Duluth, Ga., June 17, 2019: Equinox is honored to announce its first in-kind grant, the Equinox Open Source Grant. The program provides hosting and support of Koha, the first open source Integrated Library System to be used worldwide, to successful grantees.

The first cycle of the grant will begin accepting applications August 26, 2019. The program is designed to provide access to a modern, online library catalog to non-profit and governmental organizations that possess a library but do not have the financial and technological resources to contract for commercial services.

“Providing sustainable technology options to libraries is at the heart of what we do,” said Mike Rylander, president and founder of Equinox. “Open source technology provides insulation against financial challenges in addition to placing libraries in the driver’s seat when it comes to innovation. It is our vision that every community, regardless of size or funding, should benefit from a thriving and accessible library.”

Successful applicant libraries will gain Koha hosting in addition to training and access to Equinox’s video library. The program also encompasses consulting time for software configuration. As part of the grant Equinox will provide basic support. At the end of the program applicants have the option to renew as long as they meet the requirements of the grant.

To apply for the program grantees must: be a U.S. 501(c)3 organization or a U.S. federal, state, or local governmental entity, have a library or archives collection that is no larger than 50,000 items, and do not have the financial resources to pay for full commercial library catalog services or the ability to host a system in-house.

Full application details and submission information will be released later this summer. Follow Equinox Open Library on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest updates.

About Equinox Open Library Initiative
Equinox Open Library Initiative Inc. is a 501(c)3 company engaging in literary, charitable, and educational endeavors serving cultural and knowledge institutions. As the successor to Equinox Software, Inc., the Initiative carries forward a decade of service and experience with Evergreen and other open source library software. At Equinox OLI we help you empower your library with open source technologies. To learn more, please visit https://www.equinoxinitiative.org/.

About Koha
Created in 1999 by Katipo Communications for the Horowhenua Library Trust in New Zealand, Koha is the first open source Integrated Library System to be used worldwide. The software is a full-featured ILS with a dual-database design (search engine and RDBMS) built to be compliant with library standards. Koha’s OPAC, staff, and self-checkout interfaces are all web applications. Distributed under the General Public License (GPL), libraries are free to use and install Koha themselves or to purchase support and development services. For more information on Koha, please visit https://koha-community.org.

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