BiblioCommons is a portfolio company of the Volaris Group, one of the operating divisions of Constellation Software.

Breeding, Marshall. New General Manager for BiblioCommons. January 2021. Smart Libraries Newsletter. BiblioCommons has named a new general manager, its top executive position. When Volaris Group purchased the company in February 2020, Matt Goddard was appointed as its general manager to lead the company through its initial phase of business integration. As of December 1, 2020, Sebastien Lopes has assumed the role of general manager, following a three-month recruitment process. This transition in leadership was expected and does not necessarily portend any major changes in product or business strategies.

Breeding, Marshall. Consolidation Takes a New Form: BiblioCommons Acquired by Constellation Software. March 2020. Smart Libraries Newsletter. BiblioCommons, a Toronto-based company providing a suite of applications and interfaces for public libraries, has been acquired by Volaris Group, one of six operating companies of Constellation Software, Inc. BiblioCommons has become established as a major force in the public library sector, and its products have been implemented by an impressive list of libraries and consortia in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This transaction marks a departure from its status as a founder-owned company. Though BiblioCommons will continue to operate independently, it now falls under the ownership of a large multinational technology firm managing a diverse portfolio of technology and software companies. But unlike general private equity firms, Constellation has never sold the companies it acquires.

Breeding, Marshall. BiblioCommons Launches BiblioOmni. August 2018. Smart Libraries Newsletter. BiblioCommons continues to expand its portfolio of products and services for public libraries. The company has recently developed a new marketing platform to enable libraries to create and distribute content to promote its collections, services, and events. This new product aims to help libraries increase awareness of their services by the communities they serve using some of the techniques that have been well established in the marketing and communications activities in other commercial and non-profit sectors.

Breeding, Marshall. BiblioCommons Launches E-Book Lending Integration. May 2012. Smart Libraries Newsletter. BiblioCommons announced in January 2012 a major initiative to integrate e-book lending into its socially-oriented library discovery platform.

Breeding, Marshall. New York Public Library Partners with BiblioCommons. September 2011. Smart Libraries Newsletter. The New York Public Library plans to make a major change in the way it offers access to its collections to patrons. This fall, NYPL will implement BiblioCommons, shifting from its current Encore-based catalog.

New York Public Library. New York Public Library and Bibliocommons partner to create a new innovative, interactive online experience. June 20, 2011. . The New York Public Library has partnered with Toronto-based software company Bibliocommons to completely transform its current online catalog, making it easier to discover the Library’s vast collections while also giving users the power to create reading lists, rate the latest books, and organize groups.

Vermond, Kira. Toronto startup drags NY libraries into the future. Tuesday, Jun. 07, 2011. The Globe and Mail. BiblioCommons, an 18-employee company from Toronto, is trying to bodycheck the library industry into the information age in such places as New York, Chicago and Ottawa. Taking the lead from social media, BiblioCommons, which launched in 2006 with funding from Knowledge Ontario, private investors and subscriptions, brings book readers, movie watchers and music listeners together.

Breeding, Marshall. BiblioCommons Prepares for next phase of Roll-out. August 2009. Smart Libraries Newsletter. After a long period of development, testing and some delays, BiblioCommons appears poised to move forward as a contender in the arena of discovery interfaces. Developed by a Toronto-based company of the same name, BiblioCommons offers a new approach to the discovery interface that fully embraces social networking as a fundamental component in the way that patrons find and select resources from library collections.

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February 11, 2025. BiblioCommons partners with Unique Management Services to enhance patron communication through BiblioApps. BiblioCommons, a leading provider of public library software, announced a new partnership with Unique Management Services to offer push notifications in BiblioApps, and SMS, voice, and email notifications in BiblioCore, powered by MessageBee. This collaboration combines the best in patron experience with the best in patron communication to create a more unified, proactive, and personalized library experience. Through this integration, libraries using BiblioApps can seamlessly connect with their patrons via personalized messaging that is pushed to their mobile devices. These notifications can be managed directly by the patron, the same way patrons manage all other push notifications.

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January 6, 2025. Burlington County Library System partners with BiblioCommons to enhance its digital library experience. BiblioCommons welcomed Burlington County Library System in New Jersey as its newest Partner Library. Through this partnership, BCLS will leverage BiblioCore and BiblioWeb to provide its community with a seamless, unified, and enriching online library experience.

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September 5, 2024. BiblioCon '24: Connecting Public Library Professionals and Experts, October 9-11. BiblioCommons announced the return of its annual conference, BiblioCon, which will be held online from October 9-11, 2024. Building on previous years' success and our commitment to inclusivity, the company is waiving all registration fees for this year's conference to ensure participation is open to all public library professionals.

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March 28, 2024. The new BiblioCommons Analytics Platform provides actionable insight into the digital library experience. BiblioCommons announced the launch of the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform, a one-stop shop for libraries to gain insight into and improve their patrons' online experiences. The BiblioCommons Analytics Platform goes beyond standard analytics provided by Google Analytics or other providers. It captures the key actions patrons take as they navigate through the discovery layer, website, events platform, or apps and delivers critical, public-library-specific metadata about the actions. For example, if a hold is placed, library staff will see the item title, device used, and availability. To maintain privacy, this data is fully anonymized and cannot be traced back to an individual person.

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March 13, 2024. BiblioCommons welcomes Raena Morrison as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. BiblioCommons announced the appointment of Raena Morrison as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. With over 20 years of experience building and scaling companies, Raena brings a wealth of knowledge and an impressive track record of success to BiblioCommons. She has experience establishing commercial organizations from scratch and inspiring existing teams to embrace bold new strategies for sales, account management, sales operations, and business development — making her the perfect fit for leading the BiblioCommons sales and marketing teams into the future.

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March 12, 2024. 2023 Year in Review. Reflecting on a year of innovation and progress, BiblioCommons has once again raised the bar for library engagement and accessibility. From the significant transition to Google Analytics 4 to the introduction of the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform, we've ensured that library-specific data is not only accessible but also actionable. Our dedication to enhancing user experience is evident in our focus on personalizing the patron experience while ensuring patron privacy and the continuous infrastructure upgrades that included implementing next-generation firewalls and expanding server capacity to accommodate the growing needs of our Library Partners. Continued accessibility updates, new product features, and the expansion of language support in BiblioApps support our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. With the rollout of new features and services, proactive security measures, and the invaluable contributions from the BiblioCommons community of Partner Libraries, we look forward to what's next and invite all libraries to celebrate all the past year's achievements.

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August 3, 2023. BiblioCon '23 is taking place online on September 20-22. BiblioCon, the Online Public Library Conference hosted by BiblioCommons, is back this year and will be hosted online from September 20-22, 2023. Building on the success of past BiblioCon conferences, we are once again thrilled to host BiblioCon ‘23 virtually. This decision comes as a result of positive feedback from previous attendees who valued the accessibility and convenience of the online setting. Moreover, in our continued commitment to inclusivity, we are waving all registration fees for BiblioCon '23 to facilitate the participation of all public library professionals without any travel or financial constraints.

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June 26, 2023. BiblioCommons appoints Marty Tarle as General Manager. BiblioCommons announced the appointment of Marty Tarle as the new General Manager of BiblioCommons as of July 1, 2023. Marty will replace Sebastien Lopes, who will transition into a new role within the parent company, Volaris Group, leading multiple companies in the library industry. Marty co-founded BiblioCommons in 2007 and has held multiple leadership roles in the company, including Chief Technology Officer and, most recently, Chief Operating Officer. During his tenure with BiblioCommons, he has established a proven track record of innovation in the library technology space and built strong relationships with public library partners.

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July 15, 2022. BiblioCon '22 registration is open to all public libraries. BiblioCon, the Online Public Library Conference hosted by BiblioCommons is back this year with incredible new speakers and insightful sessions that cover various topics about the digital library experience. Like last year, this year's event will be held virtually to enable audiences from far and wide to attend. Registration is complimentary to ensure that BiblioCon is welcoming and accessible to anyone working at a public library. Conference attendees can join public library staff, industry leaders, and BiblioTeam experts on August 24 and 25.

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May 31, 2022. New library partners subscribe to BiblioCommons in 2022. Two partnerships were formed between public libraries and BiblioCommons in the first few months of 2022. Glenview Public Library and Harris County Public Library are now members of the BiblioCommons shared digital platform. The BiblioTeam is thrilled to work with these two incredible libraries to help them unlock the full potential of the web to welcome, inspire, and connect their communities.

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Feb 10, 2020 BiblioCommons acquired by Volaris Group
Volaris Group finalized the acquisition of BiblioCommons. Volaris is a Canadian software success story that is focused on acquiring, strengthening and growing vertical market software companies. Volaris is a worldwide software organization which operates as a division of Constellation Software, one of Canada’s largest technology success stories. BiblioCommons will operate independently while advancing via the guidance and expertise of the Volaris network. Two of the founders, Beth Jefferson and Patrick Kennedy have decided to transition from BiblioCommons but will continue as advocates.

Sep 2011 New York Public Library partners with BiblioCommons
NYPL chose to invest in a company that brings technologies to the table beyond what they would be able to create internally. By subscribing to BiblioCommons and making investments in the company, NYPL will be able to accelerate its development roadmap.

2007 BiblioCommons founded by Beth Jefferson and Patrick Kennedy

2024 BiblioCommons Accomplishments Narrative

Year in Review 2024

In 2024, BiblioCommons focused on increasing patron engagement through research and analytics, while evolving the online patron experience to match the quickening pace of user experiences elsewhere on the internet through improved discovery and personalization. In addition to hosting ongoing webinars, virtual meetups, and BiblioCon ’24, the BiblioCommons community continued to grow and thrive.

Increasing Patron Engagement through Research and Analytics

In 2024, BiblioCommons provided a summary dashboard using the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform. This summary dashboard is available as part of any BiblioCommons subscription, and helps each library identify trends in key user events or actions across BiblioCommons products. The dashboard is a multi-page report built using the free tool Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio).

With the continued development of the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform, libraries could also take full advantage of the most comprehensive and patron-focused analytics available to public libraries in order to gain insights into online patron behavior. The BiblioCommons team has also been able to use the new analytics capabilities in order to run a series of A/B tests to research effective online content strategies. These tests are all well-documented and shared with public libraries to improve the effectiveness of the online library experience and to increase patron engagement across all public library websites.

We have also added A/B test functionality to BiblioEmail to allow library staff to experiment, learn, and ultimately increase patron email engagement. Library staff are able to run A/B tests on both subject lines and email content. To provide additional testing and evaluation tools, BiblioEmail added heatmaps for all library emails. Heatmaps provide a visual representation of which areas of an email have received the most clicks and serve as a useful tool to evaluate patron interest and engagement with library email marketing.

In order to provide support for new analytics tools, BiblioCommons also expanded its consulting services to provide GA4 and BiblioCommons Analytics Platform support, training, and custom reports—a new service highly appreciated by public libraries of all sizes.

Evolving the Online Patron Experiences through Discovery and Personalization

Browse and Discover to Transform the Online Patron Experience

The BiblioCore Discovery layer is building on best-in-class search and discovery with an all new, library-curated browsing experience: Browse and Discover. Built to increase catalog engagement, Browse and Discover will combine powerful library customization with the personalized user experiences patrons enjoy from modern streaming services and eCommerce websites and apps, but with library-values of privacy and transparency informing the design and functionality.

Browse and Discover will start with a custom BiblioCore homepage and expand through additional pages and personalized features for logged-in patrons to encourage deep exploration of the catalog. Staff will have the flexibility to showcase everything from seasonal reading lists to libraries of things to archival collections, as well as create evergreen pathways like browse by age group or genre, new and on order, best sellers, and much more. If a library is a member of a consortium, each consortium library will be able to customize their own Browse and Discover experience. If the library subscribes to non-English languages, a homepage can be created for each language to feature content relevant to that audience.

Each feature of the Browse and Discover experience, starting with the library-curated homepage, will be rigorously tested and improved using the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform. Libraries will be able to use the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform to view their own data and make informed decisions about their curation of Browse and Discover.

Columbus Metropolitan Library was the first Partner Library to implement the new Browse and Discover homepage in April 2024. Additional testing and development continued throughout 2024, and additional libraries will be previewing the new Browse and Discover experience as it continues to develop in 2025.

New and improved curated lists

Curated staff and patron lists of recommended books, movies, music and more have been a long-standing and beloved feature of the BiblioCore discovery layer, and in 2024, lists received a complete redesign with enhanced design and exciting new features. The redesigned lists were launched in 2024 and will be the default list display in 2025. The new layout was the result of extensive patron and library staff research, and introduces a clean visual design, improved accessibility, and an improved print view. The new lists display all formats per title (one of the most-requested enhancement requests), and full instrumentation for the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform to track and enhance patron engagement via lists.

New BiblioCore Consortium Functionality

BiblioCommons has developed and tested new BiblioCore functionality to support libraries within consortia. The new consortium features support libraries to feature their local collections first as well as provide easy access to the full consortium collections as well. This new functionality has completed testing and will be live with libraries in early 2025.

BiblioApps Integrations, Consortium Support and Enhanced Discovery

In addition to bringing browse and discover functionality into BiblioApps to create additional browse pathways for Apps users, the BiblioApps team also integrated with BiblioWeb content, supporting libraries in featuring their news, online resources, and blog content via their library’s app. Additionally, the BiblioApps team developed new consortium-friendly functionality to better support libraries within a consortium with separate branding and library-specific functionality.

In addition to big development projects with the BiblioCore catalog, a number of library-staff-requested enhancements were developed and released into production including support for Syndetics Unbound, new formats to support libraries of things and archival collections, improved library staff tagging, and enhanced consortium functionality.

Personalized Library Experience and Patron Customization Options

In order to create a more personalized and engaging experience for library patrons, BiblioCommons continues to develop tools and options for patrons to customize their library experience.

“My Events” with BiblioEvents went live for all BiblioEvents libraries, allowing users to view and manage events they plan on attending or have attended in the past, all through integration with the patron’s account to allow patrons to manage their events alongside managing their check outs, holds, and other library interactions.

Another commonly requested feature, custom calendars for BiblioEvents was launched in 2024. “Create PDF” within BiblioEvents allows users to generate a printable PDF document to print customized, library-branded event calendars based on patron interests, preferred branch, and more.

With BiblioApps, patrons were able to customize their home screen to create a more personalized experience and feature the content most applicable and interesting to them.

One aspect of personalization—offering the online library experience in the patron’s preferred language was also a focus across BiblioCommons products. As one example, BiblioEmail provided the option for patrons to indicate their language preferences. Library staff are now able to create email segments to send targeted language emails. If a library creates BiblioWeb content in non-English languages, libraries can now leverage the Language Taxonomy to identify the primary language of the content. By applying the appropriate language term, the Language & Region subtag is made available to screen readers, which then read the content with the correct pronunciation and accent. For example, a page in Spanish is read with Spanish pronunciation (not English).

BiblioCon, Webinars, Virtual Meetups Support Library Staff

BiblioCommons hosted a number of learning opportunities throughout 2024. Webinars topics included everything from marketing and advocacy to the details of using the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform to gain insights into the patron online experience. BiblioCommons also hosted quarterly virtual meetups for BiblioWeb libraries and for readers’ advisory discussions.

BiblioCon ’24 marked the fifth year of the online patron experience conference. With 399 total registrations, BiblioCon ’24 was online and featured 25 sessions over 2 days, 33 speakers from across public libraries, and an additional day of office hours with the BiblioCommons product managers. 92% of participants in the post-conference survey reported that they were likely or very likely to attend or encourage others at their organization to attend BiblioCon in the future.

BiblioCommons community continued to grow and thrive

BiblioCommons welcomed a number of new libraries including Sonoma County Library (CA), Plymouth District Library (MI), and Coquitlam Public Library (BC) all subscribing to the BiblioCore discovery layer, and Burlington County Library System (NJ) and Evanston Public Library (IL) subscribing to the complete digital experience platform with BiblioWeb, BiblioCore and BiblioEvents for an integrated patron experience. However, the list of 2024 libraries is not all inclusive and additional names will be shared as their agreements allow.

Additionally, a number of libraries expanded their subscriptions with BiblioCommons to adopt the complete digital experience by adding BiblioWeb including: Johnson County Library (KS), Ocean Free Library (NJ), and Muskegon Area District Library (MI).

As more libraries joined the BiblioCommons community, long-term library partners collaborated with the BiblioCommons team in sponsored development and research to plan the evolution of the online library experience.

[View Narrative for 2023] [View Narrative for 2022] [View Narrative for 2021] [View Narrative for 2020] [View Narrative for 2019] [View Narrative for 2018] [View Narrative for 2017] [View Narrative for 2016] [View Narrative for 2015] [View Narrative for 2014] [View Narrative for 2013] [View Narrative for 2012] [View Narrative for 2011]