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The Evergreen integrated library system (ILS) was developed to support the needs of library consortia. This open source product began in 2004 to serve a large consortium of public libraries in Georgia and has since been implemented by many other consortia and individual libraries in the United States. Evergreen has seen limited adoption internationally.
Evergreen's Birth in Georgia
The state of Georgia has a long-standing record of providing strong support for its libraries through statewide programs. This support can be seen in the Galileo initiative to provide all the members of the University System of Georgia with electronic resources and in shared ILSs for its academic and public libraries. In 2000, the University System of Georgia implemented a shared ILS based on Voyager for all of the public universities and colleges. In 2015, Galileo selected Ex Libris Alma to replace Voyager, and it was placed in production in 2017. In a parallel strategy for the public libraries in the state, the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the University System of Georgia, launched PINES (Public Information Network for Electronic Services), a largescale shared automation and resource-sharing project. This initiative was initially based on a proprietary ILS product, which was subsequently replaced by locally developed open source software.
The initial version of the Evergreen ILS was developed to support the PINES consortium of public libraries. PINES was conceived as a potentially statewide library service in which any resident in the state was entitled to a card enabling them to borrow materials from any participating library. Public libraries throughout the state would be able to make use of the shared ILS at minimal cost rather than purchase and maintain their own. The program has been enormously successful, with only a handful of libraries in the state opting not to join. Currently, PINES serves the small to mid-sized communities and rural areas in Georgia. Libraries serving urban areas have not joined the consortium, notably the Atlanta-Fulton Library, Cobb County Public Library, and Gwinnett County Public Library.
The PINES project was launched in 1999 based on the Unicorn (now Symphony) ILS from Sirsi Corporation (now SirsiDynix). Prior to this time, many of the public libraries were using outdated automation systems that might not have been able to handle...