Eligibility

TexShare membership is established by statute (Section 441.221 and 441.224 of the Texas Government Code) and administrative rule (13 TAC 8.3)

Membership categories: Public Libraries | Academic Institutions | Libraries of Clinical Medicine | Affiliate Members

Public Libraries

Membership in the consortium is open to all accredited Texas public libraries.

Academic Institutions

Membership in the consortium is open to all institutions of higher education as defined in 13 TAC 8.1, including

• an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code
  • public technical institute,
  • public junior college,
  • public senior college or university,
  • medical or dental unit,
  • public state college, or
  • other agency of higher education
• a private or independent institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.
  • organized under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Section 22.001 et seq. in Texas Business Organizations Code);
  • exempt from taxation under Article VIII, Section 2, of the Texas Constitution and Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section d)
  • accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or the American Bar Association.

In addition, work colleges, as defined in 20 U.S.C. Section 1087-58, are eligible to join as institutions of higher education.

Libraries of Clinical Medicine

"Libraries of Clinical Medicine"

• has the meaning assigned to Non-Profit Corporation by Section 441.221 of the Texas Government Code, and
•  are defined in 13 TAC 8.1 as having
  • Extensive library services
    • Library is open and staffed a minimum of 45 hours per week; and
    • Staff includes a minimum of one full-time equivalent professional librarian (as defined in 13 TAC 1.84, relating to Professional Librarian); and
    • Library employs a library director for at least 40 hours per week in library duties; and
    • Services include circulation of materials, reference services, use of computers to access information sources, databases, or other similar services; and
    • An institutionally-approved collection development policy updated at least every five years
  • Extensive collections in the fields of clinical medicine and the history of Medicine-
    • "Clinical medicine" is defined as materials in the "W" category of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classification scheme
    • "History of medicine" is defined as
      • Materials fitting the scope of the NLM classification scheme under WZ-History of Medicine, Misc or in the NLM classificaiton scheme under history of a particular medical subject (e.g. history of surgery (WO11), history of dermatology (WR11), history of gynecology (WP11), et.); or
      • Unique archival materials (print materials, historical artifacts, and other resources) related to institutional history, or reflecting historically significant contributions of persons or institutions, or history of a particular area of health care.
    • "Extensive collections " is defined as a minimum of 12,000 library resources in the field of clinical medicine and history of medicine, in print and in electronic formats, comprised of books, journal titles, technical reports, videos, or databases.
       

TexShare Affiliate Membership

Libraries that don’t qualify for TexShare membership may be able to join TexShare as affiliate members. Affiliate member libraries may participate in the TexShare Card program and/or the TexShare Databases program.