Are you looking for discount pricing on Destiny software and its associated subscriptions? Budgets continue to be tight, and there is a need to find solutions to manage school library collections!

Destiny is a state-of-the-art software solution that supports K-12 students and staff in the classroom, media center, or from home. Its higher-end, school-specific functionality is typically priced outside of the reach of small districts, unless they have access to a consortial buy. The North Star Library Consortium is a statewide opportunity open to any school media centers.  Its “hosted solution pricing”  offers affordability and support to even the smallest school districts!

Why? Consider the following efficiencies…

• It is not necessary, but we strongly encourage all schools in a district to join the Consortium at the same time. Do you have high schools students reading at a middle school level, or vice versa? Within the Consortium, media specialists within a district can see all parts of the district’s collections, work together to share materials or solve problems, or assist each other with software tweaks too.This elevates the role of the school media center and its staff.
  
• Membership in the Consortium also provides access to over 200 other schools on a discussion list using the very same product, solving the same problems. For media specialists/paras who have been working in acute isolation, this can be energizing, and offers a huge layer of support in their daily work.
• Lacking tech support? By having the software hosted and maintained at Region 1 in Moorhead, MN, media specialists no longer have to rely on assistance from over-burdened tech staff in their district. Region 1 staff backs up Consortium data every two hours and attends to software updates too.

The full Consortium is currently represented by 110 districts, with 240 individual sites.  Over 2.8 million library titles are managed through this system, with an estimated value of $58 million, serving 182,716 patrons. Seventeen CMLE school districts and 42 schools are part of the North Star Library Consortium and include: Sartell, Rocori, East Central, Melrose, Aitkin, Long Prairie/Grey Eagle, Cathedral-John XXIII, North Branch, Kimball, Monticello, Paynesville, Becker, Maple Lake, McGregor, Royalton, Eden Valley-Watkins, and Osakis.

Interest in getting a bid? Go to http://bit.ly/1GuHtyN to see all of the schools in the Consortium and to access the process for requesting a bid for joining. Note: Requesting a bid does not obligate you to join, but it can give you the information to do some possible tweaking on your budget!

This is one possible solution. Have you found other cost-effective solutions for managing your school library collections? Interested in other CMLE services? Additional information can be found on our website.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/peod3sf, licensed under CC BY 2.0