Library Technology Guides

Cengage Group teams up with AWS to define the future of AI in education. Cengage Group, a global edtech company serving millions of learners worldwide, announced an expanded collaboration with Amazon Web Services, combining AWS's artificial intelligence technologies with Cengage Group's learning design expertise to deliver trusted AI solutions that improve learning outcomes, empower educators and prepare learners for the workforce at scale.   [Full Announcement].

Rethinking Resource Sharing is back. The Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative, an ad hoc group that advocates for a complete reconsideration of the way libraries conduct resource sharing, has returned. Et hoc credimus, the RRSI statement of intent and hope. Now rethought and rejuvenated and open for public comment. The Checklist of best practices is actively being refreshed and updated. Two Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative town halls have been scheduled to (re)introduced to RRSI and discuss the updated Manifesto. [Full Announcement].

EBSCO User Group 2026: Call for proposals deadline extended. EBSCO Information Services has extended the deadline for EBSCO User Group 2026 session proposals to Dec. 1, 2025, giving North American academic library professionals additional time to share their ideas, innovations and stories. Held May 5–8, 2026, in Omaha, Nebraska, this year's program will offer three full days of peer-to-peer learning, integrated FOLIO tracks, in-depth workshops and networking opportunities. EBSCO is also evolving the event format based on attendee feedback. Alongside Standard and Panel Presentations, the conference is now accepting proposals for Innovation Sessions, a lightning-round format featuring 10-minute, targeted talks with a combined Q&A at the end of each series. [Full Announcement].

LibraryCall: Whole World Kids story app. LibraryCall introduced Whole World Kids, a story app for children ages 3-10 featuring engaging, high-quality audio stories in English and Spanish. The app comes preloaded with 30 free stories, including original tales and retellings of traditional stories from around the world. Created by diverse authors and narrators, these stories spark imagination, build literacy skills, and celebrate cultural traditions. Whole World Kids builds on the same mission that drives our LibraryCall dial-a-story and other audio services: expanding access to good stories for all children. [Full Announcement].

Bücherhallen Hamburg completes successful switch to new library system. Completed according to plan, Hamburg's 32 public libraries and two library buses made a smooth transition to the Danish library system Cicero, giving the libraries a significant technological upgrade. The implementation was completed on time and with minimal disruption, with more than five million data records successfully transferred from the previous system to the new one. [Full Announcement].

Libraries take the lead in exploring AI collaboration at Softlink IC's 2025 User Group meetings. Softlink Information Centres announced the success of its 2025 AI Library Challenge, a first-of-its-kind collaborative learning experiment delivered across Brisbane, Melbourne, and Wellington as part of this year's Liberty Digital and illumin User Group Meetings. The AI Library Challenge asked participants to complete two tasks; catalogue a monograph and design an OPAC homepage using different levels of AI support. Across the three events, participants were grouped into Team Human, Team Cyborg, and Team AI. [Full Announcement].

Softlink Information Centres celebrates successful 2025 User Group Meeting series in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Wellington. Softlink Information Centres successfully wrapped its 2025 in-person User Group Meetings this October, connecting with Liberty Digital and illumin customers in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Wellington. The events brought together library and knowledge management professionals from government, legal, corporate, and education sectors for a full day of learning, collaboration, and discussion on what's next for Softlink IC's solutions. Attendees enjoyed product updates, workshops, roadmap insights, and the debut of the AI Library Challenge, an interactive activity exploring how artificial intelligence can support real-world library and research tasks. [Full Announcement].

PALCI releases Digital Sharing Strategy. Last week, PALCI released its Digital Sharing Strategy, developed by the EZBorrow Digital Task Force to enhance PALCI's digital sharing capabilities and strengthen access to information across its 80 member libraries. The strategy outlines PALCI's vision and a framework for providing cost-effective and efficient access to information that reflects member library needs, guiding principles, and PALCI's distinctive approach to partnerships and business models to enable digital sharing. Building on 25 years of success with the EZBorrow consortial service for sharing physical collections, the new strategy presents both an aspirational, desired future vision, and a practical guide for expanding resource sharing into digital formats. [Full Announcement].

Partnering with libraries and publishers to build impactful ebook subscriptions. Twenty years ago, ProQuest, from Clarivate, began a tradition of curated ebook subscriptions that have become foundational to library collections worldwide. From the launch of our flagship Academic Complete, to specialized offerings like the University Press Ebook Subscription and Sustainability Ebook Subscription, our growing suite of solutions—including the newest ProQuest Ebooks—provides libraries with unlimited access to broad, authoritative scholarly content, while reducing restrictive costs and access barriers. [Full Announcement].

NISO Approves Working Group to develop Recommended Practice to Optimize Open Interoperability Around the ILS/LSP. Voting members of the National Information Standards Organization have approved the formation of a Working Group to develop a Recommended Practice to create visibility, clarity, and conformity of the areas that will optimize open interoperability around the Integrated Library System / Library Services Platform and support the various parties involved. NISO is currently seeking members from across the information community to join the resulting Open ILS Working Group. [Full Announcement].

Electronic resource discoverability. At UKSG 2024 annual conference in Brighton (UK) we ran a sessions on discoverability from the perspective of a vendor (Clarivate), a content provider (Gale), and a librarian (Coventry). We asked participants to answer a straw poll on the discoverability of their electronic resources. The results suggested that in even with all the modern discoverability tools available most participants felt at least some or in many cases a majority of their collections were "not discoverable". We found this "discovery" interesting, and decided to explore it further in this survey, aimed specifically at librarians.This survey explores how librarians experience and improve the discoverability of eResources - both with the library catalogue and across external services (discovery services, research assistants, content provider platforms, etc.). Your insights will help to identify the challenges, successes and future directions of eResource discoverability. [Full Announcement].

EBSCO Information Services releases Science News Magazine Archive dating back to 1921. EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) introduces Science News Magazine Archive, offering cover-to-cover access to decades of issues of the iconic science and technology magazine, Science News, from its first publication in 1921 to 2010. The archive provides valuable insights for researchers exploring the historical development of scientific discoveries, topics, trends, and events. Through this one-time purchase, libraries will gain perpetual access to the archive. [Full Announcement].

ByWater Solutions collaborates with early adopter partners to ensure a seamless rollout of the Koha 25.05 Release. ByWater Solutions, America's forefront provider of Open Source library technology support, is proud to announce the successful conclusion of its Early Adopter Program, where select partners collaborated with ByWater Solutions to rigorously test and improve Koha's 25.05 release. This collaborative initiative allowed early adopters to provide feedback, identify bugs, and shape the user experience ahead of the official rollout to the ByWater Solutions partners. [Full Announcement].

Grove introduces new edition picker, advanced periodical sorting, customizable econtent order, and more in Aspen 25.10. Grove Introduces New Edition Picker, Advanced Periodical Sorting, Customizable eContent Order, and More in Aspen 25.10Grove is excited to announce the release of Aspen 25.10, featuring powerful new tools and over 125 enhancements, bug fixes, and updates designed to make discovery even more intuitive for both library staff and patrons. [Full Announcement].

Announcing SCELC FOLIO Cohort 1. SCELC announced that an initial group of libraries has committed to SCELC FOLIO and are poised to begin implementation this month. This group of four SCELC Member libraries includes Pacific Union College, Notre Dame de Namur University, Western University of Health Sciences, and Menlo College [Full Announcement].

Cactus Communications partners with Emerald Publishing to enable seamless infographic purchases through ChronosHub. Cactus Communications, a leading technology company specializing in AI and expert solutions for the scholarly publishing ecosystem, announces a partnership with Emerald Publishing to deliver enhanced support services to authors through the ChronosHub platform. This collaboration expands the support available to authors publishing with Emerald by offering seamless access to infographic services that enhance research impact. As part of this partnership, authors will now have the option to see the price and purchase professionally designed infographics within the ChronosHub's payment workflow. [Full Announcement].

PALNI and PALCI partner with IOI to build Hyku co-investment and decision-making model. The Private Academic Library Network of Indiana and the Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration and Innovation announced a new partnership with Invest in Open Infrastructure to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Hyku, the open-source digital repository platform. Through this project, the Hyku for Consortia team—along with key stakeholders in the Samvera Hyku Community and IOI—will support the development of a co-investment and community decision-making model designed to ensure the Hyku platform remains robust, community-driven, and financially sustainable. [Full Announcement].

Wolters Kluwer and Vanderbilt University's Heard Libraries collaborate on transformative medical research agreement. Wolters Kluwer Health and Vanderbilt University's Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries announced a new collaboration that will help support medical breakthroughs and improve access to scholarly research. The agreement, which is an expansion of Wolters Kluwer's read-and-publish offerings in North America, will run through 2028. [Full Announcement].

Update on Baker & Taylor Business Operations. On Friday, September 26, we announced that ReaderLink and Baker & Taylor had terminated discussions regarding a proposed ReaderLink acquisition of Baker & Taylor assets. Since the unforeseen termination of the proposed acquisition, we have been working tirelessly with our advisors to determine the next steps for the business. Unfortunately, there are no sustainable pathways forward, and we have made the difficult decision to begin winding down our operations over the coming months. [Full Announcement].

LibraryCall Launches Whole World Kids Story App. LibraryCall, the company behind the award winning dial-a-story service used by libraries and schools across the country, is excited to announce the launch of Whole World Kids, a new story app designed to bring high-quality audio stories to children ages 3–10.Whole World Kids offers families instant access to a library of engaging stories in English and Spanish, including original tales and retellings of traditional stories from around the globe. Created by diverse authors and narrators, these stories spark imagination, build literacy skills, and celebrate cultural traditions. [Full Announcement].