Regular library users have noticed some changes to the library database over the past few months. There is a wider variety of materials, more copies of popular titles are available and the catalog shows that some of the items are owned by places like Ironton and Jackson City libraries. In November of last year, the Meigs County District Public Library and the Briggs Lawrence County Public Library took advantage of an offer from our library circulation software provider The Library Corporation (TLC) to merge the two library’s databases to form one big database which includes all of our materials. The newly formed cooperative venture is called the Ohio Valley Library Consortium (OVLC).
The overall goal of the OVLC is to improve service to library users through collaboration, cost savings and resource sharing. The decline in funding that libraries have suffered over the last several years has made it difficult for libraries to meet the needs of their users on their own. By sharing resources with our neighbors, we can provide the materials our customers need and do it in a cost effective manner. After merging our collections, the number of items available to be checked out by Meigs County users more than doubled. All library materials, with the exception of local history and genealogy are able to be requested from the OVLC libraries. Holds can be placed from your home computer through the library website, www.meigslibrary.org [1] or by calling the library to make your request. The delivery system which the libraries have had in place for many years is being utilized to move requested materials among the libraries at no additional cost.
At the beginning of June, the Jackson City Library database was merged with the existing OVLC database to expand the collection of materials even further, and it doesn’t stop there. Plans are underway to add the Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library of Vinton County in late July. Oak Hill Public Library will come on board in mid-August and the Sylvester Memorial Wellston Public Library is scheduled to join the OVLC consortium in September. The Portsmouth Public Library will be included in OVLC later in the fall. The OVLC libraries are committed to providing excellent service to all of our users and to growing the database by adding more libraries in the future to better meet the needs of those in our communities.
