In 2014, local leaders in Johnson County, Kans., were looking to solve two problems. One one hand, local teachers were struggling to provide students the resources needed to continue their studies outside the classroom. And at the same time, the county's public libraries weren’t seeing its juvenile titles exactly flying off the shelves. So they turned to Baker & Taylor for help.
The result: the Axis 360 Community Sharing program, which can help communities get the most out of their library purchases.
In Johnson County, the program meant Johnson County schools could now rely on its neighboring public libraries to supply books and resources to students—whether on campus or studying from home. And Johnson County public libraries were able to better utilize their existing content, as well as more efficiently purchase new e-books based on the schools’ needs.
As a bonus, the program helped attract new and existing library users, leading to an impressive 44% increase in circulation for the public libraries’ chilldren's and teen collections. B&T officials say they now have live community shares in place in a number of other locales, with several large urban systems now in the discussions.
If this sounds like something your library might benefit from, stop by the Librarians’ Lounge. Baker & Taylor representatives will be there throughout BookExpo to answer your questions about Axis 360’s Community Sharing program, or any other B&T program.
Baker & Taylor representatives will be on hand throughout BookExpo at the PW BookExpo Librarians’ Lounge (Booth 875).
