Boston, MA — January 19, 2022.  Spokane (Washington) Public Library became the first public library in North America to use the FOLIO Library Services Platform (LSP).  The library uses Index Data to host and support the open source platform for its six branches and community of 210,000 residents.  Averaging over two million circulations per year, it is among the largest installations of FOLIO to date.

The Executive Director of the Spokane Public Library, Andrew Chanse, greeted the installation with excitement. “Spokane Public Library is the first public library in the United States to create an open-source catalog using FOLIO. Through building an open-source catalog solution in-house, with help from the Index Data team, we will be able to utilize tax-payer dollars more efficiently and continue to offer excellent service to our community.”

Spokane began working with Index Data in mid-2020 to plan the migration from their previous integrated library system.  The library originally intended to run FOLIO on their own servers but changed direction to take advantage of Index Data’s hosting support.  Robert Roose, Support Services Manager at Spokane Public Library, said: “we realized that relying on Index Data’s expertise was the best way to ensure a successful go-live experience.” As part of the implementation, Spokane’s lead developer Gordon Goldner added features to FOLIO’s open source SIP2 module to integrate the library’s self-check terminals.  These modifications will be reviewed and added to the FOLIO code to be available to other FOLIO adopters under the project’s Apache Open Source License.

Mike Gorrell, Director at Index Data, and the engagement’s project manager said: “working with Spokane was a great experience. The team was flexible and adapted easily to several obstacles throughout, and they were able to leverage our team’s experience to make their migration successful.”

Spokane Public Library joins other esteemed institutions such as Lehigh University and Simmons University in using Index Data for FOLIO LSP hosting.  Additionally, Index Data hosts over 60 tenants on two ReShare resource sharing networks using FOLIO technology, making it one of the largest hosting operations of FOLIO platform tenants in the world.

 

About Spokane Public Library

Spokane Public Library is a community of learning. We look to build cooperative networks for sharing knowledge and opportunity and be the resource for free learning opportunities for all citizens. The Library provides community groups and businesses with cutting-edge resources to meet their goals and provide its community with opportunities for personal enrichment.

 

About Index Data

For over 25 years, Index Data has been building market-leading open source software relied on by libraries and service providers. As the lead architects/developers behind FOLIO’s novel design, Index Data has a unique understanding of the platform and offers hosting, migration, and customization services for libraries looking to adopt the FOLIO LSP. Index Data is also a key stakeholder in Project ReShare, a community-owned, open platform for resource sharing. Together, we’re building the library platform of the future. To learn more about Index Data, visit www.indexdata.com.