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Why would my library want to join SHARE?
Let me count the reasons...

  • Your library would be a member of the largest library automation consortium in North America.
  • Not many libraries can afford to purchase all of the items their patrons want or are interested in.  Pooling our resources helps everyone!
  • Your patrons would have access to over 8 million items.
  • Those 8 million+ items include books, audiobooks, dvds, kits, and a variety of other resources.
  • Your patrons can request any item 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via the online patron access catalog (PAC), which can be found at illshareit.com
  • Items can be requested at the patron’s home library, their home computer, or mobile device.
  • Items requested are delivered to your library for patron checkout through the IHLS and ILDS delivery systems within a matter of days.
  • Your circulation will increase dramatically.
  • Your library staff will receive training on the integrated library software (Polaris) at no cost, and at your library.
  • Your library will receive ongoing technical support from SHARE and IHLS IT staff.
  • For school libraries, you can order multiple copies of the same title—enough for a whole class to read the same book.  The same is true for Reading Groups.

 

Hear from our members
When our members were asked if joining SHARE was worth the massive amount of effort, here is what just a few had to say:

Yes! My students are borrowing and reading more than ever. They are so excited by all the books they have access to now. Since we don't have a public library in our town, I am glad that I can give them a taste of all the things libraries can do for them, so they will be motivated to seek them out after graduation.

Kelly Friedlein, Fisher Junior/Senior High School

Was it worth it? YES!!! It was overwhelming and tedious to barcode everything but now that it's done, it's great. We're still learning but last week we had a new patron who applied for a card and the look on her face when we said Oh, you moved here from Granite City, it was the icing on the cake. (for the record, she didn't have any fines or overdues). Everyday we're learning something new.

Gina Schwartz, Mt. Olive Public Library

It was worth every angry and bad word I wanted to say.  Our Home school patrons love to go online and order their own books.  Our non-Residents has increased because we now offer E-books. We get books in faster that we have ordered.  There are still times that it goes down and I get frustrated but overall I am very glad that Johnston City Public Library joined.

Cindy Pulsford, Johnston City Public Library

Yes, it was worth it, especially given the grant, which provided the much needed extra help without extra cost to the library.  I know our school library budget isn't as slim as other school library budgets, but we still have to really watch every dollar and cannot afford to buy everything our students and teachers want and need. Being part of IHLS helps us to stretch our budgets. Our high school students used the system primarily for books that they needed for their research projects; these types of nonfiction books can be expensive, so we cannot afford to buy them all.  And it also felt good to lend books out to other libraries that would have otherwise just sat on our shelves. I confess that having to transition two libraries during one summer break seemed a little overwhelming at first, but it went smoothly, and I appreciated all the help from Illinois Heartland!

Kristen Oster, Wesclin Middle and High School

Need even more?! Well, we have more!

 

Transitional Member Fees

Transitional member libraries will be expected to pay the following fees when they make the commitment to join the library automation consortium:

  • A $4,000.00 implementation fee, which offsets the cost of account setup, training, travel, and time for SHARE staff involved.
  • ½ the regular membership fees are billed during the July following the transitional member’s commitment to join SHARE, unless the new member library is live on the integrated library software at or near the beginning of the next fiscal year.  If so, full member fees will be billed.
  • If it is determined that it is possible to migrate records from its current integrated library software (ILS) to the SHARE ILS, the transitional member library will pay the fees charged by the ILS providers, plus 10% to offset the cost of SHARE staff time involved in the process.
  • If data migration is not possible, the transitional library will pay a $2,500.00 fee for SHARE cataloging staff to complete retrocon cataloging.  Retrocon cataloging refers to the process of finding or creating a bibliographic record for an item in OCLC’s Connexion, and then exporting the record into the integrated library software.  The library will be responsible for attaching the item record to the bibliographic record in the database.

Annual Membership Fees

 

Equipment needed to participate in SHARE
Products listed can be purchased from any source.

Bayscan Technologies provides SHARE with special IHLS pricing on many of their products.

TrySHARE

TrySHARE is a three-year program for standalone school libraries that are interested in SHARE membership, but unsure if it is right for them. The TrySHARE program allows participating libraries to borrow materials from the collection of over 8 million items owned by member libraries. Participants are assigned an institutional account they can use to request materials from the user-friendly SHARE Aspen Catalog. Items will be delivered through the IHLS delivery system. A participant in the TrySHARE pilot period found they saved $18,000 by requesting items through SHARE rather than purchasing them. Please contact Cassandra Thompson if you are interested in participating in TrySHARE. 

Eligibility Requirements 

  • Participants must be certified IHLS members 

  • TrySHARE is currently only available to school libraries 

  • Participants must agree to write a usage report and present on SHARE membership to their school administration every year