Massachusetts Library Group Receives Grant from EBSCO Information Services
~ Financial Grant will Support New Evergreen Developments ~

Worcester, Mass. — October 25, 2016 — The web-based, open source Integrated Library System (ILS)
Evergreen will be continuing to develop software that meets the needs of libraries thanks in part to a grant from EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO). The grant to the Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative (MassLNC) is intended to finance new developments of popular catalog features for thousands of libraries using Evergreen.

Evergreen is a highly scalable software for libraries that helps library patrons find library materials, and helps libraries manage, catalog and circulate those materials, no matter how large or complex the libraries. Started by the Georgia Public Library System in 2006, it has been adopted by a number of library consortia in North America as well as individual libraries around the world.

EBSCO’s contribution will assist Evergreen’s efforts to:
• Improve its ability to group together multiple formats and editions of a work
• Provide quick links that allow users to jump to alternate formats and editions from any record in the catalog
• Make other improvements to Evergreen search that group formats and edition, including improved record retrieval and a new setting to make it a library’s default search

MassLNC, a collaborative project of two library consortia: the North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE) and the Central/Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing network (C/W MARS), works with Evergreen libraries and consortia to pool resources for Evergreen development. MassLNC will distribute the funds and oversee the development and integration conducted by Evergreen contributors: MOBIUS, a non-profit library consortium that supports the Missouri Evergreen consortium, and Equinox Software, an organization solely dedicated to the support and development of open source library technologies.

“We are very excited about this new partnership between MassLNC and EBSCO to bring important new functionality to the Evergreen catalog,” said MassLNC Coordinator Kathy Lussier. “The grant will help our efforts to provide a user-friendly and visually-appealing catalog that is easy for patrons to find material at their libraries.”

EBSCO Vice President of Global Software Services Ron Burns says that EBSCO’s support of Evergreen is part of the company’s commitment to open source for libraries. “Evergreen is a popular open source ILS that fulfills the core needs of many libraries, EBSCO has a strong history of supporting open source platforms that provide libraries with the systems that work for them, regardless of the library’s size or resources. This directly aligns with the Evergreen community’s efforts to enhance the management and discoverability of libraries’ diverse materials and formats.”

For more information on MassLNC, visit http://masslnc.org and to learn more about Evergreen, visit http://evergreen-ils.org.

About Evergreen
Evergreen is the leading Integrated Library System for consortia and delivers local flexibility and granularity of policies that no other software can match. Evergreen maintains robust performance on its open PostgreSQL database and delivers the most interoperability for libraries via its truly open APIs. The Evergreen community is made up of individuals, libraries, companies, and other organizations that support the software. Approximately 1,800 libraries around the world use Evergreen.
Evergreen is open-source software, licensed under the GNU GPL, version 2 or later. It is available to all for download from the Evergreen web site at http://evergreen-ils.org.

About Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative (MassLNC)
The Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative is a collaborative project between two Massachusetts library consortia - the Central/Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing network (C/W MARS) and the North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE) - to work together to support and improve Evergreen. The project started with the support of a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and is currently supported by the participating consortia and development partners.

The cooperative's goals are to provide a mutual support mechanism among full members, facilitate the pooling of resources for continued development of Evergreen, and to grow expertise to support and improve Evergreen. MassLNC also coordinates the MassLNC Evergreen Development Initiative, an opportunity for libraries and consortia running Evergreen to maximize their resources by pooling funds to sponsor exciting new features and important improvements for the open-source system. More information about MassLNC can be found at http://masslnc.org.

About EBSCO Information Services
EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is the leading discovery service provider for libraries worldwide with more than 11,000 discovery customers in over 100 countries. EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) provides each institution with a comprehensive, single search box for its entire collection, offering unparalleled relevance ranking quality and extensive customization. EBSCO is also the preeminent provider of online research content for libraries, including hundreds of research databases, historical archives, point-of-care medical reference, and corporate learning tools serving millions of end users at tens of thousands of institutions. EBSCO is the leading provider of electronic journals & books for libraries, with subscription management for more than 360,000 serials, including more than 57,000 e-journals, as well as online access to more than 900,000 e-books. For more information, visit the EBSCO website at: www.ebsco.com. EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., a family owned company since 1944.
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For more information, please contact:
Kathy Lussier
MassLNC Coordinator
(508) 343-0128
klussier@masslnc.org