August 31, 2023

Hello Evergreeners,

It has been a CRAZY summer.  Please note that this update isn’t comprehensive, but I’m not sure what comprehensive even means anymore.  With all of that said, this update is pretty action packed with several forms and surveys included.

2023 Evergreen Indiana Conference

Thank you to everyone who came out to the 2023 conference at the Garrison Conference Center at Fort Harrison State Park.  This was our first in-person conference since 2019, and it was delightful to see new and old (experienced) faces.  A special thank you to everyone who presented and helped with the logistics of it all.  The next Evergreen Indiana Conference will be in 2025, but we look forward to seeing you again in 2024 at the Regional User Group Meetings.

InfoExpress Courier Transition

Today, Thursday, August 31, will be the last day of service by Pillow Express on behalf of InfoExpress.  Tomorrow, NOW Courier will take over and begin the sorting process for the transition.  To help facilitate the transition, inter-system holds between Evergreen Indiana member libraries will be paused until Monday, September 18.  Holds may still be placed in the Evergreen system but will, in some cases, require a staff override and may have extended wait times.  NOW Courier will resume deliveries and pickups during the week of September 11 and you will likely have items that will be transiting back to home libraries during that week.  We are hoping that the intersystem holds pause will give them the opportunity to get routes and workflows ready for when we resume normal resource sharing.

LibraryIQ Training

Based on the great feedback from the Evergreen Indiana Conference, we have scheduled several trainings with Molly and Sarah of LibraryIQ during the month of September.  To register for one or all of these, please fill out this form.  After registering, you’ll receive a calendar invite that includes the zoom link(s) for the session(s) you’ve selected.  That invite won’t come immediately and may take a day or two to be sent.

Aspen Discovery Service

After over a year of discussion and research, the Executive Committee voted at the August meeting to accept a proposal by Equinox Open Library Initiative to implement the Aspen Discovery Service for the Evergreen Indiana Library Consortium.  An informational session took place during the 2023 Evergreen Indiana Conference and more will be scheduled later this year and as we approach the launch in 2024.  To aid in the first parts of set up, we are gathering information about digital services provided by your library using this survey.  We will be sending this information to all member library directors as well to fill out or direct to appropriate personnel.

2024 Regional User Group Site Proposals

In the fall of 2024, the Evergreen Indiana Library Consortium will sponsor several regional user group meetings around the State of Indiana.  These user group meetings give staff members of Evergreen Indiana member libraries the opportunity to gather with their consortium colleagues for discussion and learning.  Regional User Group meetings occur on a biennial basis alternating with the Evergreen Indiana Conference.  If you would like your library to serve as a host for one of these meetings, please fill out this form.  We will be accepting site proposals through March 2023, but wanted to get a head start on the process for those libraries that might require board approval or other considerations.

Pierceton Public Library Cataloging Parties

Pierceton Public Library is cruising right along with the work to catalog in their collections prior to launching with the Evergreen Indiana Library Consortium.  They have surpassed 30% and are well on their way to the next benchmark of 50%.  To help them on their way, there will be two more Friday cataloging parties on September 15 and October 20.  If you have Cat1 or Cat2 credentials, the time, desire (and permission in some cases) to participate, and a laptop and optional barcode scanner, fill out this form to RSVP.