What is the Pennsylvania eBook Consortium?
The Pennsylvania eBook Consortium began in the 2016-2017 school year and allows schools to access a comprehensive library of high-interest, standard-driven titles for a fraction of the cost.
Every school is given their own MackinVIA portal. MackinVIA is available as a free app on all platforms, and is also accessible via the web. MackinVIA can integrate with your current sign-on system to keep student usernames and passwords consistent (ex: Ldap, Active Directory, Google Apps). Any school can choose to add additional titles to their MackinVIA account as they wish. Further, schools can integrate their existing eBook titles into MackinVIA. This will eliminate the need to switch between your school eBook catalog and the consortium catalog – all books will be in one place.
Here’s a look at the current consortium for libraries who have subscribed the first two years:
· 142 school libraries have joined the consortium!
· The elementary school collection consists of 260 titles with copies totalling over 2,300.
· The middle school collection consists of over 270 titles with copies totalling 2,300.
· The high school collection consists of over 400 titles with copies totaling over 2,280.
And remember, every year these collections will grow as the titles accrue!
What are the benefits of joining the consortium?
· Consortium purchasing allows you to pay a much smaller amount, but access a large library of resources.
· If you don’t currently have eBooks, but want to offer this service to your students and staff, a consortium is a great place to start. You’ll have the purchasing power and support that you wouldn’t have independently.
· If you already have eBooks, this is a great way to add some of the most popular titles to your collection without breaking the budget.
· All consortium participants receive discount pricing when purchasing through Mackin. You will receive a 5% discount on ebooks and a 10% discount on print books.
· You will have access to every year’s ebooks in which you subscribe. In other words, if you subscribe one year and not the next, you will not lose that year’s collection!
· You can purchase collections from previous years, which we refer to as “Catch-up” packages.
Why MackinVIA?
· MackinVIA is unique in that it is an open platform. This means that you can integrate your current eBooks with the MackinVIA system, regardless of where or when you purchased them. Upon creation of your MackinVIA account, Mackin will migrate all of your titles. By using MackinVIA, you’re not giving up any of the titles you currently own.
· MackinVIA has the ability to distinguish which eBooks are owned by your school and which titles are owned by the consortium, without requiring students to jump between two platforms.
· MackinVIA has the ability to display only the titles that are age appropriate to your specific level. For example, only elementary titles will be displayed in your elementary school’s VIA account.
· MackinVIA serves as a single sign-on for all of your databases. By signing on to MackinVIA, students will automatically be authenticated to all of your databases and will not need to sign on again.
· MackinVIA has zero hosting fees and no yearly subscription fees.
· MackinVIA has access to over 1.5 million eBooks from ALL of the big 6 publishers (Harper Collins, Random House, Penguin, MacMillian, Hachette, Simon & Schuster)
· MackinVIA ebooks and audiobooks can be added and integrated with your library catalog. We can even create a login authentication so your students can sign in to MackinVIA directly from Destiny!
Pricing info:
Consortium dues are billed on a yearly basis (July 1 – June 30) and are based on the number of students you serve and the number of eBook collections to which you subscribe. Dues will be structured as follows:
<250 students = $250.00
251-500 students = $500.00
501-1,000 students = $750.00
1,001-2,000 students = $1,000.00
>2,000 students = $1,500.00
The eBook collections offered are as follows:
Elementary Collection (K-5)
Middle School Collection (6-8)
High School Collection (9-12)
If your school has less than 250 students and subscribes to two collections, your annual subscription fee will be $500.
Payment Requirements:
Upon submitting your Letter of Intent for the 2018-2019 Consortium, an invoice will be emailed to the email address which was entered in the Letter of Intent.
PLEASE BE CHECKING YOUR EMAIL FOR THAT INVOICE TO ASSURE IT GETS IN THE HANDS OF YOUR ACCOUNTS PAYABLE DEPARTMENT! PAYMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY AUGUST 15, 2018 FOR BOTH CATCH-UP & CURRENT PACKAGES!
To learn more about the consortium, go to the HSLC website. You will be able to access pricing information, title lists for this year, as well as tutorials, webinars and links to MackinVia support pages.
If you have any questions about the consortium, please contact HSLC and they will direct your question to the appropriate person. If you have questions about MackinVia, please contact our Mackin Education Consultant, Jessica Gottleib . Have a great day!
submitted by: Mary Schwander,
Chair and High School Committee Coordinator, PA eBook Consortium