February 2009:

History

The North Star Library Consortium (NSLC) grew out of collaboration in 2003, between the Northern Lights Library Network (NLLN) and two small school districts in northwest Minnesota, looking for new approaches to effective media center management. In 2004, with the aid of an Enhancing Education Through Technology (E2T2) grant, the Consortium became a joint project of NLLN and Region 1 in Moorhead, MN, to provide a web-based, centrally hosted, library management program for school and special libraries in the NLLN/Region 1 area. Follett’s Destiny was selected as the software to be utilized for the Consortium and membership began to grow. At the end of the E2T2 grant in 2005, the Consortium had 63 member libraries on the Destiny system hosted at Region 1. The bibliographic and patron records for each library had been cleaned, converted, migrated and their staff had been trained in the use of Destiny in a collaborative learning environment.

Since that beginning, the Consortium has continued to grow in membership. Members enjoy the benefits of ongoing training sessions and professional development, software user support via a webpage, listserv, online technical help, Follett support, and staff development opportunities provided by NLLN and CMLE. In addition, Region 1 provides a secure hosted environment for the members, with on-going data backup, state-of-the-art technology, and a highly trained technical staff. The Destiny software application is upgraded twice a year to ensure that members have access to the most comprehensive version available. 

In April 2008, the Consortium had grown to 86 member libraries with a shared catalog containing over a million copy records and 46,000 patrons doing more than a million circulation transactions each year. While each member library customizes and maintains the look and feel of their Destiny application, the Consortium has created a community of users and an effective support network for professional growth and development.

In April 2008, another E2T2 grant was received by Region 1, NLLN, and CMLE. This grant will be used in FY09 to:

1.      Convert the Consortium from one large shared catalog, to a centrally administered, distributed system providing a shared catalog within each school district/special library in the Consortium. This conversion to the Follett Consortium model gives greater autonomy to individual school districts while still providing the cost effectiveness and technical support of a hosted software solution. (Completed in June 2008).

2.     Membership was extended out from the NLLN/Region 1 area to include the schools and special libraries of the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange (CMLE) area, based in St Cloud. (June 2008-Dec 2009) and, as of Jan 1, 2009, has become available across the state of Minnesota. We plan to add an additional 20-25 libraries in school year 2009.

3.      Grant funds will be used to lower the cost of new licenses for members who are migrating to Destiny and the Consortium. This will be on a first-come basis and will go initially to districts in the NLLN and CMLE regions. Grant funds will also be used for Destiny training for all new Consortium members, and to provide staff development opportunities.

4.      The Consortium has worked with Follett to establish Consortium pricing for Destiny licenses, as well as for ongoing support, and for additional subscription services. These cost savings are available to all Consortium members.

5.     The Consortium supports the staff in member libraries by means of frequent staff development opportunities, as well as a dedicated listserv, webpage, and other on-line resources.

6.     Districts that are already using Destiny, and have a Destiny license, may join the Consortium by migrating their bibliographic and patron databases to the NSLC Destiny software administered by Region 1. There is a one-time cost for the migration, and then on-going annual hosting and software support costs thereafter. This may be a desirable option for those users of Destiny who would like to move to a hosted environment.