Duluth, Ga., July 27, 2020: Equinox Open Library Initiative is honored to announce the successful migration of Spark Central of Spokane, Washington to the Koha Integrated Library System. They were one of two 2019 Equinox Open Source Grant recipients.

Spark Central was founded in 2016 when INK Art Space and the Spark Center merged to become Spark Central, a non-profit organization supporting the development of creativity, imagination and innovation by breaking down barriers to access. Their migration encompassed 2,717 bibliographic records and 5,021 patrons. Equinox services included: project management and system configuration in addition to extraction and migration of bibliographic, item, transaction, and patron data. Equinox also provided Koha support, hosting, auxiliary services, and staff training.

"Spark Central's library offers West Central [Spokane] families access to technology, kits, books, and DVDs, but our old library system was cumbersome, frustrating, and was constantly having errors,” said Brooke Matson, Executive Director at Spark Central. “We did not even have barcodes to scan. Working with Equinox has been like night and day! Their team has been exceptional to work with and held our hand during the transition and data migration, going out of their way to customize our user interface. It's amazing to have a system so accessible to our patrons and easy to use. It has super-charged our library lending power!"

The Equinox Open Source Grant was offered for the first time in 2019 providing Koha migration, support and training to two successful grantees. The grant was inspired by the vibrant open source community and the belief that every community deserves to benefit from an accessible and thriving library.

"I was really excited when we announced that Spark Central had received the grant,” said Rogan Hamby, Data and Project Analyst at Equinox. “It was even more of a thrill to be on the migration team as community libraries that are tightly integrated into the lives of their neighborhoods are important to me. At every step working with the Spark Central staff was a pleasure and their passion for their community came through in everything we did."

To learn more about Koha and the expert services Equinox has to offer please visit https://www.equinoxinitiative.org/ .

About Equinox Open Library Initiative
Equinox Open Library Initiative Inc. is a nonprofit 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.

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 http://koha-community.org.

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FOLIO’s Goldenrod Release Signifies Version One of the Open Source Library Services Platform is Ready for Adoption
~ Goldenrod Release Signifies Core Functionality Now Available to Libraries Looking to Implement FOLIO ~
July 27, 2020

PHILADELPHIA — July 27, 2020 — The FOLIO Open Source Community has issued its latest named release opening the way for many sites to adopt FOLIO. The Goldenrod Release signifies the completion of Version One (V1) ILS functionality for the FOLIO Library Services Platform (LSP).

The open source project, which leverages expertise from libraries, developers and service providers, has built an open source LSP that is being implemented around the world. The Goldenrod Release includes core functionality that will allow libraries to move to FOLIO from their current, traditional Integrated Library System (ILS) or LSPs.

Jesse Koennecke, outgoing Chair of the FOLIO Product Council and Director of Acquisitions and E-Resource Licensing Services at Cornell University Libraries says the Goldenrod release marks a shift as the FOLIO Community moves from developing core functionality to focusing on expanded features identified since the initial roadmap was planned. “With libraries actively implementing FOLIO, the project has hit an essential milestone envisioned when we began — functionality allowing libraries to move to the open source LSP. We are now excited to continue to work on additional features and functionality to respond to requests that extend or innovate with the FOLIO platform to better serve libraries.”

Harry Kaplanian, EBSCO Information Services’ Vice President of Product Management for FOLIO Services is a member of FOLIO’s Product Council and the FOLIO Roadmap facilitator. He says the Goldenrod Release means FOLIO Core features are ready for adoption. “The entire FOLIO Community has been working toward V1 development status so libraries can begin implementing the FOLIO platform and library service applications.”

Academic institutions have taken a variety of pathways when moving to FOLIO. Some have started with ERM (electronic resource management) functionality first before replacing an existing ILS implementation or leveraging FOLIO apps such as circulation and inventory. Other libraries have planned their conversion from a legacy ILS to coincide with the Goldenrod Release. There are additional sites that will go live with features planned for releases later this year and into 2021.

The next release will be the Honeysuckle Release in October. Information about the FOLIO Community and the upcoming releases can be found at https://wiki.folio.org.

About FOLIO
FOLIO is a collaborative effort among libraries, vendors, developers and consortia that leverages open source technology and a community-based effort to redefine library services and innovate based on library futures. By building on what libraries need and by leveraging library expertise as well as vendor capacity and velocity, FOLIO is designed to move libraries forward, build on the services they provide and redefine the role libraries play within their institution. FOLIO also levels the playing field and makes open source technology available to all institutions regardless of size or staffing. FOLIO brings vendors together to innovate and host services for customers and introduces open source as a service to libraries. To sign up to participate or receive more information go to www.folio.org.

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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Media Relations, FOLIO
978-223-0438
kathleen@folio.org

Libraries who utilise OpenAthens can now access Exact Editions digital subscriptions through the service, allowing staff and students seamless access through their existing institutional accounts.

The launch means that existing and new users can access institutions’ Exact Editions subscriptions on site or remotely through a single set of credentials, ensuring a simpler user journey.

Institutional digital subscriptions are available here: https://institutions.exacteditions.com/

International Sales Manager Kieran Prince said: “We’re delighted that Exact Editions subscriptions are now accessible with OpenAthens software, which allows library users to browse all content in one place.”

Daryl Rayner, Managing Director of Exact Editions, said: “Institutions will benefit from this new feature that deepens Exact Editions’ integration into library systems around the world.”

About OpenAthens:

OpenAthens, part of Jisc, develops and supports identity and access management software. With a mission to remove barriers to knowledge and connect people to information, the software is used by over 2,600 organisations and has over four million end-users.

About Exact Editions:

Exact Editions is a digital publishing company based in London. They are a team of producers, developers and designers who turn periodicals with archives into dynamic, user-friendly digital editions. Exact Editions specialises in digitising content and selling subscriptions across web, iOS and Android platforms, for individuals and institutions.