Evergreen and Small Libraries or The Evergreen Fairytale Karen Collier, Public Services Librarian Andrea Buntz Neiman, Technical Services Librarian

Once upon a time…

But What About…? Consortial Capabilities Support & Hosting Costs Hardware Costs $

Consortial Capabilities

Support & Hosting Costs

Hardware Costs

Matthew, Birth and 8 Months

The truth behind the tales Small library, teeny budget Library values = Open source values Don’t be afraid!

Small library, teeny budget

Library values = Open source values

Don’t be afraid!

The challenges of the small library All libraries have budget problems, but this is ridiculous … Small, rural areas feel economic strain earlier Small overworked staffs No in-house tech support

All libraries have budget problems, but this is ridiculous …

Small, rural areas feel economic strain earlier

Small overworked staffs

No in-house tech support

“ Hey you, 20-somethings! Fix the computer!”

Lack of support, fear of change Perception of OSS as a “techie” thing Overlords: Evil, but Protective? Institutional, pathological fear of change

Perception of OSS as a “techie” thing

Overlords: Evil, but Protective?

Institutional, pathological fear of change

The advantages of being small Small = flexible, fast-responding, non-bureaucratic No RFPs, red tape, silos OSS = budget-friendly!

Small = flexible, fast-responding, non-bureaucratic

No RFPs, red tape, silos

OSS = budget-friendly!

KCPL post-migration Staff ownership of Open Source Software Staff ideas influence the development track Patrons love the idea of supporting OSS, even if they’re not sure what OSS is Our community values = OSS values!

Staff ownership of Open Source Software

Staff ideas influence the development track

Patrons love the idea of supporting OSS, even if they’re not sure what OSS is

Our community values = OSS values!

Be thou not afraid, Small Libraries! You don’t have to do it alone Support, hosting, listservs, community Collaborate, innovate, share

You don’t have to do it alone

Support, hosting, listservs, community

Collaborate, innovate, share

Open Source: Use it, share it, love it

Thank you! http://catalog.kentcountylibrary.org Karen Collier, kcollier@kent.lib.md.us Andrea Buntz Neiman, aneiman@kent.lib.md.us Original material in this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

http://catalog.kentcountylibrary.org

Karen Collier, kcollier@kent.lib.md.us

Andrea Buntz Neiman, aneiman@kent.lib.md.us