Evergreen Indiana is here!
By HFP Reporter on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 |
By Brian W. Secor, RPL Board President
On January 28, 2010, the Roanoke Public Library (RPL) will go live as a member of the Evergreen Indiana Consortium, giving to its patrons access to 3.2 million items at 72 libraries across the state. Since 2004, the RPL has used The Library Corporation’s (TLC) system for cataloguing and checking out materials. The five year cost to taxpayers was a little over $28,000. By going to Evergreen Indiana, the RPL Board was able to eliminate the Library Capital Projects Tax, saving taxpayers of the district nearly $6000 per year beginning 2009. In order to use TLC’s new software, RPL would have to pay for a new server and software fees with an estimated cost for 2010 of $8000. One big advantage of Evergreen is that it saves taxpayers money.
Begun in 2008, the Evergreen Indiana Consortium is a system that currently connects 72 local libraries to one another in Indiana. Funded by state tax collections, Evergreen offers to libraries software and systems to catalogue and maintain check out services at no cost to local libraries and provides patrons of each member library several advantages.
Evergreen provides increased access for library patrons to the collections of member libraries. With an Evergreen library card, patrons can go into any of the 72 Evergreen libraries and check out books and materials. Closest to Roanoke are Decatur and Andrews libraries.
But patrons don’t have to leave home to access additional materials. By going on-line to the Evergreen catalogue, http://evergreen.lib.in.us/, they will be able to request books and other items that will then be delivered to the RPL where they can be picked up and taken home just as any of RPL’s current holdings. When done enjoying the material, patrons will just drop them off at RPL and materials will be shipped back at no cost to the patron! In order to enjoy the benefits of Evergreen Indiana, persons will need an Evergreen Indiana Library Card. Effective Jan. 28, the current RPL card will no longer be valid. Patrons will need to come to the library and fill out a data sheet, providing personal identification, to begin to enjoy the benefits of Evergreen Indiana. Non-residents may purchase a card for $48 per year.
Evergreen rules require that each person must have their own Evergreen Indiana card to check out materials and that no person may use their card to check out materials for someone else. Parents will need to acquire a card for each child and member of their household if that person wishes to check out materials at RPL.
Additional information about Evergreen Indiana can be found on the library’s website, http://www.roanoke.lib.in.us/. And, there is a special brochure about Evergreen at the library.
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