During her illustrious career in education, Kate MacMillan has seen it all in terms of technology tools and other resources designed to save time and money. Not all deliver as promised, but since those early days, MacMillan has seen the evolution of some key technology solutions that make her library system operate like a well-oiled machine – complete with communication and tracking tools. With more than 16,000 students enrolled in Napa Valley Unified School District (NVUSD) in 16 elementary, four middle, five traditional high, and one distance learning school, MacMillan has placed her trust in Follett Destiny® for many years – for a multitude of reasons.

“Many years ago, I began with Follett on a district PC when it was still in DOS platform,” she said. “Later, we made the first step in becoming a ‘library without walls’ with Web Collection, and then Destiny, and we were on our way.” MacMillan and her team have used Follett resources for 25 years (“all that I will admit to…”), and she’s utilized just about every Follett product and service during her career in education. “We’ve evolved with Destiny,” MacMillan said.

It’s rewarding that we have been able to contribute to the new versions over the years as Follett has always welcomed our input on what our district needs.

As her district grew, so did the number of libraries and resources that needed management. MacMillan was there every step of the way as her team used Destiny consistently as it grew into the multifaceted, robust program it is today. Thanks to Follett Destiny® Library Manager and Destiny Resource Manager – her tools of choice for tracking, library management, communication, collection, reporting, and more – she celebrates the fact that NVUSD’s libraries and school sites know exactly where things are, what they need, and how to communicate efficiently.

The Pandemic Changed Everything

MacMillan shared that the COVID pandemic illustrated new needs and ways to use Destiny to help NVUSD save money and improve efficiency. “Before the pandemic, we only used Resource Manager to track Chromebooks in high schools and middle schools,” she said. “At the time, we were still allowing some personal devices, so we weren’t truly one-to-one. The 2020 COVID spring break saw a mad scramble to provide Chromebooks and iPads to all NVUSD students as classes went online, and Destiny allowed us to manage those expensive tech tools with accuracy.

There is no possible way we could track and maintain an accurate inventory of over 11,000 devices without Resource Manager.

Destiny Enables Tracking Beyond Books – and Required Reporting

The art of tracking devices is much more complicated than managing textbooks or class novels, she noted. “We use Destiny to track class novels, textbooks, and devices, equipment, and more,” MacMillan said. “With devices, we’re dealing with a huge expenditure, so we must have accurate reports for both state and federal requirements.” Additionally, Destiny enables MacMillan and her staff to
quickly create the reports they need. “Library Services uses Destiny to create reports to keep track of the circulation history of each Chromebook and even the number of devices out for repair,” she shared. “These reports enable the district to ensure that all students and elementary classrooms have working devices and that each student has the correct Chromebook in their possession rather than one that has been checked out to another student.”

Using Destiny, NVUSD can create additional reports to:

• • Comply with state and federal mandates

• • Create fines for lost or damaged Chromebooks

• • “Age out” older models and repair Chromebooks that can’t easily be fixed at the site

Staff Jobs Became Easier Throughout The Years

“Has it been 25 years?” mused MacMillan when asked what’s kept her district loyal to Destiny all this time. “When we decided to automate, Follett was the only IMS/IllS that was Windows-based (rather than DOS), so it was natural for our school libraries,” she shared. “Over the years, we’ve migrated from Ciirc/Cat to Web Collection to Destiny Library Manager and then Destiny Resource Manager. I have always found Destiny, and all things Follett, easily managed by my staff. Plus, we’ve always received excellent customer service, including implementations and support, and that allows us to be more efficient – and after this long, I should know!”

Track Expenditures, Evaluate Current Needs, and Estimate for the Future

MacMillan also shared how Library Manager allows instant access to Titlewave® by uploading the existing site collection for an informative report, which is an important component for creating a library collection that meets DEI and SEL suggestions and stays within the grade-appropriate interest level guidelines.

“The Destiny Discover app (on the student’s Clever account) allows student access to site libraries without a physical trip to the library. By placing holds, creating lists, and requesting an interlibrary loan, the site library has been embedded into the classroom and home, giving us libraries without walls.”

MacMillan is also a fan of the way Destiny enables all departments to communicate easily. “Our team liaises with the technology department on a regular (and sometimes daily) basis. Reporting and inventory are handled by the library staff, and results are communicated to our tech team,” MacMillan said. “Additionally, monthly office hours are scheduled with both departments to go over any issues or new developments. The functionality of Resource Manager has created an excellent working partnership between Library Services and the Technology Department in our district.”

“Here at Napa, we have had offers to partner with other entities, but I feel Destiny is best suited for our staff and our K-12 students,” said MacMillan. “Destiny meets the needs of elementary, middle, and high school students and helps us to operate with efficiency.”

Destiny Library Manager and Destiny Resource Manager are Used Together at NVUSD

“These are two very different and necessary platforms,” shared MacMillan. “Without Destiny Library Manager, it would be impossible to manage site libraries – including circulation, collection
development, inventory, and, of course, reports that indicate the age and state of the site collections.”

Destiny Resource Manager and Destiny Library Manager have some similarities but perform different functions. When the pandemic hit, we were not one-to-one at our elementary sites. We quickly had to add Chromebooks to Destiny Library Manager, and using a ‘dummy database,’ we circulated thousands of Chromebooks to parents on a drive-by basis. Using what we learned then, we purchased Destiny Resource Manager for those sites as soon as possible and migrated the information from Destiny Library Manager. We didn’t ever want to repeat what happened during the pandemic!

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