Academic Reps: Sylverna Ford, Mary Ellen Sloane, Lori Warren
This fall’s Tenn-Share Datafest and Conference will be held on Thursday, October 26 and Friday, October 27. The theme this year is ‘Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges’. We’ll be featuring stories of libraries collaborating with other libraries, community groups, and organizations towards a common goal.
As the Tenn-Share Academic Library Representatives, we'd like to encourage academic librarians to share their experiences with collaborations across library types. If your academic library is involved in such a partnership, we'd love to hear about it. Please submit a proposal for a presentation for this year's Tenn-Share Conference. Panel discussions featuring popular topics are also encouraged
If you’re looking for panelist or presentation partners, please reach out on the Tenn-Share
Facebookto connect with others that are interested in presenting on the same topic. If you'd like to discuss a proposal or idea before submitting, feel free to contact us.
How can a membership in Tenn-Share benefit my organization? As a board member, I’m asked this question frequently by my colleagues in the special library field. The best answer I can give is being part of a consortium gives your organization buying power you wouldn’t have otherwise. Member libraries can acquire database subscriptions, supplies, and collection materials at discounted rates.
For instance, the average discount at Ingram for Tenn-Share special libraries is 38%. Just think about the extra books you can add to your collection with a savings like that! For those in the medical field, you can receive a 10% discount on nursing journals (CINAHL) through EBSCO – that’s nothing to sneeze at. If you are interested in learning what other discounts members receive visit
https://www.tenn-share.org/benefits. I hope you’ll consider joining this vast network of area libraries; you’ll be glad you did!
Partnering your K-12 school with Tenn-Share opens new possibilities to you and your patrons. School libraries already benefit from the Tennessee Electronic Library, a free service that was the brainchild of Tenn-Share. The organization also offers deep discounts on resources many schools are already using, so your annual membership fee will quickly pay for itself with the savings earned on products you’re already buying. For example, Tenn-Share member libraries receive discounts from Demco, Junior Library Guild, and a 50% savings from Movie Licensing USA! A new project underway is KEP, the K-12 eBook Project. KEP unites member libraries with Baker & Taylor’s eBook service to add eBook content to your school’s collection. This exciting partnership is in the final stages of planning, and Tenn-Share is looking for school libraries to help build from the ground up.
Tenn-Share is not only a great savings tool for your library, it’s also a wonderful networking tool for your library staff. Each fall, the free School Library Collection Fair is held to showcase favorite book vendors, publishers and database distributors serving the school library market. The Collection Fair is held in conjunction with DataFest and the Tenn-Share Fall Conference, which is a wonderful blend of academic, special, public, and school library vendors, presentations, and discussions. These events will be held in Nashville on October 26-27, 2017. Beyond the scheduled events, Tenn-Share seeks member library staff to become involved in a wide variety of committees that inspire growth and involvement with other library types.
With summer only weeks away, many public libraries are gearing up for their Summer Reading Program. As you think about program ideas, be sure to remember that Tenn-Share offers discounts on Movie Licensing USA. This product allows public libraries to show movies in their building without breaching copyright law. Showing movies is an easy, entertaining and even educational program that librarians can use across all age groups. To find out more about this resource and others that Tenn-Share has to offer, check out the link
here.
