The Catamount Library Network (CLN) is a

consortium A consortium () is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations, or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a ...

of public libraries in the U.S. State of

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. It provides a unified library catalog using the

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

, Koha integrated library system.

Organization

The Catamount Library Network is incorporated as a

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

, governed by a 5-member board, chosen by a council composed of one representative from each member library, and officers (president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer), chosen by the board. The council also sets the CLN's annual budget and membership fees, and approves any bylaw changes. In addition, two groups have been established with representatives from each library, to address, respectively,

cataloging In library and information science, cataloging (American English, US) or cataloguing (British English, UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging ...

and circulation & loans issues arising within the CLN.

History and current status

The development and planning of The Catamount Library Network (CLN) began in 2010 with an initial 5 member libraries, with seed money, initial consultation, and support provided by the Vermont Department of Libraries. The Department of Libraries withdrew most of its assistance over several months in 2015. The primary motivation for forming the organization was cost savings from switching from proprietary to open source software, and by having one shared system (as opposed to each library maintaining, and paying for, its own separate system). Additionally, a unified catalog allows easier resource sharing between libraries. Initially, the CLN planned to use the Evergreen Integrated Library System, but later selected Koha as its ILS. The first 5 libraries switched to the new system in the spring and summer of 2013. An additional 12 libraries have since joined the organization, 9 of which, have added their holdings to the unified catalog. 3 other libraries are currently in various stages of preparation. One library, Lawrence Memorial Library in Bristol, VT initially joined, but left before being added to the consortium's catalog. It has since joined VOKAL instead. As a result of concern over unrecovered transition costs from Lawrence Memorial leaving CLN, the board voted on September 22, 2014, to require new members to pay a non-refundable deposit of $350(US). The CLN continues to seek additional members.

Database hosting

The Catamount Library Network's common Koha database and software are hosted by

ByWater Solutions ByWater Solutions is a privately owned and funded company founded in California in March 2009 by CEO Brendan A. Gallagher and CRO Nathan A. Curulla, which provides implementation, hosting, support, consultation, and development services for open so ...

VOKAL (The Vermont Organization of Koha Automated Libraries)

There is currently one other unified public library catalog in Vermont—VOKAL (The Vermont Organization of Koha Automated Libraries), established by the Green Mountain Library Consortium, and (like CLN), hosted by

CLN Member libraries (current and former)

References

External links

Catamount Library Network

Vermont Department of Libraries
{{authority control Public libraries in Vermont 2010 establishments in Vermont Organizations established in 2010 Library consortia in Vermont