Pioneer Consortium Takes Off

The Pioneer Consortium, a group of five Nebraska libraries, now has an agreement with LibLime, a division of PTFS to provide an open source integrated library system (ILS) for those libraries. The group has been working for some time to reach this point and is now ready to share information with members of the Nebraska library community about their potential participation and when that might occur. The group’s goal since its beginning has been to acquire replacements for member libraries’ legacy ILS systems at lower cost and with less reliance on changes required by proprietary systems. The group also wanted to have a system that would allow for greater customization. Finally, Pioneer sees this as a way of sharing resources among members. Pioneer has chosen to go with the Koha open source product and has chosen to have a third party host the system rather than acquiring its own server to host the system. As of October 2010, Pioneer has begun the process of opening participation to other libraries, beginning with accredited public libraries, then moving on to membership for other types of libraries at a later date. If you are attending the NLA/NEMA Annual Conference next week, you may wish to drop in on the session entitled, “Pioneer’s Progress” scheduled for Friday, October 15 at 8 AM. More information including a demonstration of software features will be offered. The Nebraska Library Commission today e-mailed to directors of libraries more complete information about the Pioneer Consortium’s plans. For more information about the Pioneer Consortium and its efforts, you may contact: Steve Fosselman, President of the Pioneer Consortium; Grand Island Public Library; 211 North Washington St., Grand Island 68801; sf@gi.lib.ne.us; 308-385-5333.