November 2025. Open Fifth is pleased to share details of the continued development of the ‘community engagement module' for Aspen Discovery, allowing libraries to run campaigns, challenges and rewards within their library discovery system. The development has been led by Open Fifth and was first introduced earlier in 2025, with further tailoring to meet the specific needs of UK libraries.

This development was sponsored and tested by Cuyahoga County Public Library (Ohio, US), with UK-focused testing and input from Bi-Borough Libraries & Archives, (Westminster City Council and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea). The community engagement module is a perfect example of how collaborative development with the global open source community brings ideas to life that benefit all libraries using the software.

The community engagement module enables library staff to design, launch and track interactive, goal-oriented campaigns with multiple milestones, digital badges or physical rewards. The module was first released ahead of the Summer Reading Challenge, however its architecture supports year-round community engagement initiatives for the library.

The idea

The seed for this module emerged after Joe Salamon, Rebecca Ranallo and Lane Edwards, representing the major Cuyahoga County library system serving over 500,000 residents across 27 branches, saw the opportunity within Aspen Discovery to consolidate existing engagement tools and methods. Immediately after implementing Koha and Aspen Discovery in Autumn 2023, the Cuyahoga team pursued replacing subscription-based systems with a native, integrated solution.

In addition to reducing subscription costs for the library service, the library team wanted to show patrons what they have to offer, promote how much they were using the library, and, importantly, not need to download another app to participate in library initiatives.

Joe Salamon, Discovery Services & UX Manager at Cuyahoga County Public Library stated:

"Summer reading has always been enjoyable but clunky. We didn't want patrons to have to install yet another app."

Alexander Blanchard and Martin Renvoize worked with Cuyahoga to scope out the module. "The Open Fifth team immediately saw the vision," Joe shared, "There was never a ‘we can't do that', only constructive thinking."

Rebecca Ranallo, Literacy and Learning Director stated:

"We tried to know the places where we needed to be specific, around our processes and staff workflows, and to communicate this, but also remain open to where things could be more flexible, aware that our specifics may not make sense for others."

The development process

Joe Salamon, Discovery Services & UX Manager, Cuyahoga County Public Library stated

"The team was asking the right questions, they were getting the right answers when asking questions. It felt like we were on the same plane for the vision. When our needs shifted, they adapted."

The development process was built with responsive, user-focused feedback cycles. When library stakeholders described staff workflows, the Open Fifth team integrated them into the design, asking clarifying questions and iterating rapidly. This iterative approach with varied stakeholder inputs and open communication meant that new ideas or changes to approaches would be generated throughout the development period, continuing to co-create beyond the initial specification.

A testing environment was enabled through a test server, with the Cuyahoga library team coordinating to test each new feature or development before sharing feedback for the Open Fifth development team, led by Alexander Blanchard.

Alexander Blanchard, Software Engineer, Open Fifth commented

"It's been especially interesting to get feedback from libraries in both the US and UK. The varied inputs and librarian perspective brought use-cases and ideas that I wouldn't have conceived of myself."

The reception

Library teams

Early feedback from library teams using the community engagement module (also referred to as ‘campaigns module') was very positive, with praise in the US and UK for the simplicity and adaptability of the module. Library staff reported that set-up required minimal training, with a clean and easy to use staff interface. Even if staff had never used the module before, there was no need to look at instructions or documentation, in contrast to previous events services where this would be necessary.

Rebecca Ranallo, Literacy and Learning Director, Cuyahoga County Public Library stated:

"It's so easy to use. Having never been in Aspen administration before, I called Joe over to my office to assist, however I already understood it before he arrived."

Libraries are freed up to focus on running campaigns and developing supporting resources. Data is also more easily available for both library teams and patrons, accessed through a single account, instead of hidden away in an inaccessible black box.

We look forward to hearing from libraries as they begin to use the module with patrons, running their first campaigns, and sharing their ideas for new ways to engage patrons through Aspen Discovery.

Localising for UK libraries

Alexander Blanchard, Software Engineer, Open Fifth explained

"Feedback from Westminster City Council and other UK libraries has been essential. Their scenarios, such as enrolling patrons not yet on Aspen, encouraged us to re-examine assumptions and build more flexible workflows."

Open Fifth has incorporated features and adjustments based on insights from Westminster City Council Libraries and Archives and other UK libraries. These changes improve administrative control, user flexibility and compliance with UK norms:

• Opt-in enrolment by default, aligning with UK data protection regulations.
• Enhanced administrative enrolment options so librarians can enrol patrons directly.
• Customisable interface and terminology to match UK public library language and style.

Hannah Dunne-Howrie, Systems & Technology Manager, Bi-Borough Libraries & Archives, Westminster City Council and RBKC said:

"We initially got to see the campaigns module at an Open Fifth customer day back in November last year and we were very much impressed. We were able to get access to the test instance of campaigns and really liked this module but found that it lacked the ability for library staff to add end users to campaigns, beyond masquerading as them in Aspen. It's vital for us that library staff can add patrons, particularly children, to campaigns and we fed this back to Open Fifth. We were pleasantly surprised at how receptive the response was and impressed at the turnout at getting this functionality added to campaigns.

Fiona Borthwick, Head of Sales and Account Management, Open Fifth stated

"This is a fantastic development that adds significant functionality to Aspen Discovery. It is great to see the UK-US partnership working together to ensure that the module works well across different library environments. This collaborative approach makes the system stronger, and I look forward to showcasing the module and exploring its potential applications with our libraries."

Beyond the Summer Reading Challenge

While the community engagement module's initial application has focused on the Summer Reading Challenge, it was designed with flexibility for wider applications in mind. Through embedding engagement into Aspen Discovery, it is easier for libraries to sustain interest and connections with their communities.

• Well-being and health campaigns - Reward reading or activity goals tied to mindfulness, walking or healthy habits.
• Digital literacy initiatives - Encourage patrons to explore online collections or reward attendance at tech workshops.
• Local culture and history projects - Create campaigns to ‘Read something local' or ‘Discover local authors'.
• Seasonal drives - Read spooky books for Halloween or something festive for the holidays.
• Environmental and sustainability drives - Reward attendance at seed swaps, repair cafés, or sustainability workshops.

More on the module

• Open Fifth webinar ‘From catalogue to community: Aspen Discovery community engagement module' (September 2025)
• Aspen Weekly v. 228 ‘Community Engagement Module' (April 2025)
• Aspen Discovery documentation and how-tos ‘Community Engagement'.

Do you have a development idea for Aspen Discovery or Koha LMS that you would like to see brought to life? Speak to the Open Fifth team for more information on our bespoke development services - sales@openfifth.co.uk.

About Open Fifth

Open Fifth Limited (formerly PTFS Europe Limited) is a UK-based company with the vision to make technology easy for libraries. We focus on enabling library users through high-quality, open source software solutions. Our way of working is characterised by listening, finding solutions, reliable delivery, and above all open communication. Our highly skilled team has a friendly and approachable style in delivering our quality implementation and support services.

We proudly work with customers across all library sectors, including public, academic, health, governmental, museum, law and special libraries and archives. The reason so many customers continue to choose us is that we solve problems, we don't sell software. When libraries join us as a customer, they are gaining the expertise of our developers, trainers, data migration experts, and experienced account managers to support them throughout the journey. As an ISO/IEC 27001 certified company, you can also rely on the quality and integrity of the support we're providing.

More information on Open Fifth: www.openfifth.co.uk

Any questions? Please contact Lauren Purton (lauren.purton@openfifth.co.uk)