Hale School

About Hale School

Founded in 1858, Hale School is an Anglican day and boarding school offering a comprehensive and tailored education experience to boys from Years 1 to 12. Situated in Wembley Downs, Western Australia, the student body is made up of 1,500 students.

Hale School provides state of the art contemporary educational facilities, investing in purpose built facilities that provide students with the opportunity to readily discover their potential.

The Hale School Forrest Library caters for Year 7-12 students, staff and the school community, including parents. It is an exciting, modern space with Wi-Fi throughout, providing for the students’ curriculum and recreational needs. The library staff conduct a number of programs including working with Years 7-9 students to promote reading, delivering an introduction to Information Literacy for Years 7 and working with subject areas to co-teach Guided Inquiries.

Head of Library, Anette Ainsworth, said the Library is used extensively by other subject areas because it is conducive to good learning and is also well used by students before and after school including in the evenings by Boarders and Year 12s.

Since implementing Oliver v5 in 2014, students and staff can also access their web-based catalogue from home (or anywhere with internet service) to select and reserve resources. They have access to a wide range of digital resources including databases, online encyclopaedias, eBooks and digital video.

Choosing Oliver v5

In 2014, Hale School decided to look for a new library management system. They needed a leading edge system that would help them deliver on the schools educational vision and enable improved administrative processes.

“Our previous system was out-dated with limited back-end functionality. We wanted a system that was user friendly and logical, and could support the school’s vision to provide opportunities for every boy to excel by offering them the very best educational experience available," Anette said.

Oliver v5 impressed the Hale School with its customisable interface, the depth of the back end functionality, reporting ability, ease of use and integration capability.

“We liked the ease of use of functions such as adding a new client, getting good reports, great Help function and instructions and easy service features for loans and returns."

Hale School was also looking for an Australian-based company that was well established in schools Australia-wide.

“Choosing a product that was widely used and would continue to be updated was important to us."

Anette was also impressed with how well Softlink staff knew their product and how responsive they were to questions about the system.

“Softlink staff really knew their product and when we started to get into detail the service staff listened and had good explanations."

Changing to Oliver v5

For the Hale School, the transition to Oliver v5 has been very positive.

“Migration of data was streamlined and problem free and we were very impressed with the training we received."

Almost 12 months into using the system, Oliver v5 has generated more efficiency and flexibility within the Library.

“The look is more modern and changeable. Searching is easy. Students can take care of their own borrowing/renewing/requesting."

All library staff at Hale School can utilise Oliver v5 which has removed the need for a dedicated management person. From resource management through to reporting, Oliver v5 has streamlined workflows and improved administrative processes in the library.

The change has also been positive for students. Hale School subscribes to EBSCO and Gale Cengage digital databases so being able to access these resources through Oliver v5’s Federated Search makes it easier for students to conduct research.

The library catalogue also includes OverDrive and Wheelers and students have been able to take ownership of their library experience through borrowing, renewing and reserving resources.

Anette says that Oliver v5 has benefited Hale School because it is easier to use and more engaging for students. The Junior School also recently implemented Orbit, Oliver v5’s junior and middle school interface and found it very easy to set up.

“We are so glad we made the change, Oliver v5 really suits our needs and has made a positive impact on library services."

Hear from other schools that have found Oliver v5 easy to use for students and staff

• Case study – Corpus Christi College
• Testimonials – Oliver v5 is easy to use and can save you time