📚 Access Pennsylvania News - ILL Holiday, New Digital Platform, Register for Training, & more!

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August 19, 2025

POWER Library Selects OCLC’s CONTENTdm Platform for PA Photos and Documents

The ideal choice for ensuring access to PA’s cultural heritage.

After a thorough evaluation process that included reviewing proposals from multiple vendors through a formal Request for Proposals (RFP), POWER Library has selected OCLC’s CONTENTdm platform to power its PA Photos and Documents service. The move to CONTENTdm will enhance the service’s ability to manage and provide public access to these important materials.

OCLC’s CONTENTdm offers robust tools for managing and sharing digital collections, making it an ideal choice for ensuring the accessibility of Pennsylvania’s cultural heritage. This platform will allow us to better serve our partner institutions with a more intuitive platform for creating and managing collections, and the public with improved usability, search capabilities, and support for a wide range of digital formats.

OCLC’s proposal was chosen based on its comprehensive feature set and strong track record supporting libraries and cultural heritage organizations worldwide. Preparations for the migration to CONTENTdm is expected to begin later this year, with the updated PA Photos and Documents service launching sometime in 2026.

We are deeply grateful to the evaluators from participating institutions who generously contributed their time and expertise to this process. HSLC extends a heartfelt thank you to the following individuals and to their institutions for their invaluable participation in the RFP process:

Alexander Kirby, Pennsylvania Highlands Community College
Anneliese Warnke, Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity
Jennifer Hurl, Meyersdale Public Library
Jessica M. Lydon, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel Univ.
Martina Soden, Scranton Public Library
Nancy Martin, Peters Township Public Library
Rachel M. Grove Rohrbaugh, Elizabethtown College
Robbin Degeratu, James V. Brown Library
Steve Puluka, Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Valerie Schaeffer, Reading Area Community College

Learn About Adding Materials From Your Library!

Fall Training Registration is Open!

There is no cost to attend training!

We are excited to announce that registration for Fall Training is open!

The sessions offered are:

Thunderbolt Trivia - E-Book Edition
Teaching Mode Activated: Unlocking Educator Tools in POWER Library
The POWER Library Playbook
Access Pennsylvania: Who wants to be a mILLionaire?
...and more!

View the Full Agenda, Dates, Locations, and Register Now!

Teacher-Librarians Review Your Participant and ILL Information

Let's get the school year started off on the right foot!

Check your POWER Library contact information
Is your school’s entry in the Participant Directory up to date?

Does your district have any new librarians?
Please let us know so that we can get their contact information and get them added to service email lists, newsletters, etc.

Cartoon photograph of school librarian reading to children

Check your information in SHAREit, the Access Pennsylvania Catalog.

Participate in ILL?
Take a look at your Participant Record in SHAREit and make sure it’s current. Participant Record documentation is available in the Access PA User Guilde. (If prompted for a password, it is the usual password for the Librarians Hub. If you need it, please let us know!)

Did you export your holdings at the end of last year?
If not, now is a great time to do so! Unsure how? Let us know and we’ll get you the documentation and login credentials you need.

On the Access PA Contacts e-mail list?
All staff who perform ILL activity should be on the Access PA Contacts e-mail list to ensure they are notified when there are system updates, issues, etc. If you need to be added to the list, please let us know!

Questions? Contact Us!

Access PA ILL Reminder: K-12 School Libraries

Schools are in Holiday Mode through September 8, 2025.

Please note that schools are in summer Holiday Mode through September 8, 2025. This process automatically excludes schools from appearing in lending strings. However, schools can still place ILL requests.

Questions? Please Contact Support

Staff Changes? Please Let Us Know!

Help us keep the Participant Directory accurate!

Moving to a new school, retiring, or otherwise leaving your current position? Please let us know! Keeping us updated with contact changes ensures email lists are kept current and newsletters and invoices issued by HSLC are received.

Please Report Contact Updates to HSLC!

Do You Need Support? We Are Here to Help!

If you need support, please use one of the options provided below to contact HSLC.

Complete the POWER Library Support Form
Email us at support@hslc.org
Call us at 215-222-1532

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POWER Library
This project is made possible in part by Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services and through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Library Access funds administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Office of Commonwealth Libraries. The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services or the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

POWER Library is hosted by HSLC
3600 Market St., Suite 550
Philadelphia, PA 19104