The Carolina Consortium enables academic libraries in North Carolina and South Carolina to use their bulk purchasing power to obtain favorable pricing on a variety of electronic resources that are of significant interest to the scholarly community. In 2012 the Carolina Consortium included 142 community colleges, public universities, and private institutions of higher learning. The total amount the members paid to participate in the consortium deals was two hundred and forty million dollars less than if the member institutions had each paid independently. Most of the consortium's 70+ deals are still open to new participants, and new deals are considered by the group each April.
The Carolina Consortium welcomes all academic libraries in the Carolinas. Any library that chooses to join the group can participate in as many or as few deals as they like. Membership is free.