Tag Archives: Follett

General, School Media Specialist

Follett acquires Baker & Taylor

footer-logoHave you heard the big news? On April 18th, Follett acquired Baker and Taylor!

Follett, based in Westchester, Illinois, is used by many of our schools in providing content and systems to manage school library collections, textbooks, and even devices. The most recognizable product in our region is the Destiny Library Management system. Additional subscriptions like Title Peek are also popular and simply a part of school media center infrastructure. Baker & Taylor, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a leading distributor of books, video, and music products to public libraries, and serves as a wholesaler to retailers worldwide too. This acquisition could be a game changer.

Did you know that you can receive reduced pricing on the Destiny Library Management System and additional subscriptions too? Eighteen Central MN school districts have done so already through the MN North Star Library Consortium. Get more information here. This Consortium makes state-of-the art products affordable for even the smallest school districts.

Need more detail about the acquisition?

 

 

 

General, School Media Specialist

Follett announces integration with OverDrive, Mackin

325/365 ThanksgivingSue Polanka recently highlighted an announcement from Follett about their Destiny product. At the AASL Conference, Follett said that soon students and teachers won’t have to log into each separate product once they were logged into Destiny. Polanka explained the integration:

“The product integrations ensure that once users have logged into Destiny, they can access OverDrive or MackinVIA content without being presented with another separate login prompt from those vendors’ platforms. Students and staff can easily access the content from Destiny with a single click of a consistent open button, further negating the need to remember multiple usernames and passwords.”

It seems an unlikely partnership, but all parties involved are on board. This is an exciting announcement for Destiny users!

Read the whole post from Polanka now.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/mlmxvl5, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

How Central MN does book fairs!

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booksWe are so lucky to have great members who share their time to respond to CMLE polls. This input allows us to share with others what is happening in the region. Recently we asked what schools are doing regarding book fairs.

Quick Stats:

  • 96% of responders are using Scholastic
  • 2 – average number of book fairs during the school year
  • 40% – average dollar return of the total amount sold

Overall, all responders said they use the book fair to add books to their collection, but others said they use it for furniture, online subscriptions, and makerspace activities. Most responders scheduled their book fair to coincide with conferences at their school.

Responders also weighed in on book fairs:

“The book fair generates a lot of excitement and it is fantastic to see families visit the fair and leave with books to enjoy at home.”

“Each year our profits shrink. Considering changing or dropping completely.”
Like many library topics, there seems to be many opinions regarding book fairs. CMLE’s research shows that there are many different options and delivery methods for book fairs. Mackin’s Funds 4 Books promises 100% return. Barnes and Noble also offers book fair programs for schools. One responder had even worked with Usborne Books. While other schools have used Amazon.com to host virtual book fairs. Let us know if you know of any others and how they worked for you! We hope to continue to cover and talk about this issue in the future, so stay tuned.
Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/ojj9olm, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
General, School Media Specialist

Follett’s new Destiny Resource Manager

footer-logoRecently, Follett announced an addition to their tools that help school libraries. Destiny Resource Manager is a “new system that enables K-12 districts to track and manage all school assets.”

From Follett: “Resource Manager is a universal system for managing any and all assets (including print and digital textbooks)… [and]… provides Administrators with the data they need to ensure accountability to secure assets, and to make accurate ‘fact based’ budgeting and purchasing decisions based on asset utilization, condition and demand.”

It should be noted that Destiny Resource Manager will replace Destiny Asset Manager.