Vision
INFOLINK envisions a future in which all people benefit from the free flow of ideas, information, and resources provided by their libraries.

Mission
INFOLINK enhances the ability of member libraries to serve their clientele.

Strategies

• INFOLINK will collaborate with the New Jersey State Library, statewide services providers, the Central Jersey, Highlands, and South Jersey Regional Library Cooperatives and other agencies to develop and maintain the highest quality library services.
• INFOLINK will work to enhance the services of its member libraries.
• INFOLINK will forge new partnerships to strengthen support of member libraries and expand their services.

Description of INFOLINK

INFOLINK is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Its members are libraries and library-related agencies located in Essex, Hudson, Middlesex and Union counties. This area includes 3.2 million people - one-third of New Jersey's population - and extends from the entrances of the Lincoln and Holland tunnels to New York City, in Hudson County, to rural farms in the southern part of Middlesex County. There are highly urban areas and many suburbs that serve as bedroom communities to New York City. The population of the area is diverse and includes two of the largest communities of Spanish speaking, and Asian Indian persons in the U.S.

INFOLINK is one of four regional cooperatives of the New Jersey Library Network. The 315 voting members include 928 public and private school, public, academic, institutional, corporate, health sciences and special libraries and library-related agencies. The region includes the three largest municipal public libraries in the state as well as many universities and colleges. Most libraries are organized by municipality and governed by individual boards. A member-elected Executive Board, which meets monthly to oversee the programs and services of the cooperative.

INFOLINK services are funded from State tax dollars appropriated by the State Legislature for the New Jersey Library Network: members do not pay dues. At present, the Network funds are divided among the four regions according to a formula allocation on population and the number of square miles in each region. The total allocation from the State Library has been unchanged since 1991.

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Governance of INFOLINK

INFOLINK is a member-based organization operating within the Regulations provided by the New Jersey State Library. The voting representatives elect a 15-member Executive Board intended to represent all geographic regions and all types of member libraries. Each of the member organizations has a designated voting representative. They are authorized to attend the annual membership business meeting to elect members to vacancies on the Executive Board and to vote on a long-range plan, an annual program and the annual budget for the Region.

Under the Bylaws of the Executive Board, the Board meets monthly to conduct the business of the organization. The President of the Executive Board appoints standing committees to study and make recommendations regarding the acceptance of new members, the proposal of budgets, and administration of personnel. The Executive Board hires an Executive Director who, in turn, hires the staff.

The Executive Director coordinates the appointment of a number of committees from among the membership to provide advice and technical expertise in such areas as Planning, Technology, Career Development, Online Database group purchases, Planning, Library Services, and Marketing/Public Relations. The Board President appoints the Committee Chairs in consultation with the Executive Director.

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The INFOLINK Office

The INFOLINK office is located in one of the suburban communities in the region. It is 1,932 square feet of space on a 5-year lease through November 30, 2007. The facility includes a meeting space, private office for the Executive Director, office space for staff and some storage room. It is easily accessible by car but not by mass transit.

There are four full-time staff and 1 part-time student workers. The full time positions include an Executive Director (MLS), a Program & Services Coordinator (MLS), a Business Administrator, and the Membership Services Secretary.

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The History of INFOLINK

Before 1985, the New Jersey State Library administered an area library system in which the state provided funding to specific public libraries and public library systems in New Jersey to deliver enhanced services to public libraries in their area. In 1985, the New Jersey legislature established a multi-type library cooperative structure in which six regions were designated, and six non-profit corporations were set up to provide services to all libraries in their respective region.

Region Three, serving Hudson and Essex counties, and Region Four, serving Middlesex and Union counties, were merged in December 1993 to form INFOLINK, The Eastern New jersey Regional Library Cooperative. Two other regions in the state were also combined to form the Highlands Regional Library Cooperative, so that the six regions became four larger regions. The present New Jersey Library Network includes the New Jersey State Library and four regional library cooperatives:

• Highlands Regional Library Cooperative, serving the library community in Bergen, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties;
• INFOLINK, the Eastern New Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, serving Essex, Hudson, Middlesex and Union counties;
• Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, serving Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties; and
• South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, serving Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.

INFOLINK's Executive Director and Board recognized that libraries would have to provide Internet access to their clients in order to stay in business in the expanding information industry. Working closely with cutting-edge Internet and library consultants and vendors, INFOLINK developed a cost-effective cost-sharing system of Internet access for libraries in the region, called the Electronic Doorway Library Network (EDLN) Plan. The system became operational in spring, 1996. At its peak in September 1998, 18 public, one (1) college, two (2) public school system and two (2) private school libraries participate in the EDLN. In 1996, the new State Librarian, Jack Livingstone, introduced Libraries 2000, a State Library plan to bring Internet access to all public libraries in the state. As part of this plan, several libraries and library consortia were designated as hubs to serve as free Internet service providers (ISPs) for a set grant amount, and each public library was assigned to one of these hubs. INFOLINK requested designation, as a hub was not designated as a hub. Therefore, it worked to provide technical services to its member public libraries in this region to assist in the transfer of their Internet access to the hubs. In March 1998, INFOLINK issued a Technology Plan to address this change in environment. By June 30, 2001, the last four schools that were EDLN members had been moved to commercial providers of Internet service, and the office network was moved to a different service provider to reduce costs.

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The New Jersey State Library

In 1996, the State Library left the Department of Education and became affiliated with Thomas Edison College, a state college of the New Jersey System of Higher Education, which offers distance education to adult learners throughout the state. With this move, the State Library continues its role to develop public libraries and public library services in the state: see the Library Development Bureau and State Library Grants sections of the State Library's web page at www.njstatelib.org. Operational funding of public school libraries continues to fall under the purview of the Department of Education. Academic libraries fall under the purview of a council of the presidents of New Jersey colleges and universities. Institutional libraries and private schools are under the purview of their governing institutions. Special libraries have no State coordinating office. The multi-type Regional Library Cooperatives are a primary means of coordinating and sharing resources among the various types of libraries.

New Jersey's Administrative Code governing the Regions and the New Jersey Library network was updated in January of 2001. The changes recognized the State Library's move from the Department of Education to Thomas Edison College in 1996. School libraries remain under the purview of the State Board of Education. Library Network Law and Administrative Code Responsibilities, prepared by State Library staff detail the relationship.

The current State Librarian, Norma Blake, assumed office in February 2001. She moved quickly to develop working relationships with the four Regions and asked each Region to undertake a statewide project as a means of extending the State Library's staffing. Jeff Kesper became Head of the Library Development Bureau October 2004 and works closely with each of the Executive Directors. INFOLINK was asked to convene a conference of New Jersey librarians serving children and youth. This conference took place on October 25, 2001. It was a complete reexamination of the future services to youth and the roles and responsibilities of the State Library, the Regions, and local libraries. The primary recommendation of the conference was to hire a Youth Services Consultant at the State Library; this position was posted for hire on June 4, 2002. On June 10, 2002, the INFOLINK Executive Director assumed chairmanship of the Statewide Marketing Committee at the direct request of the State Librarian.

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Collaboration with the Highlands, Central Jersey and South Jersey Regional Library Cooperatives

Regional Directors meet regularly, both formally and informally. Notable collaborative projects include contracting for a statewide delivery system, rather than separate delivery services in each region; and providing full-text discount database access to a variety of resources from vendors such as EBSCO, The Gale Group, SIRS, and HW Wilson. The Regional Directors administer the jointly funded statewide reference referral contract with the Camden County Library and fund jointly with the State Library the EBSCO statewide contract to provide virtual online databases to all network members who request this service. In addition, the Regional Executive Directors fund jointly statewide workshops featuring nationally recognized experts in a number of areas. Recent topics included "Mastering Marketing,",the "Library of the Future," and "YASLA's Power Up with Print: Connecting Teens and Reading in a Digital Age."

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