Libraries share, it’s what we’re here to do. Right now there’s no better way to accomplish that in the State of Indiana than participating in Evergreen.

Scott Tracey
West Lafayette Public Library

Patrons speak out

I have been made happy repeatedly when my library has been able to secure books for me on a vast array of subjects from libraries in the Evergreen System. My one daughter lives near Plainfield. I often take movies/books there for granddaughters to share with me. It is not uncommon for me to accidently leave a book there and I love that they then can return the books to the Plainfield Library – an Evergreen Library member. Evergreen is win-win in my book. Take note of that pun, too!

Our library is my tax dollar used wisely! The staff is caring and I do notice!

Sharon Barnett, Patron
Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library


I know this is fairly duh-huh but your local library is the absolute best place to pursue your reading addiction. Movies, books, audiobooks, and now even digital downloads are all available FREE of cost. Even if your local branch is small, many libraries now participate in the Evergreen Indiana system where books are shipped all over the state so that readers can share in an even more broader sense. I LOVE to cruise the catalog online at home and then slip in to pick up books once I receive an e-mail or call that they have arrived. It saves me both time and money.

Cherie Lowe, Blogger
Queen of Free: Frugal Bookworm Tips


Resource Sharing Rocks!

Most of our customers still read actual hardback books. Since we have a drive-thru window at the Seymour Library, we have customers who never enter a library building and have access to the collections of over 100 libraries. There are several times a week when we hand a stack of books to a customer in their car, and not a single title is from our own collection. We no longer have to worry about trying to find out of print items through InterLibrary Loan. Many times, some of the smaller libraries have those books on their shelves. We are saving over $35,000/year that we used to pay SIRSI and over $28,000/year that we paid OCLC! With us going live in 2008, we were able to cut the budget back during the recession and not affect staffing levels.

Julia Aker, Director
Jackson County Public Library


The resource sharing is great! We are a small library and thus can not buy every book that each and every patron wants, with the resource sharing we can get them almost any book usually within a week’s time. The patrons love it. It also allows for the book we do purchase to be shared around the state. If a book, I buy is not as popular as I may have thought it would be it can have another chance with the patrons of other libraries around the state. We are also saving a great deal of money. Since the system is open source, we are not paying the high maintenance fees that we had to pay with our old system. We were also able to get rid of our old server and did not have to put money into buying a new one as we would have had to do if we had kept our old system. The State Library personnel have been great about helping us with any problems we encounter and are quick about getting the system back up whenever it goes down. We are also kept informed about updates (which again are not costing us any extra money, unlike our system). If there is something that we all agree would make the system more user friendly either on the staff or the patron side, they have been responsive in trying to find a way to make it happen.

Celia Bandelier, Director
Roanoke Public Library


Resource sharing between public libraries through Evergreen has been huge for us. We no longer have to worry about replacing every book that is worn out, especially when it comes to series. Also, our patrons love that they can go to other Evergreen libraries and check out their materials.

Mary Glaser, Library and Collection Services Manager
Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library


We are a small library, serving 5,306 patrons. We love being able to borrow materials from 100+ libraries! It feels like we are a “big” library! Our library patrons are able to find almost anything they want in our library using Evergreen! It gives them so many more options and allows them to do things much more independently! We absolutely love Evergreen! It has been the best thing I have seen happen to our library since I have been here the past 13 years!

Vicki Melek, Director
Cambridge City Public Library


Why did my library join Evergreen Indiana?

  • Providing our patrons with expanded access to materials and the ability to share resources between libraries.
  • A cost effective ILS solution that allows smaller libraries to provide big library services and allows for robust record keeping and statistical tracking.
  • A community of libraries with fairly standardized workflows and policies to encourage ease of use for patrons and expansive support for library staff.

Ruth Frasur, Director
Hagerstown-Jefferson Township Public Library


Our patrons really like the ability to reserve books from other EI libraries and the convenience of having them sent here. They also like the ability of having a library card that is good at [100+] other libraries. As a staff member, I like knowing that if I have to withdraw a book by a popular author, I usually don’t have to reorder it because another EI library will have it if we need it later. Being part of EI has also provided a great opportunity to network with other libraries/librarians. Another benefit is the huge cost savings that being part of EI has given us. Multiply those savings with [100+] other libraries and the money our Indiana tax payers are saving is incredible. One of the best benefits, however, is the availability of the EI staff at the Indiana State Library to quickly solve any issues or listen to feedback/suggestions from us.

Shawn Heaton, Director
Van Buren Public Library


My library is an Evergreen Library, and I can honestly say that the reason I joined was not to save a few hundred bucks a year for delivery services.

I joined Evergreen to:

  1. Use the $25,000+ per year that I was paying to The Library Corporation for their ILS for other, better resources for my taxpayers.
  2. Maximize the services and materials to my patrons.
  3. Eliminate the confusion caused by our crazy library districting that gave some Morgan County residents access to my library system, but made others go to the Mooresville Library and vice versa.

In 2007, the Kernan-Shepherd report had three recommendations for Indiana’s libraries. The first was to consolidate into 92 county systems. So far, we have dodged that bullet. The second recommendation was to have our budgets reviewed by our governing bodies, which has happened. The third recommendation was for the “Indiana State Library continue its work to review, update and expand statewide purchasing and service arrangements to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of library services across the state.”

Evergreen is one answer to the third recommendation. It encourages resource sharing across the State and saves our taxpayers money, and produces demonstrable results to legislators. I, for one, would rather see that libraries and the State Library lead the way in resource sharing, rather than have it legislated for us by lawmakers who have no idea of our operations.

I also see on the new InfoExpress pricing structure that OCLC net lenders are also given a break. Those libraries, as well as the Evergreen libraries, expend considerable time and money to make resource sharing possible. Is it unfair that they are given a price break to do this? Maybe. And maybe they would continue to provide ILL services to all the net borrowing libraries even without the price break. Before my library became an Evergreen library, it sure was nice to be able to tell patrons that I could find some obscure volume for them that we didn’t carry because of the ILL service and I’m grateful to those libraries who were willing to lend to me. I’m sure they are spending far more on their OCLC membership alone than the few hundred dollars a year they save on delivery charges.

I hope that no library feels pressured to join Evergreen. I know I never felt like anyone was pressuring me to join. However, I also sincerely hope that anyone considering changing their ILS will give Evergreen an objective evaluation.

Krista Ledbetter, Director
Morgan County Public Library


Professional Success

“In 31 years working in libraries, Evergreen Indiana was the greatest experience of my professional life.”

Judy Hill, Cataloger, ret.
Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library