SEKLS has chosen Koha as the integrated library system (ILS) for the automation/ILS consortium. Koha is an open source product, and we will contract with the company Liblime to host and administer the ILS for us. Information on membership in the consortium and the costs are below.

Membership
All SEKLS libraries (academic, public, and school) are welcome to join the ILS consortium. If your library is automated, you could be included either with or soon after the initial start-up date, and at any point thereafter.

Non-automated libraries will be added one at a time. First priority for non-automated libraries are the three libraries which were part of the LSTA grant for which no retrospective conversion work has been done. Other non-automated libraries wishing to join the consortium will be scheduled as soon as possible after these three libraries are done. We estimate that it will be the fall of 2009 before additional non-automated libraries can be accommodated.

Libraries which were part of the LSTA grant will be contacted individually to confirm that they wish to participate in the Koha ILS. Other libraries should contact either Joe Tholen or Roger Carswell at SEKLS if they wish to join, or would like more information.

Start-up costs
For libraries which were part of the LSTA grant: start-up costs will remain the same as you were anticipating with the Horizon system in the PSU Axe Library consortium, which was $100 per “seat”. Although “seats” are not relevant under Koha, your start-up costs will be based on this. If you are not sure how many seats you had requested for Horizon, contact Roger Carswell or Joe Tholen.

For other libraries:

• Basic cost of $2,560
Also, 12˘ per record to migrate your current database (if you are automated) if done with the initial group, and 15˘ per record thereafter. However, SEKLS will pay the first $1000 in data migration costs.
The $2,560 will remain the same for joining at any time within our 5-year contract with Liblime.
It may be possible to obtain additional LSTA grant funds to offset part of these costs, but this LSTA grant is only available for public libraries. SEKLS must apply for the LSTA grant on behalf of your library.

Annual Membership Fee
After the first year, the annual membership fee will be based on the following schedule.

Instititional budget	Annual fee
Less than $10,000	$100
10,001 to 25,000	$200
25,001 to 50,000	$300
50,000 to 100,000	$500
100,001 to 200,00	$800
200,001 and up	$1,000

For colleges or schools, this is based on the total institutional budget. A 50% discount will be given for each library beyond the first one from a school district.

If the consortium grows large enough, the annual fee may be reduced in future years. It will not be increased within the five years of the 5-year contract with Liblime.