September 22, 2025

SE-C van change

I want to let the libraries on tomorrow’s (Tuesday’s) SE-C van route know that they will receive their Tuesday delivery on Wednesday this week. This shouldn’t affect any other deliveries later in the week. The southeast libraries that will have their deliveries on Wednesday instead of Tuesday are:

Deerfield
Nottingham
Epping
Newmarket
Stratham
Greenland
Hampton
Hampton Falls
Seabrook
Kensington
East Kingston
Exeter 
 
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.
Thank you,

Best,
Jill M Witham
Van Service Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
 

September 19, 2025

NC van change Fri 9/19

Today’s North Country Route will be shortened. The only libraries that will receive deliveries on this route today are:

Madison
Conway
North Conway
Jackson
Bartlett

I’m sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.

Sincerely,
Jill M Witham
Van Service Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library

Van route cancellations for the upcoming week

Next week [starting Sept. 22] we only have enough staff to fulfill 16 of our 24 usual routes (that includes non-van driver staff taking on some routes). So, we are combining some routes and cutting back delivery to some libraries who get multiple stops. We wanted to let you know as soon as possible. Please know that a significant amount of staff time goes into maximizing delivery given the staff we have, the weight of the routes, and staffing the circulation and reference desks here at 20 Park Street. 

Please, please help us by considering the following:
1.    Hold on to your returns until next week and then gradually put them in the bins next week and the week after
2.    If you’ve been ordering 20 books for your book group and only 8 people have been coming, is this the moment to cut that number by three or even five?
3.    Use the labels that ShareIt prints!
4.    Don’t bundle multiple items together. 
5.    Put your bins close to the door

Here is the schedule:

Monday:
NC – Cancel but stops will be covered other days during the week
SW – Cancel  (All libraries will receive delivery later in the week)

Tuesday:
NC – Cancel

Wednesday:
As usual

Thursday:
Capitol Route- Cancel but libraries will get delivery earlier in the week on Monday

Friday:
LR – Cancel
NC – Jill (Combo Route)

For libraries with stops that will be moved to other days, please contact Jill if you need to know the exact day of your delivery. She can be reached at jill.m.witham@dncr.nh.gov. General complaints about the number of cancellations recently or anything else can come directly to me. Jill is working very had to keep the wheels rolling. These cancellation calls are mine and mine alone. My contact information is in my signature.

Thank you for your patience and partnership,

Mindy Atwood
Administrator of Library Operations :: Assistant State Librarian
New Hampshire State Library 
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park Street :: Concord, NH  03301
603-271-2393 (w) :: 603-573-6402 (m)
mindy.atwood@dncr.nh.gov
nhsl.dncr.nh.gov

September 18, 2025

Setting Up a Z-Target in Koha

 Many NH libraries use Koha for their ILS, including the State Library. To help those libraries transition to the new BTcat Z39.50 here are the steps to follow to switch your Z39.50 target from NHU-PAC to BTcat.

  1. Log into your Koha system with a login that has Administrative privileges
  2. From the main menu select "Koha Admin"
  3. Under "Additional Parameters" in the lower right corner select "Z39.50/SRU Servers"
  4. At the top left of the screen click the button marked "+ New Z39.50 server"
  5. Complete the fields as shown in the image below -- you will need to call the NHAIS Help Desk to get the password
  6. Click the yellow save button when you are done


To remove the NHU-PAC Z-target find it in the list of targets and at the far right side of the screen there is an "Action" button on the line you want to get rid of. Click the arrow on that button and choose "delete".

If you have similar instructions for another ILS, please send them to the NHAIS Help Desk and we will gladly share them. 

September 17, 2025

Access BTCat Records via Z39.50

As we announced earlier this month, we are setting up access to BTcat, a cataloging resource, for all NHAIS libraries who wish to use it. 

The first phase of this project is to make new Z39.50 configuration info available to replace the access libraries have been using to NHU-PAC for downloading MARC bibliographic records.

The configuration info for the NHAIS BTcat Ztarget is on our training page. You will need to contact the NHAIS Help Desk for the password. 

If you have not set up a Z39.50 target before you may want to contact the vendor for your ILS to do this for you (or show you how to do it yourself).

 

 

September 15, 2025

No NC, SW vans Mon 9/15

Today [Monday, Sept. 15] we need to cancel two van routes due to staff shortage, the north country route, and the southwest route.

Libraries on the north country route that won’t see delivery today are:

Lyme
Lebanon
Grantham
Plymouth
Campton
Thornton
Lincoln
North Woodstock

Libraries on the southwest route that won’t receive delivery today are:

Walpole
Keene
Rindge
Peterborough
New Boston
Goffstown

Sincerely,
Jill M Witham
Van Service Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
 

September 11, 2025

Want to Save Money with Group Purchases?

There are 3 different group purchases for which Bobbi Slossar is currently collecting information from libraries who are interested in participating. Each has its own survey that needs to be completed ASAP if you want your library to be included. 

AncestryLibrary Edition Survey

The survey will determine whether NHSL will pursue a group purchase of Ancestry Library Edition on behalf of interested libraries. Your participation on the survey matters greatly – particularly if you are a current subscriber.

    • For comparison purposes, partial-year statistics from 2024 have been included. Statewide we have seen a significant decrease in usage: ALE Statistics (Jan-Aug 2024)
    • Since Proquest stats do not always fall under the NHSL “umbrella,” if you do not see your statistics here – or feel that they are incorrect – please run the statistics though your own IP address. Here are the instructions and link from the LibGuide.
      • As always, if your IP address has changed, please visit https://whatismyip.com to find your new IPv4 and send it to Bobbi who will submit a support ticket with Proquest on your behalf.

Please review your statistics and take a moment to indicate your interest in joining the group purchase by completing the survey.

2026 Mango Languages Survey

This survey is to determine which libraries would like to participate in a group discount for Mango Languages. If the prices below look reasonable to you and you are seriously considering subscribing, please fill out the survey.

With this group discount, the vendor issues the subscription cost. There may be a minimum number of libraries needed to buy into this discount purchase. 

 How much will it cost? These are the costs for our current 2025 subscribers based on their populations.

Town Population

2025 Quote

3400

 $                  942.38

2500

$                  977.50

5200

$                  942.38

34,000

$               2,979.13

3500

$                  942.38

15,000

$               1,786.80

2400

$                  655.92

18,000

$               1,611.16

8500

$               2,415.57

33,500

$               3,174.38

33,500 - American Sign Language

$               1,050.00

5600

$                  942.38


2026 Movie Licensing Survey

The purpose of this license is to allow you to legally show movies at your library. Pricing info for each library that participated was sent out this week to the NHAIS-L list.  If you are interested in resubscribing or starting a subscription to Movie Licensing, please take a moment to fill out this survey.