OpenAthens, the world-leading identity and access management specialist, is pleased to announce its membership of the American Library Association (ALA).

Founded in 1876, ALA is a national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programmes and services. For more than 140 years, the ALA has been the trusted voice of libraries, advocating for the profession and the library’s role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all.

OpenAthens joins ALA’s roster of well-respected member organisations, including its global partner EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO), as a corporate member.  ALA membership brings visibility in the marketplace to organisations across the world and offers member-to-member access to buyers and decision makers in the library community. OpenAthens will now be able to connect with more than 53,000 individual and 5,000 organisational members of ALA.

The OpenAthens team has worked closely with libraries since its inception, providing remote access to resources across the globe. Last year OpenAthens celebrated its 25th birthday by continuing to deliver on its core values: helping people achieve great things; providing excellent customer service; and supporting and innovating for the future.

Becoming part of ALA’s extensive member list strengthens OpenAthens offer of providing fast and efficient access to knowledge for all library users, including alumni. OpenAthens has remained fully functional and responsive to customer needs throughout the pandemic. For example, the team established a Remote Access resource hub to provide vital information about how to work remotely and where to get support.  As a result, libraries and their end-users can access e-books, journals, databases, and other knowledge resources quickly and easily from home.

Customers are fully supported by EBSCO’s technical teams which provide local support in the United States and other nations around the world. Excellent customer support, an onboarding guide, training and OpenAthens101 webinars on how to get the most out of product features all come together to provide a holistic customer experience.

Jon Bentley, Commercial Director at OpenAthens, commented: “ALA is the is the oldest and largest library association in the world. Thanks to its ever-improving programming, a focus on advocacy, professional and leadership development, and information policy, ALA is making a difference for libraries and those that work in them. Because of these initiatives joining ALA as a corporate member was a no-brainer.

“Being instantly connected to a network of dedicated library professionals not only bolsters our own offering but helps us inform our customers and join wider conversations on industry topics.”

OpenAthens has been awarded the prestigious title of Platinum at LibraryWorks Modern Library Awards 2021 for its continued dedication to providing access to knowledge for librarians and publishers across a range of organizations.

MLA’s judges score the product on a numeric basis from 1-10 on a series of questions regarding functionality, value, customer service and more. To be awarded a Platinum Distinction an organisation must have scored in the top 2%.

To find out more about ALA’s work please visit: www.ala.org

ENDS

Notes to editors

About OpenAthens

We make it easy for people to access knowledge through single single-on. Our mission is to enable people to achieve great things by connecting them to knowledge and information, whenever and wherever they need it.

We strive to be the world’s most user-friendly single sign-on experience and help more than 2,600 organisations world-wide to provide simple and secure access to online resources for their end users.

OpenAthens is a Jisc enterprise.

For more information visit our website or contact@openathens.net.

Editorial contact

James Grice – James.Grice@purplefish.agency