Ovid-Elsie Area Schools (Mich.) Become First K-12 Library Powered By Evergreen
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Norcross, GA – May 7, 2009

Ovid-Elsie Area Schools in Elsie, Michigan has become the first K-12 library to go live with Evergreen, the consortial-quality open-source library automation software. Equinox Software Inc., “The Evergreen Experts,” oversaw data migration and software configuration.
Ovid-Elsie Area Schools will be using Evergreen both in its Information Center (their high school/middle school library) and in the elementary school library. Ovid-Elsie Area Schools is also the first school library to join Michigan Evergreen, a shared-catalog project administered by the Michigan Library Consortium (MLC). Grand Rapids, Branch District, Niles District, and Traverse Area District Libraries all went live with Evergreen in 2008.
“Every week we watch the Evergreen community become more diverse,” said Brad LaJeunesse, Equinox company president. “The Evergreen story is out: librarians worldwide, in all types of libraries, understand Evergreen’s power, flexibility, and high return on investment.”
Grand Rapids Public Library will oversee server maintenance, and MLC will provide support and training to the participating libraries. Equinox will also provide ongoing technical support to the Michigan Evergreen implementations.
The Ovid-Elsie Area Schools serve approximately 600 students and include 46,600 bibliographic records. For more information about the Michigan Evergreen project, see the project wiki at http://mlcnet.org/wiki.

About Evergreen
Evergreen is consortial-quality, open-source library software initially developed to support Georgia PINES, a resource-sharing consortium of 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 consortial projects such as Evergreen Indiana, and British Columbia SITKA, 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, the North Texas Regional Library System, and South Carolina LENDS, a newly-formed 11-library consortium. Additional libraries “go it alone” with Evergreen by providing their own migration and support, which further demonstrates the power, ease, reliability, and true openness 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.