Open Library Foundation Established

Foundation created to promote open source projects for libraries

September 9, 2016

BOSTON — September 9, 2016 — The Open Library Foundation has been established to promote open source projects for libraries and to foster and support contribution, distribution, and sustainability of the benefits of these projects. The foundation provides the infrastructure for librarians, developers, designers, service providers, and vendors to collaborate with innovative open source technologies and develop transformative solutions for libraries.

The foundation was inspired by the creation of the FOLIO project. FOLIO was announced in June and is now building a diverse community of libraries, vendors and software developers. The goal of FOLIO is to create an open source Library Services Platform that can power innovative approaches to current practice, and encourage new and expanded library services that more fully support scholarly inquiry and knowledge production. The Foundation’s inaugural projects also include two existing open source communities, the Open Library Environment (OLE) and the Global Open Knowledgebase (GOKb).

The OLE and GOKb Communities are joining the Open Library Foundation to leverage the Foundation’s exclusive focus on libraries, the library community, and open technologies and data. Michael Winkler, OLE Managing Director and Open Library Foundation Board Member, says OLE and the Open Library Foundation share a common goal. “The foundation’s mission to foster and support open source projects is consistent with OLE’s vision for collaboration to inform library technology development and to promote the innovation of great software for libraries, created through community involvement.” OLE is contributing developers, functional experts, and community infrastructure to the FOLIO project and helping to build the FOLIO community.

Winkler says a community approach to innovation changes the way we collectively advance the mission of libraries. “By bringing libraries together with developers and service providers, the Open Library Foundation shifts how library technology is created. We want to serve the unique needs of libraries and position libraries to move beyond traditional services to reshape the role libraries play at their institution.”

The Open Library Foundation will make sure the code created from open source projects remains available and act as a “safe haven” for the projects’ output—separated from the needs and goals of any contributor, user or affiliated party. The Open Library Foundation also will ensure that the code is freely available under an Apache v2 license.

More information is available at www.openlibraryfoundation.org.

About FOLIO

FOLIO is a collaborative effort between libraries, vendors, developers and consortia that leverages open source technology and a community-based effort to redefine library services and innovate based on library futures. By building on what libraries need and by leveraging library expertise as well as vendor capacity and velocity, FOLIO is designed to move libraries forward, build on the services they provide and redefine the role libraries play within their institution. FOLIO also levels the playing field and makes open source technology available to all institutions regardless of size or staffing. FOLIO brings vendors together to innovate and host services for customers and introduces open source as a service to libraries. To sign up to participate or receive more information go to www.folio.org. Follow FOLIO on Twitter @FOLIO_LSP.

About the Open Library Foundation

The Open Library Foundation is a not-for-profit organization established as a neutral entity through which the library community at large can contribute to and benefit from the output of open source projects. The Open Library Foundation will make sure the code created from open source projects remains available and to acts as a “safe haven” for the projects’ output—separated from the needs and goals of any contributor, user or affiliated party. The Open Library Foundation will ensure that the code is freely available under and Apache v2 license. Find out more at www.openlibraryfoundation.org.

About OLE

The Open Library Environment (OLE) is an active community of academic and research libraries collaborating to build open source, extensible, and service-driven library management tools. The OLE Partners share a common vision to empower librarians and libraries by pooling resources and directing expertise and insights. When formed in 2008, OLE worked within the Kuali Community to build an open source library management system. Kuali OLE was released in 2014 and is implemented at three Partner sites. OLE has received generous funding from the Andrew W Mellon Foundation and its previous alliance with the Kuali Foundation provided needed infrastructure, technology, and guidance that was pivotal to the growth of OLE. As part of the FOLIO Community, OLE has partnered with EBSCO Information Services and Index Data to build on its mission to change the way library technology is created and foster a collaborative approach to innovation. Learn more about OLE at ole.openlibraryfoundation.org. Follow OLE on Twitter at @ole_community.