How One CORE Library Promotes NC LIVE

Pender County Librarian, Aimee Mitchell, was one of the presenters at a Thursday morning NCLA session, Sharing the Wealth: Practical Solutions for Knowledge Sharing sponsored by NC Live. Below is a list of things she does to promote NC LIVE as a resource and in doing so has significantly increased the usage of NC LIVE in her community.

• When a patron is given a new library card they are also given an “NC LIVE Packet” that highlights commonly used databases such as Learning Express Library and EBSCO Auto Repair. Learning Express Library has become a valuable tool for people preparing for tests such as ASVAB, GED, SAT & ACT, and GRE, as well as a variety of professional and vocational exams. EBSCO Auto Repair is a high quality alternative to the Chilton Repair Manuals. Both databases are easy to use and save libraries hundreds of dollars by not having to replace multiple copies of books that have a tendency to vanish from library shelves.
• Provides “how-to” brochures for frequently used databases by different user groups such as genealogists or students.
• Attends new teacher orientation sessions and explains what NC LIVE can do for teachers.
• Partners with school media specialists in local middle schools and high schools. Aimee visits school media centers and demonstrates how NC LIVE is a great homework and research tool. During these visits she provides school media specialists with temporary, limited-use Pender County Library cards in order to get the NC LIVE password into students’ hands and to promote the library. Students apply for and are issued a temporary card on the spot. Students can upgrade their card by coming into the library.
• Creates an e-Newsletters to send out to teachers.

Share Your Ideas

We welcome any and all comments, questions, information, stories, tips, or advice. Share your ideas with fellow CORE members. Tell us how you promote NC LIVE and other resources at your library. What kind of programs or training sessions have been successful at your library? Fill us in on the joys and sorrows of upgrading or switching your ILS. Let us know how you manage all that library workers have to manage in this day and age. This blog's for you!

Feel free to add your comments to the blog or e-mail it to us and we will post it or you. Contact us at core.clt@gmail.com.

- by Linda VanSistine-Yost

CORE @ NCLA

The CORE booth drew enthusiastic inquiries from a variety of attendees from public, community college, and small academic libraries all across the state. Many from the piedmont and mountain areas were curious about how we got started. Others shared stories about coalitions they had been involved with and how they considered these collaborations to be enormously beneficial to their libraries.

CORE Technology Planning Grant

Earlier this year CORE was awarded a LSTA Planning Grant from the State Library. Dr. Robert Burgin began work on a plan for assessing technology in CORE libraries. This Strategic Initiative will be implemented under guidelines of the LSTA Planning Grant. The Key Result to be produced is a proposed plan of action to close the gap between the identified technology needs of eastern North Carolina residents and the current library resources in place to meet these needs.

As a first step, CORE libraries and users will be surveyed to determine their level of satisfaction with the technologies available at their public library and to determine their technology-related training needs. Step two will involve a survey to identify staff competencies with various technologies. The surveys will be conducted this fall.

S.W.I.N.G. Purchasing Coalition

The CORE Purchasing Task Force has identified a cost cutting library consortium, based in southwestern Virginia, that has also been used by libraries in NC and Tennessee. Member libraries in NC include Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Cleveland County, Alexander County, Albemarle Regional, and more recently Pender and Duplin public library systems.

SouthWest Information Network Group, usually referred to as SWING, is an association of over 100 public, academic, school, and special libraries. SWING's purpose is to negotiate contracts for books, periodicals and other materials, award scholarships, provide continuing education programs, publish a newsletter, and represent the viewpoints and concerns of its members.

Library systems can join SWING for only $150/yr and be eligible to choose discount schedules from most of the major library suppliers if the consortium discounts and terms are better than what are currently in place for your system. All the contracts are online at http://swing,ehc.edu. SWING is a non-profit organization and excess income provides scholarships to staff at member libraries who are enrolled in library science programs.

At last count, SWING had multi-year contracts with 23 book vendors and publishers, 5 serial subscription vendors, and 11 library supply vendors. The consortium has two part time employees, who are also library personnel. We contacted them for permission to promote it and the welcome mat is out for CORE libraries.

In order for a library to receive the SWING discounts, the member library needs to contact the vendor with their membership number. Once their account reflects their SWING membership, the vendor will apply the applicable discounts. Contracts are not automatically renewed at the end of the cycle. Visit the SWING website for more information or email Mike Taylor at taylorm@pender-county.com of the CORE Purchasing Task Force.

- by Mike Taylor

CORE Opens the Door in E-Audio

CORE’s e-audio initiative appears to be spearheading a digital audio solution not just for eastern NC, but across the entire state. A consortium approach to obtaining digital audio was identified as a top priority by eastern NC libraries in a survey conducted by the CORE Purchasing Task Force in the spring. The CORE leadership team agreed with the resulting report recommendation that such a consortium be opened up to all the libraries of the state to achieve a higher level of economy. Co-chair Mike Taylor contacted NC LIVE executive director Tim Rodgers for consultation. The need for e-audio developed as NC LIVE had to drop it. As a result, NC LIVE agreed to take the lead in investigating possibilities if all NC LIVE member libraries, including academic libraries, would be eligible to participate. Rodgers conducted a statewide survey with 120 library systems of all types. One hundred library systems responded that they were interested in participating as follows: 53 public, 19 community college, 19 independent colleges and universities, and 9 public universities. Further, the survey revealed these libraries may be willing to invest this year between $79,300 to $264,500. This number is likely to grow as the state recovers from the recessionary effects. The three major digital audio vendors identified as possible vendors are Overdrive, Ingram, and OCLC. Over 20 libraries in NC are already members of the NC Digital Library with Overdrive, however membership had been limited for technical and management reasons. Now, with such a significant number of library systems interested in doing business, one of the possibilities is that the NC Digital Library with Overdrive may be reformed to open up membership once again. Progress in negotiating and gathering options is ongoing at a relatively rapid rate and all libraries may be given the opportunity to attend a meeting on the subject in the coming months. - by Mike Taylor