The SNAP (Solano Napa and Partners) Consortium is undergoing changes that will mean a focus on public libraries and a name change.
Effective last week, Napa County Library is no longer part of the consortium that shares library materials and an online catalog. The eight branches of Solano County Library located in Fairfield, Vallejo, Vacaville, Suisun and Rio Vista continue to share borrowing privileges and the online catalog with Dixon, Benicia and St. Helena's libraries.
The two college libraries that are currently part of the SNAP consortium, Solano Community College and Napa Valley College, are scheduled to withdraw June 30.
“Our shared collection will continue to circulate among the eleven remaining libraries,” said Bonnie Katz, Solano County Library's director of library services, in a press release. “Solano County Library cards can be used in Dixon, St. Helena and Benicia. If Napa customers want to check out Solano materials they will need to get a Solano library card, which is free.”
The name change will happen in the coming months.
“We are considering a number of names for the new consortium. The directors of the member libraries will be meeting soon to make a choice,” added Katz.
The reorganization comes at a time when Solano County is embarking on new directions, such as a free streaming service for music, movies, ebooks and audiobooks, which is scheduled to launch in late summer. Another improvement scheduled for late summer is the library's wireless and internet upgrade, which will provide speeds of up to 10 gigabytes per second when it is completed. A new on-demand digital collection of thousands of tech books and how-to videos called IT-Pro from Books 24/7 is available now.
“Every library must do what is best for the people who use it,” Katz said. “One advantage of our new consortium partnership with the Dixon, Benicia, and St. Helena libraries is that we are all public libraries, our users tend to need and want the same things.”
