NOLA Fact Sheet

NOLA Regional Library System received its legal charter as a Metropolitan Library System in June 1989. It is governed by a thirteen-member Board of Trustees elected from its Membership Council. An Executive Director administers a wide range of cooperative programs for the region with a staff of seven. Originally named the Northeastern Ohio Library Association, NOLA began in 1972 as a basic five county cooperative with 21 member libraries and has evolved into a dynamic multitype network supporting interlibrary cooperation within nine counties: Ashland, Ashtabula, Columbiana, Geauga, Lake, Mahoning, Portage, Summit, and Trumbull.

Membership in NOLA consists of 85 libraries: 32 public, six academic, 40 school districts and seven special libraries. The libraries are diverse in collections, staff and operations. Two public libraries, Orwell and Rock Creek (Ashtabula County), have collections of just over 15,000 volumes while the metropolitan Akron Summit County Public Library has a collection of 1, 375,000+ volumes. The school libraries range in size from a small residential school, Grand River Academy, to the Youngstown City Schools with 23 libraries. Special libraries include ACCESS (Area Cooperative Computerized Educational Service System), Kent State University School of Library and Information Science, Mahoning Law Library Association, the Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio (Channels 45/49 WNEO), Trumbull Correctional Institution, Trumbull Law Library Association, and The Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor Archives/Library. The academic libraries are particularly diverse with three branches of the Kent State University campuses, Lake Erie College, Youngstown State University and the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine.

Mission Statement: The NOLA Regional Library System is a multitype library agency that coordinates and facilitates the development of services of its member libraries for all of their constituents. NOLA is a membership-driven organization that seeks to strengthen library services and to promote the continued improvement of libraries in Ohio.

Vision Statement: The NOLA Regional Library System is a strong, diversified community of libraries linked through cooperation and shared resources, constantly striving to meet the educational and informational needs of its members and the communities and people they serve.

NOLA's Values: The NOLA Regional Library System believes in:
• Supporting and enhancing library services by fostering cooperation, communication and networking
• Providing an environment that encourages professional leadership and growth
• Advocating for the value of libraries

NOLA's Goals and Objectives  are included in the NOLA Strategic Plan 1999-2002 approved by the NOLA Board of Trustees on August 18, 1998.