Get to Know NC LIVE

NC LIVE supports education and economic mobility for all North Carolinians by purchasing high quality, online resources for the NC Community College System, the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU), public libraries and UNC System. All 209 member institutions have equal access to the same resources.

WHAT WE PROVIDE

A graphic showing over 1.8 billion items in NC LIVE's collections.

Explore Our Resources

College & Career Readiness 
Business Development 
Nursing Program Support 
K-12 Teacher Education 
STEM 
All 

Building on North Carolina's investment in broadband by delivering education content to all communities.

What is NC LIVE?

NC LIVE supports digital literacy by providing access to over 1.8 billion online articles, ebooks, journals, newspapers, and more. The collections include small business development tools, nursing and healthcare program support, career and college readiness tools, and resources for K-12 teachers and students.

WHO WE SERVE

All North Carolinians may access NC LIVE through their local library. Below are just a few examples of those who have benefitted from NC LIVE's resources.

A black woman with curly hair and brown glasses.

SIDNEY

Sidney started using NC LIVE to learn a new language so that she could better support her Spanish-speaking patients. Then she discovered how much money she could save on eBooks, music, movies, and other entertainment by using NC LIVE resources through the Greensboro Public Library. (Read more)

A white woman with curly hair and black glasses.

JENNI

Jenni is one of two librarians at a Wake County public high school that serves over 2,000 students. She uses NC LIVE resources to help students find the resources they need to succeed. (Read more)

A black woman with shoulder-length brown hair wearing a pink sweatshirt.

VANESSA

Vanessa works full-time as a dental assistant, but she plans to return to school to become a certified dental hygienist. She used NC LIVE through Wake County Pubic library to study for her entrance exam, saving her hundreds of dollars. (Read more)

A white man with short, brown hair wearing a purple ECU polo.

MIKE

In addition to being a logistics management officer and a graduate student, Mike is a full-time pilot. He uses NC LIVE to save time on his business school assignments so that he can focus on his job and his family. (Read more)

A white man with short, gray hair wearing a collared shirt.

CARL

Carl is a researcher at a nonprofit that helps children with disabilities. He uses scholarly articles through NC LIVE to support his research, which he publishes with open access. (Read more)

A white man with short, gray hair and wire glasses.

STAN

Stan is a retiree living in the Triangle, where he uses both the Chapel Hill and Durham County libraries. He likes using NC LIVE to get trustworthy consumer information without leaving the comfort of his home. (Read more)

A white man with short, black hair and a goatee.

MATT C.

Matt teaches rhetoric and composition at two NC colleges, so he knows how hard it can be for students to find reliable sources for their writing. He promotes NC LIVE as a one-stop shop for research as he helps students reach their academic potential. (Read more)

A white woman with long brown hair and wire glasses.

GWYNETH

Gwyneth is a recent Meredith College graduate who uses NC LIVE through Wake County Public Libraries to create museum exhibits and explore her passion for preserving North Carolina’s cultural heritage. (Read more)

Our Partners

North Carolina Community Colleges: Creating Success
State Library of North Carolina and Public Libraries
UNC System
North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities

OUR ECONOMIC IMPACT

NC LIVE's Budget

$4.3 million
$3.6 million on content • $0.7 million on operations

ROI - Savings for Member Libraries

$3.5
million spent

$51.5
million gained

Current Funding

NC LIVE is funded both by recurring state legislative funds via the budgets of the UNC System, the NC Community College System, and the State Library of NC, as well as via the private contributions of the NC Independent Colleges and Universities. Since NC LIVE's inception in 1997, this funding has risen only 34% (from $3.2m to $4.3m), in which time the price of e-resources has risen 517%. This has led to painful cuts to the e-resources NC LIVE provides and has prevented NC LIVE from licensing new e-resources that would support the emerging needs of North Carolinians.

FUNDING REQUEST

NC LIVE is requesting an additional $5 million in recurring state funds to buy resources for:

  • Nursing and healthcare programs
  • Workforce development and college readiness
  • Consumer health information
  • Digital skills and digital literacy support
  • Training on emerging technologies

Why support NC LIVE?

NC LIVE builds on North Carolina’s investment in broadband by providing high quality, educational content to all communities. NC LIVE has not had a funding increase in 20 years. In that time, the price of online resources has increased 237%. If funding does not increase, NC LIVE will be forced to cancel content subscriptions, affecting accreditation and support of libraries, students, and learners across the state.

Why buy through NC LIVE?

NC LIVE saved North Carolina $47.8 million in 2023 by negotiating 80-90% off list prices for resources. These resources were used 10.3 million times across all institutions in the same year.

Students at small, rural institutions have access to the same resources as students at large research institutions. For many small institutions, NC LIVE provides the only online educational resources available to their communities. were

a map depicting North Carolina, with all of NC LIVE's member libraries pinned.