What ILS does your library use?

Hello everyone, new library assistant here!

I hope to do archiving in the future and I'm also very interested in integrated library systems (ILS), also known as library management systems (LMS). I want to know what the most common systems are so I can learn more about them.

Question 1: What type of library do you work at?
Question 2: What ILS does your library use?
Question 3: What are the pros and cons of your ILS in your opinion?
Question 4: Have you worked with a different ILS in the past? If so what was it? Do you think the new one is better?
Question 5: What would you want in a perfect ILS that isn't already available in yours?

Thank you so much for your time!

*Post inspired by topic titled Surviving shifting ILS in group Librarians who LibraryThing*

Public Library
Evergreen
If it was developed by librarians, they need to have their licenses revoked.

Seriously tho, every system has quirks, and they all seem to balance out in the end. You get used to learning how to work around the weirdnesses.

I've worked in the past with Dynix (waaaaay the crap back in the dark ages in the early '90s), which eventually turned into ALS, Sirsi, Horizon, Polaris, SirsiDynix, Blacklight, and either Symphony or Unicorn - I can't remember which version it was.

I've worked through ILS transitions in various systems from:
Dynix to ALS - no one knew enough about computers back then to have an opinion on the shift, honestly.
Polaris to Sirsi (and almost immediately back again - that was a nightmare)
SirsiDynix upgraded to Symphony/Unicorn (again, can't remember which, most likely it was Unicorn given the time period)
Sirsi "Workflows" to Evergreen (a bloody fiasco)
Evergreen to the WEB version of Evergreen (also a giant mess)

Developers need to understand that VASTLY DIFFERENT TYPES of librarians exist, even in a single "type" of system. They can't just build something that works well for cataloging or for an OPAC. They need to build for reference searches, AND for repetitive circulation transactions, AND for integration with online vendors and guides...

Basically they need to understand that ease-of-use is necessary for lots of people who are needing the interface to do TOTALLY DIFFERENT and often unrelated things. No system so far has seemed to realize that, or has been able to balance those requirements well inside of budgetary restrictions. They always pick one thing that's "their thing" and everything else suffers in comparison.

Also pretty much universally their UX always sucks. Always.

SirsiDynix still sucks. BlueCloud or no BlueCloud (their daily whatever things that get spit out daily never seem to work either). Workflows is just..... horrible (and we were supposed to have the BlueCloud backend about a year ago).

:( Maybe Evergreen isn't perfect, but, I miss it so so so so badly....

Question 1: What type of library do you work at?
Suburban public library in a large system

Question 2: What ILS does your library use?
Sirsi Workflows

Question 3: What are the pros and cons of your ILS in your opinion?
It's a calcified mess that is constantly getting more broken and it's hard to tell what's a problem with the system itself and what's a problem with the fact that nobody at our headquarters knows how to configure or use it well (which is also a problem with the design of the system, fundamentally) and what's a problem with the fact that our data is a mess (which is also a problem with the system, because it's way harder than it should be to clean up our data messes.)

And if we want to upgrade we'll be forced to move to web-based, which I guarantee will be worse.

Question 4: Have you worked with a different ILS in the past? If so what was it? Do you think the new one is better?
As a professional, I've only used Workflows.

Question 5: What would you want in a perfect ILS that isn't already available in yours?
Mostly, the ability to easily batch repetitive actions and automate things that should automate and to easily retrieve all types of data from the database.
Flexibility to work with the ways our library has to be flexible.
Have functions like "email a receipt" or "don't require a binary gender" be built into the system and not clearly tacked-on afterthoughts that don't work well with the rest of it (or at all).
Have a search function that will actually find things.
No unannounced upgrades that break things and processes.
Better, more efficient UX.
Ability to interface well with other systems.
I could go on.

On Evergreen, it's used by the smaller libraries and it always got opinions in class. I've only used it in school but people seemed to like it or hate it. I found it intuitive enough, but haven't has to use it professionally.

Evergreen is also the choice for state-wide consortium library systems, so it's not just the little guys. I know that Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Virginia, Georgia, North and South Carolina, part of Oregon, and I think Washington State all use it as the base for their consolidated systems, for better or for worse.