Southeastern Library Network

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The Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) is a not-for-profit membership cooperative of libraries and other information organizations in the southeastern United States. Established in 1973 by the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), SOLINET collaborates with member libraries and local, regional, and national partners to provide leadership for cooperative action to improve access to information and enable members to effectively address the region’s needs for education and economic development. SOLINET emphasizes the value of a cooperative infrastructure for the wise stewardship of information, human, and financial resources. Each member receives the benefits of regional library cooperation through sharing of resources and expertise, forums for collaboration, and access to cost-effective programs and services. SOLINET is the largest regional library network in the U.S.

From 99 charter members in 1973, SOLINET has grown to include more than 2,600 libraries today from ten southeastern states and the Caribbean (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). SOLINET’s membership includes all sizes and types of libraries – academic, research, public, school, corporate, medical, law, and special. A Board of Directors, elected by and from the membership, governs SOLINET. It is based in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia.

One of the notable achievements of SOLINET is establishing a program that measures effectiveness of preservation workshops. It is called the Workshop Follow-Up program, and is part of the Preservation Services training and outreach program. Considering that continuing education in library and archives preservation is essential, the program aims to keep conference attendees aware of the topics and remind them after the workshops what they learnt. The evaluation compiled in 1999 revealed the fact that, while 94 percent of respondents had taken some action to improve, the follow-up survey itself served as a reminder of the importance of preservation activities ^[1].

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, SOLINET has played a major role in recovery efforts of academic and public libraries throughout the Gulf Coast, which were affected by the 2005 hurricane season. In 2006, SOLINET received a $12.2 million grant via the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ^[2] and an $896,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to help support the recovery efforts ^[3].