Partner Spotlight - MetroShare Community of Libraries

by Elise Aiello on Sep 19, 2023

This month, our Partner Spotlight will focus on the MetroShare Community of Libraries in Texas.
The MetroShare Community of Libraries is a consortium of 11 public libraries in North Texas. We spoke with Erica Gill, Library Services Director at the Haltom City Public Library, to tell us more about the consortium.

Tell us a little bit about MetroShare

The MetroShare Community of Libraries is a consortium of 11 public libraries in North Texas: Benbrook Public Library, Burleson Public Library, Decatur Public Library, Forest Hill Library District, Haslet Public Library, Haltom City Public Library, Keller Public Library, Richland Hills Public Library, Roanoke Public Library, Saginaw Public Library, and Watauga Public Library. Collectively we serve a population of 256,116. Originally seven libraries formed the MetroShare in 2021, and 4 others joined in 2022.

Tell us something unique/interesting about your library

As a consortium, we have been awarded $225,000 in grant funding from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission over the past 3 years to help fund and grow the consortium. This year’s grant will be used to develop “The LOT,” a large, floating Library of Things Collection and shared programming initiatives.

How does being a part of the open source community help the MetroShare Community of Libraries?

Partnering with Bywater Solutions made the daunting task of forming a consortium from scratch not only possible, but nearly seamless! Their support is the best in the industry. They help us customize collections for each library’s individual needs, while maintain the integrity of a shared catalog. Koha’s capability for floating collections was the catalyst to be able to apply for the grant for the LOT, and it will help us facilitate moving this large collection (hundreds of items and kits!) around to all our patrons."