[03/06/01] The public library will be getting a technology upgrade in the next couple of months.

The computer software and hardware at the library is out-of-date and unfamiliar to most patrons, library director Deb Mitchell said.

“The main problem is the system is old,” Mitchell said. She said the library is in the process of upgrading to Windows as the operating software, a program familiar to most computer users.

The new system approved by the Warren County Board of Supervisors on Monday will contain all the old databases and index to books as well as a catalog Website accessible by any Internet hook-up, a way for patrons to check their accounts and e-mail.

“It’s time for us to do something and start as soon as we can,” Mitchell said. “We’re excited that this might actually happen.”

The upgrades will be done by Gaylord Galaxy Systems of New York, which installed the current system.

Gaylord guaranteed to moved the current files to the new system for no additional charge, John Rundell of the county’s purchasing department said.

The budget for the new system is $243,000 with $48,600 coming from the county and the rest coming from a grant from the Mississippi Library Commission.

In other business, supervisors:

Passed a motion to change the name of the access road to LeTourneau Landing from LeTourneau Road to LeTourneau Landing Road and to advertise for bids to design and repair damage at Eagle Lake Landing, possibly transferring $50,000 from the LeTourneau landing project to Eagle Lake Landing.

Passed a motion to buy a $100 advertisement in the Ebony Fashion Fair program and a $300 advertisement in the Miss Mississippi Pageant program.

Approved increasing the mileage rate for juror compensation. The pay rate was between $25 and $40 depending on the distance traveled to court.

The change allows jurors serving $40 for mileage and those not serving $25.

Approved $43,301 from a Mississippi development grant to design water and sewer improvements at the new River Region Hospital.