Dear Local Leaders,
Perry County has four fine independent libraries, located in Newport, Bloomfield, Marysville, and Blain. Like horses, these libraries are strong on their own, but gain extra strength when working in teams. In October 2011, the libraries started harnessing the power of collaboration to pull the county libraries squarely into the future through a shared technology project made possible by local contributions, a grant from Verizon Thinkfinity, volunteers, and the Capital Area Library District.
The libraries moved their data to community supported Koha and WordPress, which are open source software applications. The data is not housed on local servers, but is transferred to an environmentally controlled data center using secure protocols.
This is a technology decision that makes the Perry County libraries a primary provider of technology and information for residents. This project, which was made possible in part through a Thinkfinity grant from Verizon, gives the four libraries a shared, online library inventory catalog with easy item request process, enhanced connections to ebooks and online services, and information access.
What does this technology collaboration between the libraries mean for Perry County residents?
- Find more books you want. Easily search the catalogs of all four libraries at the same time and request an item for local pickup.
- Use all four library locations with just one library registration card.
- Place holds online for books that you can pick up at the library location of your choice
- Make lists in the catalog to keep track of your reading and research
- Download ebooks and audiobooks with your own library card number
- Search the catalog from your smart phone, tablet, or internet connected device
- Check the Library Calendar of Events to find a story hour or event.
- Keep up with all the information important to our communities
- Each library gets an allowance for new equipment.
Perry County libraries understand how to get the best products and information at the best prices by working together. This cooperative technology project will help us all share books, movies, music, magazines in our community information centers throughout the entire county more effectively. Technology is an important utility that citizens need to have to access to in order to remain competitive. We work together with donations, grants, operating fees, state funding, and local government funding to make sure that our citizens have access to information they need and want.
Collaborative communities, like the ones who developed our open source software, make sure that the community resources to maintain the service are available at only a very modest expense. The libraries offer quality internet service and equipment access for all. Libraries are an example of countywide public resource sharing, and something our communities are privileged to have because of your continued support.
This digital literacy project, which was made possible in part through a Thinkfinity grant from Verizon, gives the four libraries a shared, online library catalog with easy item request process, and enhanced connections to ebooks and online service.
Find our shared website at https://pecoinfo.org
Find a direct link to the shared catalog at https://library.pecoinfo.org