Have you heard about the new collection of digital books for kids available for FREE in all the counties of NC? Did you know that it was made possible through a partnership between the NC Public Library Directors Association (NCPLDA), the NC General Assembly (NCGA), with assistance from the State Library and supported by an IMLS federal LSTA grant? If you would like to know more about this exciting new digital collection, please register for the webinar coming up on Thurs., April 27th at 2pm. Ruth Ann Copley, Director of the Davidson County Public Libraries and one of the driving forces behind this effort, will be providing an overview of how the collection came about, its logistics and how to access it, as well as plans for the collection over time.

1. Introducing NC Kids Digital Library

2. Agenda
• What is NC Kids
• History
• How it happened
• Logistics
• How to use it
• Future

3. First Consortium in the nation to include
all public libraries in the state.
• A first of its kind statewide eBook consortium
specifically for children has launched in the Tar
Heel State. The North Carolina Public Library
Directors Association (NCPLDA) together with
OverDrive and the state of North Carolina has
created a new digital resource sharing service for
kids’ pre-K through 4th grade, NC Kids Digital
Library.

4. NCPLDA and Lobbyist works with NC General
Assembly on behalf of Public Libraries

5. Legislative Budget Cycle: 2015-17
• In long legislative session of the budget, NCPLDA lobbied and got a
one million dollar increase in State Aid to Public Libraries and got rid
of a 2% overall cut in State Aid.
• In the same session the Legislature changed the Appropriations
Committee that handled the budget when the Department of Cultural
Resources was combined with Natural Resources.
• In the short session in 2016 this meant we had no established
relationships with the new committee
• Question arose whether to use this short session as relationship
building and not to make any “Big Ask.”

6. To Ask or not to Ask: that is the question
• Lobbyist, legislative contacts and most members of NCPLDA
Legislative Committee thought we should step back and not ask for
anything until we had connected with our new Appropriations
committees.

7. But what about the 3rd grade reading initiative?
NCPLDA has long had an interest
in 3rd grade reading proficiency
and many public libraries have
established partnerships with
local schools to help promote it.

8. NCPLDA General Membership Meeting Friday,
March 18, 2016 New Hanover Public Library
Wilmington, NC
• Jennifer Sackett-proposed children’s e-book consortium for the ask
from the legislature
• Lobbyist suggested go for non-recurring funds of $200,000-250,000,
but not encouraging

9. Meeting at 2016 PLA in Denver, April 7th

10. Let’s go for it!
Jennifer Sackett Ruth Ann Copley
Rayne Brown Pat McElraft

11. Budget Form Request from State Library and DNCR
Sackett and Copley filled out request on
5/7/2016

12. Progression through the General Assembly
• 5/12/2016 – House Appropriations, Agriculture and Natural and
Economic Resources get $250,000 into budget:
• 5/19/2016 – Budget passes the House and is sent to the Senate

13. Progress into law
• 5/23/2016 Received by Senate for consideration and sent to Senate
Appropriation Committee
• 06/03/2016 –Senate and Appropriations Committee reduce the amount to
$200,000
• 06/06/2016 –Senate sends their version of the budget back to the House
• 06/08/2016 – House refuses to accept Senate modification and Joint House
and Senate Conference set up for revision
• 06/29/2016 – Senate accepts Joint Conference’s revision
• 07/01/2016 –House accepts Final Budget
• 07/15/2016 – Budget signed into law by the Governor

14. August 26, 2016, MOA with State Library and NCPLDA written and sent to
President of NCPLDA on August 31st.

15. Moving Forward Slowly
• MOA lost in mail
• Hand delivered 2nd copy to State Library on 9/15/2016
• Countersigned by 9/26/2016
• 9/26/16 OverDrive requested information to develop order form, 9/26/16
• 9/27/16 Signed order form from NCPLDA returned to OverDrive and Tom
Scott via email
• Consulted with NC LIVE about hosting and E-Z proxy as a means of
authenticating all public libraries for NC Kids Digital Library 
• 10/11/16 NCPLDA Treasurer Jane McAllister sends invoice to libraries for
$100 platform fee each and optional donation due by 11/15/16.
• 10/11/16 Treasurer invoices State Library of $200,000 for content

16. 9/27/16 Signed order form returned to OverDrive and
Tom Scott via email

17. 10/7/16 OverDrive Invoice for $208,000

18. 10/11/16 NCPLDA Treasurer Jane McAllister sends invoice to libraries for
$100 platform fee each and optional donation due by 11/15/16.

19. 11/16/2016
• Began ordering material for the NC Kids Digital Library
• Picture Books, Beginning Readers, and Simultaneous Use
• Assistance from OverDrive in Collection Development

20. Graphic Design from State Library 11/16

21. NCPLDA Awards Rep. McElraft at December Annual Meeting

22. Unveiling of website to NCPLDA membership 12/2/16
• https://nckids.overdrive.com/preview
• Brought to you by NCPLDA, NCGA, and the State Library

23. 1430 titles at the unveiling

24. Meeting with State Library Staff in December 2016
• State Library wished to assist in this statewide project
• Discussion results in an agreement that Jeffrey Hamilton will write up
an LSTA grant proposal for $100,000 to purchase non-metered
permanently owned content for NC Kids Digital Library
• Grant to be awarded to NCPLDA in February 2017 and must be spent
by June 30th
• Paperwork takes longer than expected and it is mid-March before all
signatures from NCPLDA and State Library are completed

25. Monthly Unlimited Circulation on Select Titles

26. January 2017 – OverDrive offered 3 training sessions
for public library staff across the state

27. Soft Launch at the end of January 2017 at ALA -Atlanta

28. Steve Potash from OverDrive

29. Official Launch of NC Kids Digital Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
North Carolina Launches new eBook Sharing Service Specifically for Children
New library consortium enables sharing of Children’s eBooks, audiobooks and video across the state
RALEIGH — February 1, 2017 — A first of its kind statewide eBook consortium specifically
for children has launched in the Tar Heel State. The North Carolina Public Library
Directors Association (NCPLDA) together with OverDrive and the state of North
Carolina has created a new digital resource sharing service for kids’ pre-K through 4th
grade, NC Kids Digital Library. Over 3,700 eBooks, audiobooks, videos and Read-
Alongs are now available to younger readers via 85 regional, county and municipal
libraries in North Carolina through OverDrive’s digital reading platform. These
materials are instantly available for every child, at home and everywhere.

30. Seven Library Systems not Ready at Go-Live
• Two were joining e-iNC Consortium at the same time
• One was switching to NC Cardinal at about the same time
• One wanted to wait until more simultaneous use titles available
before completing the connection
• One system needed to establish direct access to replace indirect
access through another OverDrive service
• One system had authentication and firewall issues
• As of today one regional library system is still dealing with connection
problems

31. Legislators Tweet about NC Kids on February 1st

32. Promoted on Existing NC OverDrive Websites

33. Getting the Word Out
• Promoted in over 50 articles in newspapers across the state
thus far
• Promoted on social media with at least 1000 shares
• At least 3 television stations (Fox 8 & WXII first) have covered
it in the Piedmont:
• Randolph County Public Library was featured on News 14:
http://www.twcnews.com/nc/triad/top-
videos/2017/02/14/digital-library-for-kids-launches-across-
state-.html

34. National Library Week - First Lady Kristin Cooper Shared NC Kids Digital Library

35. ncplda.org/NCKidsMarketing.html

36. Current Stats

37. How to Use NC Kids Digital Library

38. Sign In

39. Choose Your Public Library System

40. Type in your library card number or student ID (some
Libraries may require a password or PIN)

41. Automatically Taken Back to the Home Page and Account
Dropdown

42. Read Alongs - Titles with Narration

43. Facets on Left side open to show more information

44. Start Narration

45. Menu at the top of the screen offer
multiple options: including chapters,
text enlargement, overview.

46. Choose your loan period

47. Loans

48. Never-ending Reading!

49. Never –ending Reads in Multiple formats

50. Classic Children’s Audiobooks among Simultaneous Use Titles

51. Subjects

52. Collections by Formats

53. OverDrive Apps and Devices

54. My Contact information