NC LIVE is North Carolina's statewide library cooperative, supporting 200+ public and academic libraries across North Carolina. Since its founding in 1997, NC LIVE has saved the state millions through innovation and collaborative efforts.
What We Provide
Our Resources
Building on North Carolina's investment in broadband by delivering education content to all communities.
What is NC LIVE?
NC LIVE provides all North Carolina's citizens access to an online collection of 1.8 billion e-resources that supports education and enhances economic development. Hosted by NC State University, NC LIVE is a public/private partnership of North Carolina's public libraries, community college libraries, and 4-year college and university libraries.
Who We Serve
All North Carolinians may access NC LIVE through their local library. Below are just a few examples of those who have benefitted from NC LIVE's resources.
SIDNEY
Sidney started using NC LIVE to learn a new language so that she could better support her Spanish-speaking patients. Then she discovered how much money she could save on eBooks, music, movies, and other entertainment by using NC LIVE resources through the Greensboro Public Library. (Read more)
Our Partners
Our Economic Impact
NC LIVE's Budget
$4.3 million
$3.6 million on content • $0.7 million on operations
ROI - Savings for Member Libraries
$3.5
million spent
$50.2
million gained
Current Funding
NC LIVE is funded both by recurring state legislative funds via the budgets of the UNC System, the NC Community College System, and the State Library of NC, as well as via the private contributions of the NC Independent Colleges and Universities. Since NC LIVE's inception in 1997, this funding has risen only 34% (from $3.2m to $4.3m), in which time the price of e-resources has risen 482%. This has led to painful cuts to the e-resources NC LIVE provides and has prevented NC LIVE from licensing new e-resources that would support the emerging needs of North Carolinians.
Funding Request
What's at risk?
While NC LIVE has leveraged its statewide scale to negotiate discounts of 80-90%, the increasing price of e-resources has forced NC LIVE to cancel subscriptions of valued content from its collection. At current funding levels, NC LIVE will be forced to cut its offerings further, jeopardizing the accreditation of Community College nursing programs, support of K-12 teacher education, and STEM fields of study.
The Opportunity
North Carolina's recent investment in broadband has created new possibilities for residents in communities that previously lacked reliable high-speed internet. NC LIVE is poised to maximize the educational potential of this new digital infrastructure by providing high-quality e-resources to all North Carolinians, including those that support job-seekers, entrepreneurs, teacher education, nursing programs, STEM disciplines, and students preparing for standardized tests.
Funding Request
NC LIVE seeks an increase in recurring state funding to meet the growing information needs and support the digital skills of North Carolina's citizens.
