Home of South West Idaho’s largest Wide Area Network
As of August 2016 our combined database which is housed at Boise Public Library contains:
- 670,512 title records
- 1,512,639 item records
- 366,854 card holders
Boise Public Library installed the first automated circulation system in Idaho in 1975 and was one of the first libraries nationwide to use such a system. The original consortium was formed in the late 1970s with an agreement between Boise Public Library, Nampa Public Library, Caldwell Public Library, and Twin Falls Public Library. Within months of this formation, these libraries were also on the automated circulation system.
In 1994 the Consortium began looking for a totally integrated online system, and by March 1996 the Lynx Library Consortium had completed its migration and was online with its new system. As the years have passed other libraries have joined including, Meridian Library District in 1997, Eagle Public Library and Garden City Library in 1998, and Hailey Public Library and Ada Community Library in 1999. Since then Mountain Home Public Library joined in 2006, Boise Public Library added 3 branch sites during 2008 and 2009 and Meridian Library District added a branch site also in 2009. Emmett Public Library joined in January 2010.
Boise Public Library continues to be the hub for the system providing, system administration and maintenance, wide area and local network consulting, and a web server for the online library catalog.