FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Candi Clevenger, Communications Manager, (614) 728-3600 ext. 329,
candi@ohiolink.edu.
Don W. Barlow, Westerville Public Library,
(614) 882-7277, ext. 140,
barlowd@westervillelibrary.org.
Columbus, Ohio (April 6, 2005) – Westerville Public Library will become the second public library to participate in the Ohio Library and Information Network’s online borrowing system during a one-year pilot project. Beginning April 11, Westerville Public Library users will have access to 43.9 million books and other resources from OhioLINK, a consortium of Ohio's college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio.
“This pilot will provide an opportunity to define how expanding the OhioLINK program to include public libraries can further leverage the state’s information resources and benefit both Ohio’s higher education community and all Ohioans,” Tom Sanville, executive director of OhioLINK, said.
Records for the Westerville Public Library’s 200,000 items are currently available in the OhioLINK Library Catalog. Beginning April 11, Westerville Public Library users will be able to log on to www.wpl.lib.oh.us and borrow books directly from OhioLINK’s 85 member libraries. Requested books will be delivered in just two to three days and may be picked up at the Westerville Public Library or any participating OhioLINK library.
“We are indeed excited for the opportunity to join OhioLINK in this pilot project to make all of our resources available to the higher education community,” Don W. Barlow, director of the Westerville Public Library, said. “As we continue to strengthen our partnerships throughout Ohio, I can easily envision the day when all of Ohio's vast resources are available to every citizen.”
The 600,000 students, faculty, staff and researchers OhioLINK serves will also benefit from the pilot. OhioLINK users will be able to request books from Westerville Public Library’s collection online using the OhioLINK Library Catalog and may choose to pick up their requested materials at the Westerville Public Library or any participating OhioLINK library.
This is OhioLINK’s second pilot project to share library materials with a public library. The first pilot, with Cuyahoga County Public Library, began in August 2004. Next fall, OhioLINK will begin a similar one-year pilot program with the Upper Arlington High School Library. The pilot will give high school students the chance to access scholarly materials from OhioLINK libraries.
OhioLINK users have been benefiting from a shared catalog of library resources, combined with online borrowing capabilities, since 1994. Users have access to millions more titles than available in their local campus libraries, and requested items are delivered in days, not weeks as with traditional interlibrary loan. Online borrowing continues to be a core service of the OhioLINK program, 702,000 library items were borrowed through the network from February 2004 through February 2005.
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The Ohio Library and Information Network is a consortium of academic libraries that serves more than 600,000 students, faculty, and staff at 85 institutions. OhioLINK’s membership includes 17 public universities, 23 community/technical colleges, 44 private colleges and the State Library of Ohio. OhioLINK provides easy access to information and rapid delivery of library materials throughout the state. For more information, visit www.ohiolink.edu/about.