The Old Colony Library Network [1] (OCLN) is a consortium of 27 member libraries [2] located on the South Shore of Massachusetts in the United States. OCLN membership includes 26 town and city libraries and one academic library. OCLN's cooperative approach enables member libraries to provide services that they would not be able to afford separately. OCLN was founded in 1984 and is incorporated in Massachusetts as a 501(c)(3) corporation. OCLN is recognized as a charitable organization by the Massachusetts Attorney General's office.
OCLN member libraries:
Public libraries:
Academic library:
Former members:
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 101,636, making it the seventh-largest city in the state. Known as the "City of Presidents", Quincy is the birthplace of two U.S. presidents—John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams—as well as John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence and the first and third governor of Massachusetts.
Norwell is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,351 at the 2020 United States census. The town's southeastern border runs along the North River.
Pembroke is an historic town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Pembroke is a South Shore suburb of the Boston metropolitan area. The town is located approximately halfway between Boston and Cape Cod. The town is considered rural in character, with pockets of suburban neighborhoods. The population was 18,361 at the 2020 census, with a median household income of $119,827.
Rockland is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,803 at the 2020 census. As of December 31, 2009, there were 11,809 registered voters in the community.
Abington is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Boston. The population was 17,062 at the 2020 census.
Bridgewater is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population was 28,633. The town center of Bridgewater is located approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Boston, Massachusetts and approximately 35 miles east of Providence, Rhode Island. The town of Bridgewater was formerly a census-designed-place (CDP) until 2010, when Bridgewater was granted city status. Today, Bridgewater is one of 13 municipalities in Massachusetts that have applied for and have been granted a city government while claiming ‘the town of’ in their official names.
Marshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore. The population was 25,825 at the 2020 census.
Plymouth is a town and county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as "America's Hometown". Plymouth was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Mayflower Pilgrims, where New England was first established. It is the oldest municipality in New England and one of the oldest in the United States. The town has served as the location of several prominent events, one of the more notable being the First Thanksgiving feast. Plymouth served as the capital of Plymouth Colony from its founding in 1620 until the colony's merger with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. The English explorer John Smith named the area Plymouth and the region 'New England' during his voyage of 1614. It was a later coincidence that, after an aborted attempt to make the 1620 trans-Atlantic crossing from Southampton, the Mayflower finally set sail for America from Plymouth, England.
The Minuteman Library Network (MLN), founded in 1984, is a consortium of 41 public and academic libraries in the MetroWest and Middlesex County areas of eastern Massachusetts, US that share resources, patrons and services. The Network has over 6 million items and over 680,000 cardholders. Most resources are shared. People who live, work, or study in Massachusetts are eligible for a card, which can be used to borrow items from Minuteman libraries. Not all resources are available at all libraries.
Wollaston, Massachusetts, is a neighborhood in the city of Quincy, Massachusetts. Divided by Hancock Street or Route 3A, the Wollaston Beach side is known as Wollaston Park, while the Wollaston Hill side is known as Wollaston Heights.
The North of Boston Library Exchange(NOBLE) is a consortium of 25 libraries on the North Shore of Massachusetts working to improve library service through automation. Seventeen public libraries, seven college libraries, and one special library are members.
Quincy College (QC) is a public community college in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is an open admission school that offers associate degrees, bachelor degrees, and certificate programs. It was founded in 1958 and enrolls approximately 3,500 students at campuses in Quincy and Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing (CLAMS) library network is a non-profit consortium of 35 member libraries and 38 locations throughout Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. Since it was founded in 1988, the number of items available has grown from 568,000 in 1991 to over 1.6 million in 2022. Deliveries of materials between member libraries and other library networks in Massachusetts through an interlibrary loan program are made by the Massachusetts Library System located in Waltham. The network uses the Koha Integrated Library System (ILS) for staff function workflows: acquisitions, cataloging, circulation, ILL, and serials and Aspen Discovery for their patron's Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC). The libraries provide access to reference databases, digital libraries, free music online, museum passes, genealogy, workshops, and other free services that vary from each location.
The Old Colony Memorial (est.1822) is a semiweekly newspaper published in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Gannett owns the paper; previous owners include the George W. Prescott Publishing Co. and the Memorial Press Group.
The Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC) is an American library consortium created by Nancy Jacobson and Evelyn Kuo in 1982. MVLC manages the resource sharing of 36 automated and partially automated libraries in Merrimack Valley region of northeastern Massachusetts, ensuring unified access to all of their catalogs, which represent almost three million items and more than six hundred thousand titles.
The Stoughton Public Library is part of the Old Colony Library Network (OCLN), a cooperative of libraries located on the South Shore of Massachusetts. In addition to books and print materials, the library offers patrons access to eBooks and databases through the OCLN, as well as lending museum passes to area museums and zoos, coordinating free tutoring for adults in Basic Literacy and English to Speakers of Other Languages, and housing local historical and genealogical materials in the Stoughton Collection. Established in 1874, the library is currently temporarily located at 529 Washington Street, Stoughton, MA. The permanent location, at 84 Park Street, is undergoing a large-scale renovation to expand the library's current space from 22,000 square feet to 31,058 square feet and is projected to re-open in May 2018.
The Boston Library Consortium (BLC) is a library consortium based in the Boston area with 26 member institutions across New England.
The SAILS Library Network, formerly Southeastern Automated Integrated Library Services, is a nonprofit library consortium of 70 member libraries in 39 communities located throughout Southeastern Massachusetts. SAILS was founded in 1995 to link the ABLE and SEAL library networks, which were later dissolved into SAILS in 2000. The network provides library patrons with access to check out and return items at member libraries, interlibrary loans through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners' Commonwealth Catalog, mobile app access, and access to electronic collections. Member libraries are provided customized online catalog services, digital collections storage, internet and telecommunications services, email and Google Apps accounts for library staff, access to SirsiDynix software, and staff training.