About us

Contact Next Search Catalog

NEKLS office: 785-838-4090

(toll free: 888-296-6963)

After hours emergency: 785-813-1356

E-mail: Next help @ nekls.org e-mail address

Next Search Catalog team

Next Search Catalog coordinator: George Williams

Library Services Consultant: Robin Hastings

Continuing Education Consultant: Dan Alexander

Information Resources Consultant: Jessi Harris

Technology Specialist: Greg Gantz

About Next Search Catalog

Next Search Catalog is a regional library resource sharing system adminstered by Northeast Kansas Library System. Through Next Search Catalog, library users can easily and rapidly obtain library materials that may not be available in their local library collections. Borrowers can use their library card at any other Next Search Catalog library.

Next Search Catalog began in 2004 with nine participating libraries and a goal of providing convenient, rapid, and direct access to the shared collections of all participating libraries. Currently there are 45 libraries participating in Next at 52 library branch locations.

Member libraries

For a full list of libraries with contact information, see https://nextkansas.org/cgi-bin/koha/opac-library.pl

There are 45 libraries fully participating in Next Search Catalog at 52 locations.

Additionally the Louisburg Library participates in Next Search Catalog for the purposes of Hoopla access only.

That makes the grand total 53 locations.

  • Atchison Public Library

  • Baldwin City Public Library

  • Basehor Community Library

  • Bern Community Library

  • Bonner Springs City Library

  • Burlingame Community Library

  • Carbondale City Library

  • Centralia Community Library

  • Corning City Library

  • Doniphan County Library District #1 (4 locations)

    • Doniphan County Library - Elwood
    • Doniphan County Library - Highland
    • Doniphan County Library - Troy (District headquarters)
    • Doniphan County Library - Wathena

  • Effingham Community Library

  • Eudora Community Library

  • Everest, Barnes Reading Room

  • Hiawatha, Morrill Public Library

  • Highland Community College

  • Holton, Beck-Bookman Library

  • Horton Public Library

  • Lansing Community Library

  • Leavenworth Public Library

  • Linwood Community Library

  • Louisburg Library (Hoopla only)

  • Lyndon Carnegie Library

  • McLouth Public Library

  • Meriden-Ozawkie Public Library

  • Northeast Kansas Library System

  • Nortonville Public Library

  • Osage City Library

  • Osawatomie Public Library

  • Oskaloosa Public Library

  • Ottawa Library

  • Overbrook Public Library

  • Paola Free Library

  • Perry-Lecompton Community Library

  • Prairie Hills Unified School District 113 (5 locations)

    • Prairie Hills Schools - Axtell Public School
    • Prairie Hills Schools - Sabetha Elementary School
    • Prairie Hills Schools - Sabetha High School
    • Prairie Hills Schools - Sabetha Middle School
    • Prairie Hills Schools - Wetmore Academic Center

  • Pomona Community Library

  • Richmond Public Library

  • Rossville Community Library

  • Sabetha, Mary Cotton Library

  • Seneca Free Library

  • Silver Lake Library

  • Tonganoxie Public Library

  • Valley Falls, Delaware Township Library

  • Wellsville City Library

  • Wetmore Public Library

  • Williamsburg Community Library

  • Winchester Public Library

Next Search Catalog History

  • 2003:
    • NEKLS engages RMG Consultants to conduct a feasibility study of the idea of developing a regional shared catalog
    • As a result of that study, several NEKLS libraries participate with the Kansas City (Missouri) Public Library Consortia (KCLC)
    • NExpress begins as a courier system among Northeast Kansas libraries
  • 2004-2005:
    • The NExpress courier system thrives
    • The existing KCLC fails to generate much interest or to grow
  • 2006:
    • 4 additional libraries join the KCLC group
  • 2007:
    • NEKLS begins to explore alternative options to KCLC, and NEKLS decides in 2008 to manage its own shared catalog adopting the courier’s “NExpress” name
    • NEKLS chooses the Koha integrated library management system for NExpress
    • NEKLS contracts with LibLime - a division of Progressive Technology Federal Systems, Inc. (PTFS) - for Koha support and server management
  • 2008:
    • August - NExpress shared catalog goes live with 13 participating libraries
    • November - 1 additional library joins NExpress
  • 2009:
    • 17 libraries join Nexpress
  • 2010:
    • November - NEKLS staff attend KohaCon10 in Wellington, New Zealand
  • 2011:
    • In 2011, NExpress changes support companies from LibLime to ByWater Solutions
  • 2013:
    • October - NEKLS staff attend KohaCon13 in Reno, Nevada
  • 2014:
    • Lansing Public Library joins NExpress
    • August - NEKLS staff attend 1st annual Koha-NA conference in Wenatchee, Washington
    • END OF YEAR: Total circulation - 1762669
  • 2015:
    • August - NEKLS staff attend 2nd annual koha-US Conference in Eerie, Pennsylvania
    • August - Robin Hastings of NEKLS becomes Koha-NA President (Koha-NA changes its name to koha-US during her year as president)
    • END OF YEAR: Total circulation - 1754867
  • 2016:
    • August - NEKLS staff attend 3rd Annual koha-US Conference in Monterey, California
    • August - Paola Free Public Library joins NExpress
    • END OF YEAR: Next Search Catalog includes 44 public libraries and 1 school district
    • END OF YEAR: Total circulation - 1696577 | Total patrons - 118751 | Total titles - 394901 | Total items - 1041850
  • 2017:
    • May - Upgrade to Koha 16.11
    • May - Kansas Koha Explorers Group meets in Great Bend
    • August - NExpress staff attende 4th Annual koha-US Conference in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
    • November - Upgrade to Koha 17.05
    • END OF YEAR: Next Search Catalog includes 44 public libraries and 1 school district
    • END OF YEAR: Total circulation - 1629601 | Total patrons - 1629601 | Total titles - 410110 | Total items - 1045809
  • 2018:
    • January - George Williams of NEKLS becomes koha-US Vice President
    • July - Upgrade to Koha 17.11
    • August - NExpress is re-branded to “Next Search Catalog” with the help of Zephyr Marketing in Kansas City
    • August - Next adds Lynda.com content
    • September - NEKLS staff attend joint KohaCon/koha-US Conference in Portland, Oregon
    • December - Upgrade to Koha 18.05
    • END OF YEAR: Next Search Catalog includes 44 public libraries and 1 school district
    • END OF YEAR: Total circulation - 1529206 | Total patrons - 118175 | Total titles - 432234 | Total items - 1058712
  • 2019:
    • January - George Williams of NEKLS becomes koha-US President
    • January - Highland Community College joins Next Search Catalog
    • April - George Williams of NEKLS speaks at Pakistan KohaCon’19 about koha-US and Next Search Catalog
    • June - Upgrade to Koha 18.11
    • August - Next drops Lynda.com content due to changes in the Lynda.com policies regarding patron data
    • September - NEKLS staff attend the 6th annual koha-US Conference in Pueblo, Colorado
    • October - George Williams from NEKLS and Bob Benhof from CLiC speak at the Koha Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah
    • December - Upgrade to Koha 19.05
    • END OF YEAR: Next Search Catalog includes 44 public libraries; 1 school district; and 1 community college library
    • END OF YEAR: Total circulation - 1458904 | Total patrons - 119204 | Total titles - 407228 | Total items - 1030825
  • 2020:
    • March - Governor Kelly orders schools and libraries to close in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
    • April - George Williams from NEKLS delivers the keynote address at the first KohaThon online conference
    • May - Next adds Lynda.com content again after Lynda revises their privacy policies
    • June - Upgrade to Koha 19.11
    • August - George Williams from NEKLS and Christopher Brannon from Coeur d’Alene Public Library begin a video training series for koha-US See https://koha-us.org/learn/ for more information
    • END OF YEAR: Next Search Catalog includes 44 public libraries; 1 school district; and 1 community college library
    • END OF YEAR: Total circulation - 802267 | Total patrons - 123251 | Total titles - 405078 | Total items - 1025310
  • 2021
    • February - Upgrade to Koha 20.05
    • August - patch to Koha version 20.05.14.000 (Updated 2021-08-19)
    • August - George Williams from NEKLS and Christopher Brannon from Coeur d’Alene Public Library begin the second season of their video training series for koha-US See https://koha-us.org/learn/ for more information
    • September - George Williams from NEKLS speaks, via Zoom, at the 2021 koha-US conference in McKinney, Texas (koha-US 2021 conference website)
    • December - George Williams from NEKLS talks, via Zoom, about Next Search Catalog and koha-US at KohaCon21 in Pakistan
    • END OF YEAR: Next Search Catalog includes 44 public libraries; 1 school district; and 1 community college library
    • END OF YEAR: Total circulation - 990017 | Total patrons - 115455 | Total titles - 402030 | Total items - 1011992
  • 2022
    • January - Upgrade to Koha 21.05
    • August - Upgrade to Koha 21.11
    • September - NEKLS, SEKLS, and CKLS co-host the joint koha-US/KohaCon22 conference in Lawrence, KS (koha-US 2022/KohaCon22 conference website)
    • Jim Minges and Liz Rea (former NEKLS staff members) deliver the Keynote address at the joint koha-US/KohaCon22
    • END OF YEAR: Next Search Catalog includes 44 public libraries; 1 school district; and 1 community college library
    • END OF YEAR: Total circulation - 1073284 | Total patrons - 108652 | Total titles - 403279 | Total items - 1005962
  • 2023
    • February - Upgrade to Koha 22.05
    • February - Robin Hastings and George Williams from NEKLS speak at a Koha Summit in Derby, Kansas
    • May - George Williams of NEKLS is named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in the Innovaters category along with his colleague, Christopher Brannon, from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in recognition of the work that they have done helping the “open source Koha integrated library system (ILS) grow and thrive in U.S. libraries” (Read the article here).
    • May - The Wetmore Academic Center Library withdraws from Next Search Catalog due to the permanent closure of Wetmore Academic Center.
    • August - Upgrade to Koha 22.11
    • September - George Williams and Greg Gantz from NEKLS attend the koha-US conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (koha-US 2023 conference website).