International Coalition of Library Consortia

Bowen Central Library of Appalachia
BCLA
Website: http://www.acaweb.org/content.aspx?sid=2&pid=35

Brief description

The Bowen Central Library of Appalachia is a subscription library owned and operated by the Appalachian College Association. BCLA operations are supported by a committee structure involving representatives from a majority of the participating libraries. Many libraries outsource a significant percentage of their electronic services to the BCLA, with 25 also participating in a shared catalog and 29 receiving proxy services from the BCLA.

The Appalachian College Association is a consortium of 36 small, independent liberal arts colleges in mountain counties of the five central Appalachian states. Over 90% are at least historically church related, with most continuing in active relationship. Median size is just below 1000 FTE, with about 85% falling in the 500-1500 FTE range. The Central Library is one of several divisions in the consortium, including academic, student, and technology services, along with the library.

Legal structure

Incorporated

Primary functions

• Collections sharing
• Electronic content licensing
• Electronic content loading/presentation
• Preservation
• Training
• Union lists/shared online catalogs
• Proxy Services for Members
  

Number and type of member libraries

36, Academic

Additional material/URLs

The Digital Library of Appalachia http://www.aca-dla.org

Our parent organization -- Appalachian College Association:  http://www.acaweb.org