Salt Spring Island (B.C.) Public Library Goes Live with Evergreen
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Norcross, GA – April 20, 2009

Salt Spring Island Public Library has become the 15th library in British Columbia’s SITKA consortium to go live with Evergreen, the consortial-quality open-source library automation software.
Salt Spring Island Public Library’s migration to Evergreen is one more step in a process that will see up to 34 SITKA libraries running Evergreen on a shared catalog by the end of 2009. Equinox Software Inc., the support and development company for Evergreen, is providing ongoing 24/7 technical support for SITKA’s Evergreen implementations.
“SITKA exemplifies the power of Evergreen to pull libraries together into resource-sharing systems,” said Brad LaJeunesse, Equinox company president. “Evergreen’s consortial-based architecture and its growing feature set give Evergreen libraries outstanding return on investment.”
SITKA is following a gradual approach to moving libraries over to Evergreen; libraries opt-in on their own schedules. Many libraries are anticipated to join over the next several years when their existing automation vendor contracts expire.
The idea of a library in Salt Spring Island first began in the early 1930s. Today the library serves 6,000 patrons and holds 51,000 bibliographic titles.

About Evergreen
Evergreen is consortial-quality, open-source library software initially developed to support Georgia PINES, a resource-sharing consortium with over 270 public libraries. Evergreen was designed from the ground up to be robust, fault-tolerant, service-oriented, and standards-based. Evergreen nimbly evolves to meet the needs of very large, high-transaction, multi-site consortia, while elegantly scaling down to the smallest library sites.
The growing, multinational Evergreen development community has shepherded Evergreen through a series of carefully-planned releases that have further strengthened Evergreen’s consortial capabilities while adding popular and useful functionality. Evergreen 2.0, due out in 2009, will add acquisitions, serials, and reserves to Evergreen’s outstanding functionality.
From its debut in September 2006, Evergreen has earned acclaim and praise from users worldwide, including a Technology Collaboration Award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional Evergreen implementations include other consortial projects such as Michigan Evergreen and Evergreen Indiana, and libraries such as Kent County Public Library in Maryland, Marshall Public Library in Missouri, the National Weather Center Library, and the University of Prince Edward Island.
Other libraries contracting with Equinox software for future Evergreen services include King County Library System (a public library system in Washington State), the thirteen libraries of Natural Resources Canada, North Texas Regional Library System, and the newly-formed, 11-library consortium, South Caroline LENDS. A number of libraries “go it alone” with Evergreen by providing their own migration and support, which further demonstrates the power, ease, and reliability of this state-of-the-art library software.
For more information about Evergreen, see 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 trademarks of the Georgia Public Library Service.