Atlanta, Ga., September 6, 2022: Equinox Open Library Initiative is pleased to announce the successful implementation of Koha ILS at the Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn, New York (NY), with funding provided by the Equinox Open Source Grant. The grant provides implementation, training, hosting, and support services for Koha ILS, an open source integrated library system used by libraries worldwide.

First launched in 2019, the Equinox Open Source Grant was inspired by the vibrant open source community and the belief that every community deserves to benefit from a searchable, accessible, and thriving library. Previous recipients include the Center for Khmer Studies, the Vermont Jazz Center, Biblioteca Nacional de Puerto Rico (BNPR) and Spark Central of Spokane, Washington.

“Working with Equinox to get the Koha ILS set up has been a great experience,” said Rachel Finn, Collections Manager at Weeksville Heritage Center. “With Koha’s lists and reserves, as well as other interesting features, we’ll be able to make our small and unique collections at Weeksville Heritage Center more accessible to users.”

Weeksville Heritage Center is a historic site and cultural center in Brooklyn, New York dedicated to preserving the history of Weeksville, one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America, and the Historic Hunterfly Road Houses. Their 5th of July Resource Center provides access to their collections, archives and oral histories to students, teachers, scholars and the general public.

“Increasing access to a powerful collection such as the one stewarded by the Weeksville Heritage Center is a moving project to be a part of,” said Rogan Hamby, Data and Project Analyst at Equinox Open Library Initiative. “Its partnerships like these that clearly illustrate the impact open source has on the communities it serves, enabling access to critical cultural collections at any scale.”

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For more information:
Laura Barry
Communications Coordinator
Equinox Open Library Initiative, Inc.
EquinoxOLI.org
laura.barry@equinoxOLI.org
877.OPEN.ILS (877.673.6457)
 

About Equinox Open Library Initiative
Equinox Open Library Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is the successor to Equinox Software, Inc. Equinox’s mission as a nonprofit is to promote and support a thriving ecosystem for open source library communities in order to provide libraries worldwide with innovative, affordable, and sustainable open source solutions. We are devoted to reducing barriers to library technology and services, expanding library access to open source software, and providing high quality technology, consulting, and support services.To learn more, please visit https://www.equinoxOLI.org.

About Koha ILS
Created in 1999 by Katipo Communications for the Horowhenua Library Trust in New Zealand, Koha Integrated Library System is the first open source Integrated Library System to be used worldwide. The software is a full-featured ILS with a dual-database design (search engine and RDBMS) built to be compliant with library standards. Koha’s OPAC, staff, and self-checkout interfaces are all web applications. Distributed under the General Public License (GPL), libraries are free to use and install Koha themselves or to purchase support and development services.  For more information on Koha, please visit https://www.equinoxoli.org/products/koha/.