Designed to help institutions considering library automation, this report describes the adoption, installation, and use of the Virginia Tech Library System (VTLS) at Ohio University. The report includes information on: (1) a task force created at Ohio University in 1978 to explore an automated circulation system; (2) installation and tape loading of the chosen system; (3) inauguration and upgrading of the system; (4) networking, including service to regional libraries and service to public libraries; and (5) difficulties encountered and lessons learned, including estimating equipment needs, estimating other costs, loading archival types, availability of the system during loading, securing the database, turnover in VTLS personnel, and delays in developing promised subsystems. Appendices include a diagram of OCLC-VTLS complementarity, sample online public access catalog screens and sample circulation screens, a list of equipment and its location on campus, a diagram of the intra-university computing network, and a map of Ohio's proposed microwave interconnect system. (THC)