MCLS partners with more than 70 vendors and publishers to provide member libraries with discounted pricing and centrally negotiated licensing. We regularly review expressions of interest from prospective vendor partners and add an average of four new vendors per year.  

How do we identify prospective partners? 

Vendors regularly reach out to us, promoting their products and services. We also engage with potential vendor partners at conferences and other events, which helps us build awareness of emerging products and acquisition models in the eLicensing landscape.  

How do we decide which vendors to work with?  

When we receive solicitations from vendors, our eLicensing & Collection Resources team does an initial review, looking for purveyors who offer the types of products requested by our member libraries. If we determine there may be interest, we request that the vendor submit an expression of interest, which helps us understand more about how they work with library consortia and whether they may be a good match for MCLS members, which helps us understand more about how they work with library consortia and whether they may be a good match for MCLS members.  

You can inform our vendor decisions! 

Our member libraries’ input is the most important factor in whether we pursue an agreement with a vendor or publisher. There are several ways you can contribute to these decisions, on an ongoing basis:  

• Reach out to services@mcls.org any time to inquire if we work with a vendor, or to request that we consider a specific partnership.  

• Request a quote for a product or service your library is interested in. If we don’t already partner with that company, this prompts us to investigate the possibility. 

• Attend a webinar with a prospective vendor partner and share feedback with us. 

Periodically, we send updates or requests for input to member libraries about potential partnerships we’re exploring. Here are just some of the potential partners we’re looking at: 

• JMIR Publications: an open access publisher covering a range of medical and interdisciplinary topics, including digital health, health care technologies, patient and caregiver education, participatory medicine, biomedical engineering, and medical informatics.  

• LocalHop: LocalHop is headquartered in Pontiac, Michigan and provides community calendars, room reservations, activity passes, and ILS integration. Webinar scheduled for May 21, 2026, 2 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Central). Learn more and register here.

• LOTE4Kids: a children’s digital library with thousands of audio-picture books in various languages. Featuring authentic storytelling by native speakers (not AI), it supports English and bilingual language learning through engaging stories, multiple reading formats, and built-in learning activities.  

• MLA Handbook: a style guide for research papers, citing sources. Webinar scheduled for June 4, 2026, at 1 p.m. Eastern (12 p.m. Central). Learn more and register here.

• Mometrix: test preparation study guides, flashcards, and practice questions for over 1,000 different standardized exams including MTTC and Praxis (teacher certification exams), M-STEP (K-12 exams), GRE, ATI TEAS, NCLEX, HESI A2, medical technology certifications, computer technology certifications, K-12, LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, etc. Member libraries may contact services@mcls.org for a free demo account. 

• Research Solutions: (Article Galaxy Scholar) supplement collections and interlibrary loan with individual article purchases; 40,000 journal titles covered; integrates with ILL software; works with any link resolver.  

• Social History Archive: British, Irish, and former Empire newspapers and records. They digitize and add new content on a regular basis. 

• University of Toronto Press: approximately 250 scholarly books per year, 80 journals.