Courtesy Photos

Courtesy Photos

<p>Courtesy Photos</p>

Courtesy Photos

<p>The Sampson-Clinton Public Library system will begin its transition into joining the large North Carolina library consortium, NC Cardinal, beginning this Friday, Dec. 3, ultimately providing residents access to millions of new library resources.</p>

The Sampson-Clinton Public Library system will begin its transition into joining the large North Carolina library consortium, NC Cardinal, beginning this Friday, Dec. 3, ultimately providing residents access to millions of new library resources.

With December here, the Sampson-Clinton Public Library system is about to begin its transition into joining NC Cardinal, a move that will allow residents of Sampson to have access to millions of shared resources.

NC Cardinal is a growing consortium of public libraries in over 50 North Carolina counties dedicated to sharing resources and expanding access through the use of a single online catalog which possesses over 6.5 million items owned by NC Cardinal libraries.

The transition will take about a week to complete and starts this Friday, Dec. 3. Start time for that day is 3 p.m. and the period will extend until 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 9.

During the timeframe of the transition, some services will be unavailable and no items will be due back from Dec. 6 through Dec. 14.

Unavailable services include placing holds, renewing items, paying fines, registering/replacing a library card and use of online accounts or the library’s online catalog.

Also as part of the transition process there will be a late opening. All library branches across the county will open at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 9.

“We are excited about the opportunity; it will be great for Sampson County residents to finally have access to millions of more items that’ll be available once we start resource sharing on Monday, Feb. 7,” said Sampson-Clinton Public Library Director Kelsey Edwards.

Once resource sharing begins, Sampsonian’s will be able to place holds via online, phone or in person for items in the catalog to be sent from any NC Cardinal library to their Sampson-Clinton Public Library pick up branch of choice all for free.

Items can also be borrowed and returned at any NC Cardinal Library in the state.

NC Cardinal is a program of the State Library of North Carolina, supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Federal Library Services and Technology Act. There are over 200 physical branches placed throughout North Carolina in 57 counties and 45 library systems.

According to the NC Cardinal website, in 2020 alone, it was averaging more than 450,000 checkouts a month.

The are four library branches in Clinton-Sampson that will become a part of NC Cardinal which include JC Holliday Library (Clinton), Roseboro Public Library, Bryan Memorial Library (Newton Grove) and Miriam Lamb Memorial Library (Garland).

For more information about NC Cardinal, visit statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/services-libraries/nc-cardinal. Information on the e-resources can be found at nckids.overdrive.com, e-inc.overdrive.com/e-inc-sampsonclinton/content and https://library.transparent.com/nclive

Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-592-8137, ext. 2588. Follow us on Twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.