Our Library Consortium
The McHenry Public Library District is a member of a consortium of nearly 30 libraries in the Chicago area. This consortium, called CCS (Cooperative Computer Services), allows each library to enjoy the benefit of a much larger online catalog of materials for patrons to search and borrow from or place holds, a shared patron database, discounted group licenses to other sources of data, the associated hardware and software, the expertise of the CCS staff, and the opportunity to network with the other member libraries.
This cooperative structure has proven to be more efficient and cost-effective than libraries operating independently (like those in the list below). To see the list of all of the libraries in the CCS consortium, click here.
Area Public Libraries (not in CCS consortium so do not share our catalog)
Fox Lake District Library | 847-587-0198
Johnsburg Public Library | 815 - 344- 0077
Nippersink Public Library District | 815-678-4014
River East Public Library | 815-385-6303
Wauconda Public Library | 847-526-6225
Woodstock Public Library | 815-338-0542
College Libraries
Special Libraries
Illinois Digital Archives | search for primary source materials in Illinois libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, and other cultural institutions.
Illinois State Library | search for books, government documents, maps and Braille materials.
I-Share | includes the resources of 90 Illinois libraries that belong to CARLI (Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois
PrairieCat | is the online catalog for some Northern Illinois libraries.
WorldCat | is the world’s most comprehensive database of information about library collections.
Library of Congress | Research & Reference Services including Main Reading Room, Business, Children’s Literature, Law Library, Local History & Genealogy, Newspaper & Current Periodical, Science & Technology.
Library Systems
I-Share | includes the resources of 76 Illinois academic libraries belonging to CARLI, Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois.
MLS — Metropolitan Library System – Swan Catalog | 80 libraries in the western and southern suburbs of Chicago.
RAILS | The Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS) is one of two multitype regional library systems in the state. The membership of RAILS includes more than 1500 public, private, university, and school library members, representing more than 3700 library facilities in a 27,000-square-mile area. RAILS was formed in 2011, through the merger of the Alliance, DuPage, Metropolitan, North Suburban, and Prairie Area library systems. McHenry Public Library District is a member of RAILS.
External links may be used as starting points in your research and are not intended to be exhaustive lists of all available external sites related to these topics. The library does not endorse or profit from these websites and external links are provided for use at your own discretion. For suggestions, comments, or to report broken links, you may contact the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
