the purpose and intent of this resolution.
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Summary
The City of Stockton contracts with SirsiDynix Corporation (“Sirsi”) to provide the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library System (“Library”) with its current Integrated Library System (“ILS”). The ILS is a core business technology system which includes software, licensing, and maintenance to support essential staff functions for library services and public access to the Library catalog. Other core functions include materials budget and acquisition tools, establishing and maintaining catalog records, circulation and patron database activities, and essential statistical reporting.
The Community Services Department seeks approval to enter into a new agreement (“Exhibit 1 to the Resolution”) with Sirsi to upgrade the ILS, move to a cloud-based system, remove obsolete computer hardware, offer a new community engagement platform, and upgrade software to enhance online services to customers. The annual cost for Sirsi will be split between the City and County based on annual circulation data.
DISCUSSION
Background
The Library System includes four city branches, three city micro-libraries, eight county branches, and a bookmobile. In 2002, the Library released a request for proposal (“RFP”), RFP-02-055, for an ILS. The RFP process relied on key criteria necessary in analyzing an ILS system and provider. Criteria considered were cost, experience, expertise, customer service performance, product innovation, security, industry reputation, work history, references, and operational feedback from other large public library systems. The contract was awarded to Sirsi (C-03-028) to provide the ILS hardware, software, licensing, maintenance, and support. The ILS includes modules to catalog, circulate, and acquire library materials, track magazine and newspaper holdings, accept patron requests for materials, and an interface for the public catalog.
The Library relies on several external products that Sirsi has customized to integrate into our current ILS setup. These products include: EZProxy for account authentication, eResource connectors for Overdrive and hoopla! digital collections, Ebsco Discovery Service layer integration for research and browsing, Message Bee for patron notifications by email/text/phone, debt collection with Unique Management Services, and fax/print/scan capabilities with Today’s Business Solutions.
In 2016, City Council passed a motion (2016-06-07-1210) approving findings that supported an exception to the competitive bidding process and authorized the execution of a four-year Master Agreement and one additional four-year renewal term. In 2020, wishing to explore the ILS market, staff negotiated the four-year renewal term into four one-year renewal terms for service. The first one-year option will expire June 30, 2021. The remaining three one-year options will not be exercised in favor of a new agreement.
Present Situation
The Library considered requesting a new RFP for services and conducted research of other ILS systems to assess product availability. Transitioning to a new ILS involves several key considerations, including lengthy RFP process, significant financial investments in new hardware and software, City staff resources required for financial integration, data migration and conversion, system mapping, and data loading and verification. Investing time and resources in a project of this scope is prohibitive without a strong business reason. Other available ILS systems do not provide functions or capabilities beyond the Sirsi system; Library staff is very satisfied with the product and service provided by Sirsi. A new agreement with Sirsi will not impact the operational capacities of Information Technology, Administrative Services, and Library staff or the fiscal limitations of the Library Budget. Other municipal agencies using both Sirsi and Tyler Munis have successfully integrated the two. Library Administration will work with IT to pursue integration after successful implementation of all three phases of ERP.
Staff is requesting City Council approval of a new seven-year agreement that includes several enhancements to the current agreement.
The new agreement will provide the following:
• A mobile app for customers to access library services and collections.
• Enhanced analytics to enable data assessment in support of improved service, performance, and efficiencies.
• A cloud-based storage system to replace two costly, end-of-life servers, reducing maintenance costs and alleviating demands on IT staff time.
• Browser-based staff logins to minimize the need for desktop clients.
• A new customer engagement platform that will provide relevant marketing opportunities for patrons to find new books and programs based on their identified interests.
• An interactive electronic calendar of events that allows for program registration.
The upgraded system will enable staff to better interact with and serve the community, improve operational efficiency and align with the IT goal of investing in cloud-based solutions as opposed to hardware with a limited three-to-five-year life cycle. The additional annual cost to migrate to the new hosted secure solution and add customer engagement products is offset by the estimated staffing and equipment costs which would be required to replace the outdated servers if the City continued to host Sirsi products. Including customer engagement products with our current ILS is much more cost-effective than purchasing a different product.
Findings
Pursuant to the Stockton Municipal Code (SMC) section 3.68.070, the City Council may approve findings which support and justify exceptions to the competitive bidding process. The following findings justify such an exception:
1. Sirsi provides essential products that the Library relies on for library material integration and business purposes.
2. The City negotiated the first Master Services Agreement with Sirsi after a solicitation of competitive proposals consistent with the requirements of SMC section 3.68.070.
3. Sirsi is an industry leader in the ILS business with the capacity to continue to provide innovative products and support for contracted services.
4. A new RFP is not in the City’s best interests considering the significant impact of new ILS implementation on current staffing and financial resources.
5. The new agreement for enhanced services aligns with City goals and customer needs and remaining with a trusted and competent vendor for a long-term agreement is the best option for the City.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
The total anticipated cost of the seven (7) year agreement with Sirsi for the proposed upgrades of the ILS is $1,979,133.
Annual subscription costs are shared between the City of Stockton, San Joaquin County, and Amador County. Amador County contracts with the City to have access to selected Sirsi products for their small library system. The remaining costs are allocated between the City and County based on circulation activity in accordance with the attested Operating Agreement between the parties.
The proposed agreement will have a cost of $286,856 in FY2021-22. Costs are divided between the City of Stockton, San Joaquin County, and Amador Public Library. The City and County costs for Year-1 have been included in the FY2021-22 Recommended Budget in account 5010-800-65002-100-120-50-40-000-000. Below is the breakdown of shared costs:
City of Stockton: $108,512.36
San Joaquin County: $156,283.64
Amador Public Library: $ 22,060.00
Total $286,856.00
Ongoing costs will be included in future operating budgets.