NC LIVE and Rowan Public Library Celebrate 15 Years of Libraries Working Together

NC LIVE and Rowan Public Library Celebrate 15 Years of Libraries Working Together

 This past April marked NC LIVE’s fifteenth anniversary as a statewide collaborative library organization. First launched during National Library Week in 1998, NC LIVE has consistently provided online library resources and tools to patrons of North Carolina’s public and academic libraries, including Rowan Public Library.

Today’s world of always-online smartphones and ubiquitous Wi-Fi differs greatly from the online landscape faced by North Carolina libraries in 1998 when NC LIVE was first founded. A Pew Research Center report from that year showed only 41% of American adults used the internet, 35% used email, and only 13% had ever made an online purchase. But in 1998, librarians from North Carolina’s public and academic libraries recognized the change that the internet represented, and worked to ensure that their communities would benefit from it. Together, these libraries created NC LIVE, enabling access to premium digital information for all of North Carolina citizens through their libraries.

For the last fifteen years, North Carolina’s public and academic libraries have worked together through NC LIVE to provide the entire state with equitable access to electronic resources for all ages on topics ranging from business, careers and investing, to auto repair, health, history and genealogy.  This cooperation means that library patrons across the state have access to the same collection of high-quality content, from any computer with internet access.

To celebrate this accomplishment, NC LIVE created an online exhibit to celebrate fifteen years of libraries working together for their communities. The exhibit, available from http://nclive.org/15years, shares stories and memories of how different libraries from all across the state planned and created a shared digital library service for all of North Carolina. The exhibit includes video interviews with founding members, an interactive timeline, snapshots of the NC LIVE website through the years, and memories from library staff and patrons across the state who have benefited from access to NC LIVE content.

NC LIVE is a consortium of the state’s 201 public and academic libraries dedicated to helping North Carolina libraries in their efforts to support education, enhance statewide economic development, and improve the quality of life of their communities. Through North Carolina libraries, NC LIVE offers free access to electronic resources for all ages on topics ranging from business, careers and investing, to auto repair, health, history and genealogy.  NC LIVE eBooks, magazines, newspapers, journals, videos, and other materials are available online from any Internet connection from the Rowan Public Library website, and through www.nclive.org.