ByWater Solutions to Present at All Things Open Week 2024

by Elise Aiello on Mar 28, 2024

Jessica Zairo, Director of Library Sales and Outreach at ByWater Solutions, will present during Kennesaw State University Library System's All Things Open Week 2024. Jessica will co-present with Ed Veal and their presentation is titled "Open Together: Empowering Public Libraries with Community-Driven Open Source Tools". The presentation will take place on Tuesday, April 16th at 3:00 PM EST.

As pillars of community knowledge and access, public libraries have a unique opportunity to embody the principles of open source by adopting its tools and fostering collaborative environments. This presentation for the 2024 All Things Open Week, proposes an exploration into the symbiotic relationship between open-source communities and the McKinney Public Library. By spotlighting some of the open-source tools we embrace such as Koha, Aspen Discovery, Metabase, GIMP, LibreOffice, and our custom-developed Self-check system, our presentation will demonstrate the power of these technologies in revolutionizing how public libraries operate, engage with their patrons, and facilitate access to a wide array of resources.

Presenter Bios

Ed Veal

Ed has served libraries for almost 30 years: public, academic, and special, in technical, non-technical and leadership roles. He started his career within the Lubbock Public library then moving to the Texas Tech University Libraries. After serving as Lead Educator for ByWater Solutions he managed digitization projects with the Houston Area Library Network and now serve as the Branch Manager of the Roy and Helen Hall library in McKinney Texas.

Jessica Zairo

Jessie has both graduate and undergraduate degrees in Library Science; receiving her MLIS from the University of South Florida. Her previous experience as a Law Librarian and as Member Services Coordinator for an 18 county library consortium in Florida provided her with the opportunity to work and train with libraries of all sizes and types. Her primary professional interests are advocacy, outreach and training library staff on everything from technology to project management and customer service techniques. In her spare time she is an avid runner, traveler, outdoors lover and crafter.

About All Things Open

All Things Open serves as a submission site and repository for scholarly communication events occurring at the Kennesaw State University Library System. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Questions regarding All Things Open: allthingsopen@kennesaw.edu

Technical Issues: digitalcommons@kennesaw.edu

The All Things Open Committee is comprised of:

Chelsee Dickson, Kennesaw State University

Heather Hankins, Kennesaw State University

Rachel Schrauben Yeates, Kennesaw State University

Sabrina Davis, Texas Tech University

About ByWater Solutions

ByWater Solutions is a full-service, high-quality Open Source support and implementation company dedicated to providing libraries with a lower cost, more advanced level of support for their systems than a traditional proprietary solution can offer. ByWater Solutions has a proven track record in first-rate implementation and support services with library systems of all sizes for the Koha ILS, Aspen Discovery, Folio LSP, Coral ERM, and Libki PC Management.

Our highly ranked, comprehensive support is what sets our company apart from any other vendor in the industry. Partnering with ByWater Solutions not only lowers the cost of implementation and maintenance of OSS but more importantly empowers libraries by giving them the flexibility and freedom they deserve. For more information please visit https://bywatersolutions.com.