FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Norcross, GA – October 8, 2008

Niles (Mi.) District Library has gone live with Evergreen, the consortial-quality open-source library automation software. Niles District Library follows Grand Rapids Public Library and Branch District Library as the third of seven public libraries in the Michigan Evergreen project that will migrate to Evergreen by the end of the year. Michigan Evergreen is a shared-catalog project administered by the Michigan Library Consortium (MLC). Equinox Software, Inc., the support and development company for Evergreen, provided bumper-to-bumper support during the data migration process. Alpha-G provided support with data extraction.
Staff members reported being “really excited” about Evergreen, according to Nancy Studebaker, director of the Niles District Library. Studebaker added, “Our cataloger is especially pleased with the ability to find and download records using Z39.50.” This feature will get even better in Release 1.4, due out later this fall, which will offer simultaneous searching of multiple Z39.50 targets.
“The Michigan Evergreen project underscores the capabilities of Evergreen in the consortial setting,” said Brad LaJeunesse, Equinox company president. “We are excited to watch the Michigan Evergreen project grow.” Randy Dykhuis, MLC Executive Director, added, "The advances made during the Project's pilot phase this fall will aid us greatly when we expand the Project to additional libraries next spring."
Wendy Hart, of Alpha-G Consulting, added, "The folks at Niles were great to work with. We are confident they'll be pleased with Evergreen."
The Grand Rapids Public Library will oversee day-to-day administration for the new server for all seven pilot libraries, and MLC will provide support and training to the participating libraries. Equinox will also provide ongoing technical support to MLC’s Evergreen implementation.
Niles, Michigan is located at the former site of Fort St. Joseph, which was established by the French in 1689 and named for newspaper editor Hezekiah Niles. The Niles District Library has 117,865 bibliographic items and has a service district of over 25,000 area residents. The library’s new online catalog can be viewed at http://ndl.michiganevergreen.org. For more information about the Michigan Evergreen project, see the project wiki at http://mlcnet.org/wiki or follow the latest activity at http://www.mlcnet.org/evergreen, the Michigan Evergreen blog.

About Evergreen
Evergreen is consortial-quality, open-source library system software. Evergreen was initially developed to support Georgia PINES, a resource-sharing consortium with over 270 public libraries. While Evergreen was designed from the ground up to meet the needs of very large, high-transaction, multi-site consortia, its robust, fault-tolerant architecture elegantly scales down to the smallest sites. Evergreen is also adaptive software that due to its service-oriented, standards-compliant design can nimbly evolve to meet changing library needs and user expectations.

From its debut in September 2006, Evergreen has consistently outperformed expectations and resulted in acclaim and praise from users worldwide. Evergreen has received significant attention, including a Technology Collaboration Award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional Evergreen implementations include the Indiana Open Source Initiative, British Columbia SITKA, and several smaller implementations, such as Kent County Public Library in Maryland and Marshall Public Library in Missouri. For more information about Evergreen, visit http://evergreen-ils.org

About Equinox Software, Inc.

Founded by the original Evergreen designers and developers, Equinox Software is a growing team of skilled developers and other professionals who provide comprehensive support for Evergreen, the consortial-quality, open source Integrated Library System (ILS). Equinox develops, supports, trains, migrates, integrates, and consults on Evergreen, and engages with the rapidly expanding Evergreen community. Instead of one-size-fits-all support, Equinox works closely with libraries to ensure Evergreen is implemented in the manner that best fits their individual needs.
In addition to support, custom development and integration services, Equinox offers complete Evergreen hosting packages for libraries wishing to outsource their ILS infrastructure. Equinox also provides consulting services for libraries seeking more insight into the value proposition of open source software.
Press contact: Corinne Hall, corinne@esilibrary.com, 678-269-6113
For more information on Equinox Software, please visit http://www.esilibrary.com.

Evergreen is open source software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL. Evergreen and the Evergreen
Logo are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of the Georgia Public Library Service.