Kentucky Virtual Library

At the beginning of the year, I discovered pretty much each state has a virtual library.  That’s a great resource in our world as it changes from storefront to electronic.   While I still see permanent library building necessary, there is personal help available directly at the physical store that lacks in a virtual world, online libraries offer electronic convenience.  That makes our physical libraries fit into the virtual world and especially useful during, let say, an unexpected spring blizzard forces all the roads closed on Saturday and there’s a report due on Monday.  Ok, so that actually just happened this last weekend here in Nebraska!  Another advantage is to those who just can’t get to the library.  I think people who can’t just pick up and leave the house when they want a good book to read benefit from the advantage of a couple clicks to check out.  All around the country, I see big box stores closing because online shopping is so easy, I also predict many other services such as physical libraries, will evolve to accommodate the electronic world.  It’s sad, because there’s not much like flipping through pages of an actual book, but having library resources at my fingertips is so convenient. 

So, lack of a Kentucky representative—and here’s a call to all you Kentucky people involved in writing for next year—I’ve found the KYVL online.  Enjoy.

The Kentucky Virtual Library (KYVL) is a consortium of nearly 300 Kentucky libraries and institutions, including colleges and universities, public libraries, K12 schools, hospitals, Department of Defense libraries, the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA), and more.

The three primary services of KYVL include:

·         Databases - core resources accessible to the users of KYVL member libraries.

·         Courier service - facilitating resource sharing among Kentucky's public and academic libraries and KDLA through interlibrary loan.

·         Kentucky Digital Library - a platform for Kentucky libraries and institutions share their digital archives with Kentucky and the world.

KYVL went live in November 1999, and is a program of CPE, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.

KYVL hours are Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm, except during the following Kentucky state holidays:

·         Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday (Monday, January 16, 2017)

·         Good Friday (April 14, 2017, one-half day)

·         Memorial Day (Monday, May 29, 2017)

·         Independence Day (Tuesday, July 4, 2017)

·         Labor Day (Monday, September 4, 2017)

·         Veterans Day (Friday, November 10, 2017)

·         Thanksgiving (Thursday & Friday, November 23-24, 2017)

·          Christmas (Monday & Tuesday, December 25-26, 2017)

·          New Year's (Friday, December 29, 2017 & Monday, January 1, 2018

Contact the KYVL staff by emailing kyvl@kyvl.org or call 844.400.KYVL (5985) toll free, or contact a staff member directly:

Ilona Burdette, Director
502.892.3073
Ilona.Burdette@ky.gov

Enid Wohlstein, Senior Fellow
502.892.3068
Enid.Wohlstein@ky.gov

Ivy Robinson, Business Specialist
502.892.3057
IvyD.Robinson@ky.gov

Access to KYVL resources is provided through participating Kentucky libraries, which include Kentucky schools, public libraries, college and universities, and others. Visit your participating library to use KYVL resources on site, or ask a member of the library staff for a KYVL username and password to use KYVL resources from home and elsewhere.

(credit: http://www.kyvl.org/access all info downloaded from site)