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About Equinox

Mission & Values
We're on a mission to provide affordable, innovative, open source software for libraries of all types all over the world. At Equinox, we invest in open source technologies, provide software and consulting services for libraries, and positively contribute to our professional communities. We value integrity, privacy, diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are committed to the Equinox Promise.
Qualified & Experienced
Our team is professionally qualified and highly experienced. Team members have degrees in library science, humanities and law, computer science, business, and STEM disciplines, and decades of experience as library practitioners, technical experts, IT managers, and software developers. We are passionate professionals who understand the work of libraries.
Service as a Service
What is 'service as a service'? Our service-first philosophy means that you get the help you need when you need it. It means that your library's software and systems work reliably and effectively. And when you do need to be in touch, it means that we are easily accessible, actively listen to your concerns, and work with you to ensure consistently excellent service and support.
Experts in Library Open Source Software
The choice is yours. We're here to talk if you need help deciding which library system would be a good fit for your library. Our expertise goes back - way back - our founders developed Evergreen in 2004. We added Koha services in 2009. You have questions about open source? We have answers.
501(c)(3) Nonprofit
Equinox Open Library Initiative, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to the support of open source software for libraries of all types, including public libraries, academic libraries, school libraries, and special libraries. As the successor to Equinox Software, Inc., Equinox provides exceptional service delivered by experienced librarians & technical staff.
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Our History

Equinox was founded by the original developers of the Evergreen ILS. In 2004, the Georgia Public Library System (GPLS) initiated the development of the Evergreen software for use by 275 public libraries across Georgia. Once created, the software was released as an open source ILS, one of the first open source integrated library systems available to libraries. When the GPLS project concluded, the Evergreen development team, including Jason Etheridge and Mike Rylander, started Equinox Software, Inc. to provide services and support for Evergreen ILS.

Equinox Team

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Board of Trustees

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Equinox By The Numbers

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Training Sessions

Equinox Open Library Initiative

In 2016, Equinox Open Library Initiative, Inc. was founded as the successor to Equinox Software, Inc. After ten years as a for-profit corporation, the Equinox team recognizes the growing demand on libraries to innovate and automate despite the steady decrease of library budgets. With fewer choices available among core library systems, and less freedom to customize those systems, Equinox presents an alternative that puts libraries first. 

As a nonprofit organization, Equinox Open Library Initiative builds upon the experience and history of Equinox Software, providing innovative open source software for libraries of all types. Equinox delivers open source library systems, services, software, and support, with a focus on value, innovation, and sustainability.

The Equinox Promise

Open Source Software

We believe that we best support our customers by preserving their ability to freely choose their service provider for any open source product they use and strengthening the community behind each product. We promise not to take any action that severs the relationship between our customers and the open source communities that build the tools they use.

We believe in a transparent, open software development process, and we promise to do everything we can to maintain and improve transparency in every part of that process.

We believe open source code belongs to its community, and we promise to continue to expeditiously release all code to publicly-available repositories.

We believe in one single set of code that in the spirit and letter of open source software is free for everyone to download, use, and modify, and we promise that in concert with each community and other development partners, we will work hard to maintain that single code set.

We believe we have a responsibility to each open source community we support to help keep the project open in every way, and we promise we will never agree to hide code we can share.

We believe that open source projects deserve community-based stewardship through foundations, user groups, interest groups, conferences, and similar activities, and we promise to encourage that stewardship in every way we can.

We believe that the community is the true voice of each project, and we promise to listen and to share, and to help build and maintain the tools that enable this communication.

Patron Privacy

We believe that it is crucial to protect the privacy of the patrons who use the services that we provide to our library customers. We take technical steps to protect the privacy of patron data both inside and outside the systems we host. We never share patron data except with the express permission of our customers, and we actively advocate for strengthening protections against disclosure and misuse of that data.

Professional Values

People

We believe that all individuals in our communities deserve a voice and we aim to provide a welcoming and equal environment for all to be heard.

We respect the autonomy and integrity of our employees as individuals and community members.

We approach our interactions with customers, community partners, and coworkers with honesty, empathy, and understanding.

Openness 

We believe that ethical business practices strengthen professional communities. As such, software written for use by our communities will always be released under open source licenses.

We demonstrate transparency and trustworthiness in our endeavors.

Integrity

We believe in equal access to knowledge and promise to uphold our social responsibility to help organizations achieve that mission.

We strive for technical excellence in the work that we do.

We demonstrate professional leadership. We are committed to and model ethical principles in software development, data management, protecting patron privacy, and promoting intellectual freedom.

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Events

Equinox EDU Spotlight

equinoxEDU: Spotlight on VuFind Updates

May 25, 2022 (1-2pm ET). Join us for a discussion about recent updates to VuFind! In this live webinar, we will present an overview of the VuFind discovery interface. We’ll
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Equinox EDU Spotlight

equinoxEDU: Spotlight on Going Fine Free

April 27, 2022 (1-2pm ET). Join us to learn about Going Fine Free in your library! In this live webinar, we will present a series of considerations for any library
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Equinox EDU Workshop

equinoxEDU: Workshop on Evergreen Reports (Basic)

March 17, 2022 (2-4pm ET).  Did you miss the first equinoxEDU: Workshop on Basic Evergreen Reports? Here is your opportunity to participate! Join us for a workshop session where we
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Grants We Received

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