Delaware County District Library, Granville Public Library and Pataskala Public Library are joining the Central Library Consortium (CLC) in 2018. This partnership results in 17 library systems serving 1.5 million residents across seven counties. The three new members will have direct access to more than 3.8 million items by joining the CLC. This transition includes: a responsive mobile-friendly catalog for use with smartphones and tablets, text message notifications, and electronic purchasing and receiving capabilities that provide faster access to new material.

The new members will also gain access to an expanded collection through CLC’s partnership with SearchOhio and OhioLINK. Through SearchOhio these new member libraries have access to resources from 42 other public libraries throughout the state. Access to OhioLINK will allow patrons to request from over 40 million items from Ohio’s College and University libraries.

“We are delighted to offer the people of our district the opportunity to use the rich resources available from so many excellent central Ohio public libraries, and to share our resources with other users as well. For years, we have promised to provide people the world’s information; this partnership helps us deliver on that promise,” said George Needham, Director of the Delaware County District Library.

Anita Carroll, Director of the Granville Public Library, said, “We are always looking for ways to better serve our community. Joining this more regional consortium was a natural fit for us to do that. Our users want many of the features that available with the Central Library Consortium. We will be excited to offer features such as auto-renewal, text notification and author hold subscription.”

Jeffrey A. Rothweiler, Director/Fiscal Officer for Pataskala Public Library, said, “Partnering with CLC will allow us to decrease waiting times for popular materials and increase the depth of our collection. We’ll also have a platform to try new emerging technologies and potentially lower the cost of adding new services due to the increase in our buying power with CLC.”

“We are excited to grow our membership again with three outstanding public libraries. The new members are already helping us explore new ways we can better serve all our members and their patrons,” said Wes Osborn, Executive Director of Information Technology for the CLC.

The new members will complete their system migrations in the first half of 2018. The consortium will be delivering materials to the new members five days a week. Patrons typically get available items from other CLC libraries 2-3 days after placing their request.

The CLC is a 29-year-old partnership among library systems that share materials, resources, servers, licenses, group purchases and even staff while remaining strong, independent library systems. Libraries in the consortium include: Alexandria, Bexley, Columbus, Fairfield County, Grandview Heights, London, Marysville, Pickaway County, Pickerington, Plain City, Southwest Public, Upper Arlington, Wagnalls Memorial and Worthington.

In December of 2013, the London Public Library Board of Trustees voted to join the Central Library Consortium.  The consortium is a partnership between 14 public library systems in Central Ohio, with London, Bexley and Upper Arlington expecting to make their debut in the CLC catalog April 9th.

Currently, London patrons have access to roughly 45,000 items at the library, as members of the consortium, they will have access to over 4 million items, which includes materials from Columbus Metro Libraries, Fairfield County District Library, Grandview Heights, Marysville, Plain City, Worthington, Pickaway County, Pickerington, Wagnalls Memorial Library, Southwest, Alexandria Public Library, Upper Arlington and Bexley Library.

“Our library catalog will be married with all of the other consortium libraries so when a patron does a search for an item, it searches all of the catalogs.  If we do not have a physical copy of something then the library that does will send a copy to us, which will arrive within two or three days,” says Bryan Howard, the library’s services manager who is overseeing the migration to the consortium.

The consortium will be delivering materials to the library five days a week, so that patrons at London and others in the system get their materials in a timely manner.

“Collaboration and material sharing has become the model of today’s libraries and we realized that we couldn’t physically grow our collections in house, but we are doing the next best thing,” says Howard.

Other notable benefits to joining the consortium will be automated phone calls to patrons who have holds on materials, as well as cost saving opportunities for the library when purchasing databases and computer hardware.   The library’s system will be down from April 4 to April 8th as it is integrated into the consortium catalog.  The go-live date for the updated CLC catalog is expected to be Wednesday, April 9th.

Meanwhile, the library will be closed from March 26 to April 13 as it goes under a major renovation of its main floor.

“There’s a lot of work ahead but when it’s all said and done, the community will have an updated library interior and access to a very large collection of materials.  It is very exciting and we look forward to April 14th – we hope the community will too!” says Mike Hensel, library director.

The library is located at 20 E. First Street in London, Ohio and online at www.mylondonlibrary.org.

BEXLEY, Ohio— Bexley Public Library is pleased to announce that on April 9, 2014, it will join the Central Library Consortium (CLC). While continuing to serve the community as an independent library, Bexley Public Library will partner with 13 other central Ohio libraries to offer patrons access to more than 3.8 million items. This transition will also include an update to the catalog, an improved check-out experience, an expanded collection of downloadable books and magazines, and much more.

Detailed information about this collaboration is available in the library and on the library’s website: www.bexleylibrary.org.

Offering cooperative lending with other libraries was one of the commitments the library made during the 2013 levy campaign.  “Joining the CLC will allow us to leverage and extend our funding in order to provide access to an array of resources that we could not offer on our own,” said Library Director Rachel Rubin.  “Not only do we maintain local control over our programs, collections, and services, now we will be able to provide our patrons convenient access to an additional 3.4 million items.”   The library’s current collection stands at about 350,000 items.

Additional benefits of membership in the CLC include text message notifications, a mobile-friendly catalog for use with smartphones and tablets, and the ability to pay fines online.

The library received a $33,000 grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services and will use donated funds from the estate of Marilyn K. Limbird to cover the costs of the migration to a new catalog and related updates to the circulation area.

Bexley Public Library will join London Public Library and Upper Arlington Public Library as new additions to the consortium on April 9. Existing members are:  Alexandria Public Library, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Fairfield County District Library, Grandview Heights Public Library, Marysville Public Library, Pickaway County District Public Library, Pickerington Public Library, Plain City Public Library, Southwest Public Libraries, Upper Arlington Public Library, Wagnalls Memorial Library and the Worthington Libraries.

More information about this transition is available on the library’s website www.bexleylibrary.org.  Patrons with questions about the new catalog or the Central Library Consortium may also call the library at 614-231-8741.

Bexley Public Library has been serving the Bexley community since 1924. The Library’s mission is to enlighten, engage, and inspire a community of lifelong learners. An extensive collection, knowledgeable and friendly staff, innovative programming for kids and adults, and a welcoming space are all part of what makes our library unique. Bexley Public Library joined the Central Library Consortium (CLC) in 2014 to expand its services and offer patrons access to over 3.8 million resources. Learn more at www.bexleylibrary.org.

The Upper Arlington Public Library (UAPL) is pleased to announce that it will be joining the CLC and switching to Polaris as its new Integrated Library System (ILS).

With the click of a button, UAPL patrons will have access to an expanded collection that is ten times larger than what is currently offered.  An efficient delivery system will deliver most requested material from other locations to UAPL within two to four days.

A mobile friendly catalog, credit card online fine payment and the ability to return items to the UAPL or to any CLC member library are added benefits of this collaboration.

The UAPL has been a standalone library system since its inception.  However, there are multiple factors that make joining a consortium a better option for our patrons at this time.  Our current ILS hardware is at the end of its useful life.  Our existing patron catalog interface will no longer be supported at the end of 2013.  Efficiencies are gained by sharing services with 11 other local library systems.  Buying power can be leveraged on certain products to reduce costs.

The CLC offers all the benefits of shared services with the ability to maintain the UAPL’s individual identity.  The UAPL will still set local policies, purchase items that our patrons want and maintain our great customer services practices.  The CLC offers the best of both worlds and is the right step for the UAPL to take at this time.  Shared services with our new partners will make the UAPL stronger.

The migration to CLC’s Polaris system is expected to be complete by June 2014.