Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Community College Librarians Keep Digital Platform Running in California

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 01/07/21

A recent effort by a team of librarians has resulted in a three-year agreement to continue the shared library services platform. Community College League of California, a nonprofit that supports community colleges, has signed a three-year contract with ExLibris to continue making the company's online library services Alma and Primo available to 110 participating colleges in the state.

The system, dubbed the Library Services Platform (LSP) by the colleges, allows students to use a single search for physical library materials, library database subscriptions, digital books and open educational resources. They can access electronic resources, check their library records and renew books online.

Originally funded by a one-time grant from the California Community College Tech Center, LSP usage was scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2020, when no replacement funding had been identified.

The League stepped in and worked with the Council of Chief Librarians to renegotiate the original contract. That was signed before the end of December, enabling the colleges to continue use of the service without a break. Calling the program "critical to our community college students," Lisa Mealoy, chief operating officer for the League, said that financial support also came from the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, which provided an additional $440,000 grant for that first year of usage.

The ongoing annual cost of the program is divided among the participating colleges, based on their full-time equivalent enrollments.

According to Amy Beadle, the League's Library Consortium Director, the library platform has turned out to be "one of the most successful statewide technology projects the state has seen — 110 colleges joined and went live in 11 months." As Beadle noted, many of those libraries wouldn't have been able to continue functioning during COVID without the LSP program.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Businessman using laptop to analyze and control information security data

    Survey Reveals Data Governance Enforcement Gap for Agentic AI Tools

    According to a new report, 99.7% of IT and security leaders surveyed by identity security company Delinea said their organization has a formal policy governing what data AI tools and agents are permitted to access. Yet only about 51% said AI access is checked against those policies in real time.

  • Hootsuite

    Beyond the Feed: How Higher Ed Turns Social Media Into a Measurable Enrollment Engine

    More than half of prospective students research programs on social media before visiting a university website, and nearly half will skip applying to a school that looks inactive online. Hootsuite, the all-in-one social OS platform trusted by more than 2,000 higher education institutions, helps campus teams turn everyday posts into measurable outcomes, from applications to alumni giving.

  • Abstract Network Connection Structure with Glowing Nodes and Lines on Dark Background

    Rubrik, CrowdStrike Expand Integration to Speed Identity Recovery

    Cybersecurity companies Rubrik and CrowdStrike have announced an expanded identity-security integration intended to move compromised identity environments from threat detection through clean recovery with less manual intervention.

  • Minimalist binary data fragmentation

    Fragmented Data Is Quietly Undermining Student Success and Cybersecurity Hygiene

    Siloed tools, teams, budgets, and resources spread across departments and campuses generate massive amounts of data. However, fragmentation creates unnecessary exposure to security threats and inadvertently reduces student support because no one can see the whole picture.