In a move that expands its international presence,
Follett School Solutions 
has acquired
Access-it Software,
the New Zealand-based developer of the Accessit Library system, used mostly in primary and secondary schools. Bringing these two companies together represents a major step toward establishing Follett School Solutions as an international educational technology provider with a wide range of products and services.
Accessit was founded in 1994 by Martin Neyland and Joanne Marie Copland. The company is headquartered in Wellington, NZ and also has offices in Melbourne Australia and Rockville, MD. Its customers currently span over 40 countries, including a strong presence in Australia and the United Kingdom in addition to those in New Zealand.
This acquisition was supported financially by Francisco Partners, a private equity firm that
acquired Follett School Solutions from Follett Corporation in October 2021. Follett School Solutions joins a growing portfolio of K-12 education businesses and technologies supported by Francisco Partners.
The transition of ownership of Follett School Solutions to Francisco Partners was part of the divestment of all the businesses of Follett Corporation. In November 2021 Follett Corporation sold Baker & Taylor
to an investment group headed by President and Chief Executive Officer Amandeep Kochar. In February 2022 Follett Corporation
sold Follett Higher Education to a private investment group led by Jefferson River Capital .
Follett Higher Education manages physical and online college bookstores.
Follett School Solutions is led by
Chris Porter , Chief Executive Officer of the software business and Britten Follett serves as Chief Executive Officer of the content business.
Details of the acquisition
As Accessit becomes part of Follett School Solutions, its business will continue according to its previously established product development schedule. All personnel will be retained as employees of Follett School Solutions.
The founders of the company will continue in an advisory capacity. Accessit personnel now report through Chris Porter, Chief Executive Officer, Software for Follett School Solutions.
Follett School Solutions will continue to market Accessit Library in the international regions where it is already established.
Financial terms of the acquisition have not been publicly disclosed.
Accessit partnership with Mackin Educational Resources
In October 2021, Accessit expanded its presence in the United States through an
exclusive partnership
with
Mackin Educational Resources
to market and support Accessit Library in North America. This exclusive agreement was made prior to the acquisition of Accessit by Follett School Solutions. "While Mackin is a competitor of Follett School Solutions through its library materials distribution services and its MackinVIA portal for managing and providing access to digital resources," Chris Porter says, "We're in the process of working with Mackin on how we'll work together after our acquisition of Access-It and will provide an update as soon as possible.”
Complementary Products
Accessit Library has seen constant development over a span of 25 years. The product bears many similarities to
Follett Destiny Library Manager . Both were designed for the specific needs of K-12 school libraries and are fully web-based applications.
Follett School Solutions offers a variety of technology and content solutions. Destiny Library Manager and Destiny Discover provide tools for managing and providing access to physical and digital materials for teachers and students. Destiny Resource Manager helps districts track and manage technology and digital resources. Titlewave provides an online marketplace for the procurement of materials. Many school districts use the Aspen Student Information System to manage all aspects of managing student records.
Accessit has focused primarily on the library management system, providing opportunities for Follett School Solutions to promote its additional products and services to libraries using Accessit Library. Such integrations will not be exclusive. Accessit Library has been integrated with the content services and technology products of many other organizations. These integrations will continue to be supported.
Over the course of 25 years, Accessit Library has gone through a long development trajectory. It has evolved from software originally created for Windows and Apple computers into a web-based application supplemented by mobile apps. The software can be hosted remotely on the Accessit Cloud infrastructure or a library can deploy it through their own on-premise servers.
The application has been developed to manage both the print and digital resources for a library. Accessit provides a One Search interface that not only searches the resources of the library, but can also incorporate results from other websites, catalogs, or databases. Accessit supports single sign-on to simplify access to subscription-based resources.
Accessit works with any modern browser on any mobile, laptop, or desktop device. Libraries can operate self-service stations using the kiosk app provided. Accessit also provides apps for Apple iOS and Android-based smartphones, including the ability for users to check out materials directly with their devices.
Competitive environment for K-12 School Library Technologies
Follett School Solutions is well established as the leading provider of technology solutions for K-12 schools in the United States. Follett School Solutions currently serves about 12,000 educational organizations, spanning over 80,000 school buildings. By acquiring Accessit, Follett expands into an additional 4,000 institutions.
It has a smaller presence internationally, primarily through its use in the international schools, such as those offering the International Baccalaureate (See Follett IB Store).
In the US, other competitors in the K-12 school library sector include Alexandra provided by COMPanion Corporation, Atriuum from Book Systems, Library.Solution for Schools from The Library Corporation, and OPALS supported by Media Flex.
Other competitors in the school library technology sector include Softlink which provides its Oliver library management system to about 6,500 schools globally. The company's Alice ILS was one of the early library automation systems for schools and was widely implemented in Australia.
