Central Rappahannock Regional Library: Connecting patrons to knowledge with Chrome Enterprise
Overview
To serve the growing number of patrons seeking access to digital resources like electronic books, Central Rappahannock Regional Library (CRRL) needed to replace its aging fleet of Windows PCs. To keep the old devices up to date, employees had to travel among the library systems’ 10 branches across four counties, updating and replacing software such as solutions to wipe personal data after each session. In some branches like the one in a local shopping mall, space was tight, which allowed for fewer PC workstations and longer wait times for patrons.
Replacing the aging PCs and upgrading Windows would have cost about $500,000, at a time when budgets were shrinking. Instead, CRRL replaced the PCs with 260 ASUS CN60 Chromeboxes costing about $75,000—a fraction of the cost of buying new PCs. The library system also bought about 85 Acer R11 touchscreen Chromebooks for branches where space is limited.
About Central Rappahannock Regional Library
Central Rappahannock Regional Library has 10 branches in a four-county area serving about 200,000 people in central Virginia. The library system’s mission is to inspire lifelong learning for everyone in their community.
Industry: Government
Location: United States
Chrome Enterprise results
Device replacement cost reduced from $500,000 to just $75,000
Simple and intuitive interface enables Librarians to help patrons without additional IT support
Gives patrons more places to work and conduct research in branches
Device management can be handled by a single person thanks to reduced troubleshooting
Improves security with managed guest sessions mode, so patrons don’t need to log in to Chromeboxes
Reducing costs while improving service
In its back offices, CRRL had already made the switch from Microsoft Office to G Suite and had standardized on Chrome Browser, even on Windows devices. The broad adoption of Chrome Browser and G Suite made Chrome devices an easy choice to replace the high-maintenance PCs. The library system’s small IT team manages devices with the Admin console, such as updating bookmarks. Now that library staff no longer have to help patrons use complicated PCs and software, they have more time to help them with research tasks.
Instead of driving back and forth from branch to branch to troubleshoot PCs and install software, we can now do almost every maintenance task through the Chrome Admin console. Before we swapped the PCs for Chromeboxes and Chromebooks, we needed the equivalent of 4 FTEs to cover support calls. Today, even with more devices, we’re down to two FTEs.
Chris Glover, Assistant Director of Information Technology, Central Rappahannock Regional Library
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