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 GoogleAnalytics 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 ourLibrary 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.

Download the 2023 year in Review as a PDF

‍

‍

Data Analysis to Supercharge Engagement

More than a Transition from Google Universal Analytics to Google Analytics4 (GA4)

The online data and analytics world experienced a significant change from Google Analytics this year, and BiblioCommons supported libraries through the transition. To empower libraries to access library-specific data, the BiblioTeam created the BiblioCommons Analytics Platform, a powerful feature available across the entire product suite that provides custom entities, parameters, and events that are exclusive to BiblioCommons and now available to all BiblioCommons subscribing libraries.  This new platform for library-specific user data allows library staff to glean valuable insights into collection discovery, event engagement, and website interactions. Some examples are knowing when a user publishes a list for the first time, clicks through an explore link on service-related content such as a 'View More' link, or requests an item in another platform. The BiblioCommons Analytics Platform not only eased the transition to Google Analytics' latest iteration, it provides library-specific metrics, and amplifies library staff's ability to make data-driven decisions, thereby enriching the library user experience.

Bridging Technology and Libraries with A New Patron Engagement Data Project

BiblioCommons is creating a comprehensive, shared North Star metric and data tool to enhance libraries' capability to track, analyze, and boost patron engagement effectively. This innovative initiative will help libraries foster sustained patron engagement and achieve strategic goals by improving how libraries using BiblioCommons test, learn, and iterate on best practices. The development of this initiative draws inspiration from established library measurement techniques and incorporates successful strategies from the technology, hospitality, and retail industries. An appreciative thank you goes out to our Founding Partners, King County Library System, Pima CountyPublic Library, Columbus Metropolitan Library, and San Francisco PublicLibrary, who have been collaborating to help shape the project. 

‍

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Updates Make Your OnlineLibrary More Welcoming

Detailed Accessibility Updates Positively Impact Users

BiblioCommons' dedication to accessibility is a key distinguishing factor compared to other vendors offering similar solutions and services to public libraries. The BiblioTeam made accessibility enhancements to the entire suite of products following a report provided by the National Network forEquitable Library Service (NNELS). Some highlights include updates to the display of active and pinned filters on the Search page (benefitting disabled and non-disabled patrons), support for libraries to identify the language of the pages and blog posts they create to ensure screen readers use the correct pronunciation and accent, as well as ongoing improvements to our products to adapt accessibility standards, screen-readers, and other assistive tools evolve. In 2023, BiblioCommons completed the Voluntary ProductAccessibility Template (VPAT) for BiblioApps (for both Android and iOS). A VPAT outlines a process to self-report a product's accessibility compliance. There is also a VPAT available for BiblioCore, and the BiblioTeam is aiming to complete VPATs for the entire product suite. The currently available VPATs can be downloaded from the Partner Portal.

‍

‍

Awards Offer an Avenue to Highlight Diverse Voices

Displaying and promoting awards listings in your online catalog exposes patrons to quality titles from underrepresented voices that they might not otherwise discover. The list of awards available for Partner Libraries to enable in BiblioCore is extensive and grew further this year, with six additional awards. Among them, the IGNYTE Awards celebrates the vibrancy and diversity of BIPOC storytellers, the Sydney Taylor Book Award recognizes outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience, and the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction is a new English-language literary award celebrating creativity and excellence in fiction by women and non-binary writers in Canada and the United States. Displaying a wide array of awards in BiblioCore helps enrich the online catalog and highlights diverse perspectives and voices in literature.

‍

BiblioCore Languages are Enabled in BiblioApps for All Libraries  

To support Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion efforts at libraries, BiblioCommons expanded language support to all Partner Libraries.Libraries that subscribe to a language translation (or multiple language translations) in BiblioCore now have those same languages applied to BiblioApps at no additional cost. The BiblioTeam regularly works with Partner Libraries to add new and relevant languages to BiblioCommons products. Currently, 11 languages are available that have been translated by professional, in-country translators and are updated frequently. This expansion of language support in BiblioApps significantly enhances EDI initiatives and ensures patrons from diverse linguistic backgrounds can access and engage with library resources more comfortably and intuitively.

‍

A New Multi-Account User Experience for BiblioApps

The multi-accounts feature introduced this summer makes it easy for patrons to add multiple accounts to the mobile app, switch between them from within the app, and remove them. Aspart of this new feature, the app home screen is personalized to display the active user's name and avatar. Users can add and access multiple library cards and easily switch between accounts by tapping the avatar icon or from the My Library Cards area. This new multi-accounts feature on BiblioApps enhances accessibility and personalization for families sharing advice, especially for parents managing their children's library activities or for families or groups who may not have access to multiple devices.

‍

‍

Making Online Interactions with the Library More Relevant for Patrons

‍

Personalized Experiences Across the Catalog and the Events Calendar

Personalized Promotions is a BiblioWeb feature that enables discovery and increases patron engagement by promoting library-created content to users as they search and explore the library's online collections. In 2023, many Partner Libraries enabledPersonalized Promotions for their online catalogs, and many more will be turning on the feature in 2024. Additionally, a new feature called My Events entered preview for Partner Libraries that subscribe to BiblioEvents. The feature allows patrons to personalize their library event experiences by viewing and managing the events they have registered for or for which they are on the waitlist and hoping to attend.

‍

‍

Enhancing Library Emails with Unique Data and Personal Touches

Library staff can now better personalize emails to subscribers with data from their ILS, donation tools, and other CRMs. The BiblioEmail Contact Custom Field and Email Token functionality allows libraries to upload unique patron data, such as library card anniversary dates or the number of books read for a program, and display the personalized information to email recipients. Libraries can use this feature in drip campaigns to re-engage readers with a celebratory anniversary email or to track progress on reading challenges like 1000 Books Before Kindergarten or SummerReading. Custom Fields are now available to all BiblioEmail subscribers. 

‍

‍

Providing Enhanced Security and Privacy Measures

Proactive Investment in Infrastructure Security

As part of our dedication and focus on security, stability, and reliability, BiblioCommons has made substantial investments in our infrastructure. Between last year and this year, all of BiblioCommons' networking infrastructure at our colocation data centre was upgraded. We upgraded to use next-generation firewalls and our network switches were upgraded to increase security, add more redundancy to the network, and boost network capacity and speed for better performance. The BiblioTeam also continuously monitors and evaluates reports from our implemented intrusion detection and prevention solution, as well as our other security tools that perform regular security scans of our applications and adhere to secure engineering principles in our software development life cycle. BiblioCommons regularly reviews any newly discovered and announced vulnerabilities by security vendors to assess whether they impact any of our products or the tools we use. These reviews, and the best practices we follow, help us react and address any potential risks quickly.

Cyber Security Insights from Boston Public Library 

Public libraries face several challenges as they strive to balance privacy and security with offering accessible and welcoming services to their communities. BiblioCommons hosted a webinar with David Leonard, President of the Boston Public Library (BPL),and Keith Gillette, Chief Technology Officer at BPL, to help inform libraries about cyber security best practices and create more avenues for peer learning.The webinar covered infrastructure security, prevention and recovery measures, and other takeaways to ensure libraries can provide reliable, secure, and uninterrupted digital services to their community. This webinar was instrumental in advancing library security knowledge and empowering libraries to navigate the delicate balance between maintaining privacy and providing open access to their communities. A recording of "Cyberattack at the Library! Lessons for Security, Access, and Data Privacy" can be accessed on demand. 

‍

Continually Scaling Up to Enhance Reliability

BiblioCommons strives to maintain the highest engineering, security, and stability standards. To support these initiatives, the BiblioTeam continuously monitors our infrastructure, the load on our systems and the performance of our applications, and invests to add new servers to our infrastructure, both to replace any aging servers and increase capacity for our applications, search clusters, and load balancers. By focusing on capacity planning and adding new servers we aim to ensure that our products can handle continued growth in usage and volume of requests, as well as any potential seasonal spikes in usage that our Library Partners tend to see throughout the year.

‍

A Growing and Thriving BiblioCommons Community

New Templates for BiblioWeb Via the Spotlight Library Program

Partner Libraries have designed incredible and creative pages using BiblioWeb. To celebrate and share these beautifully designed pages,BiblioCommons developed the Spotlight Library Program. The program not only highlights libraries' great work but also makes peer-nominated designs available to all subscribing libraries through the BiblioWeb Template Library.The templates are carefully reviewed to maximize customization potential, responsiveness, and accessibility. The Spotlight Library Program opens avenues for creativity and inspiration, supports continuous learning and collaboration, and strengthens the vibrant BiblioWeb community of Partner Libraries. Two setsof three templates were released in 2023 from Arapahoe Libraries and Chicago Public Library, and more templates will be shared in 2024.

BiblioCon '23: Driving Engagement and Measuring Impact at the Library

One of the most highly anticipated virtual events for public libraries, BiblioCon, took place virtually from September 20-22. Sessions uncovered the countless ways public libraries create diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible online experiences for their patrons. Registration was complimentary for all public library staff and open to customers and non-customers. The theme for the first day of the conference was driving community engagement, while the second day's sessions focused on measuring community impact, leveraging BiblioCommons products, and connecting with peers. PartnerLibraries also had the opportunity to attend Office Hours with BiblioCommons' product managers on the last day of the event. BiblioCon '24 will take place online from October 9-11. Save the dates and sign up to receive the latest BiblioCon news on our website.

‍

Sharing Ideas and Learning Together at Conferences and Webinars

Throughout 2023, the BiblioCommons team shared industry best practices and product updates through various webinars, virtual meetups, and speaking engagements at conferences. Presentations included "Library inYour Pocket: Building a Loyal Patron Base Through Your Mobile App,"presented by Kevin Bowman from Laurel County Public Library and Alyx Park from BiblioCommons, at Computers in Libraries, "Not Everything Can Go on the Website: Effective Content Management Strategies," presented by Claudia Strange from Fulton County Library System and Kati Polodna from BiblioCommons, at the Library Marketing and Communications Conference, and “Best of Both Worlds: Libraries Leveraging BiblioCommons and Evergreen,”presented by BJ Colvin from King County Library System and Erica Reynolds fromBiblioCommons. Additionally, many webinars took place that are now available on-demand from theBiblioCommons website. BiblioCommons' commitment to hosting webinars and presenting at industry conferences is pivotal in fostering community, sharing knowledge, and helping drive the evolution of online library services.

Informing Our Path Forward with the Annual Partner Library Survey

Partner Library feedback has always influenced our product development and the services we offer. In addition to our Ideas Portal for submitting, up-voting, and managing enhancement requests, regular customer check-in calls, and regional meet-ups, the Annual Partner Library survey ensures that we continuously align with public libraries' needs and preferences. In 2023, 91.25% of respondents reported being satisfied or very satisfied withBiblioCommons Software, 97.96% reported being satisfied or very satisfied withImplementations, and 91.55% reported being satisfied or very satisfied withSupport. These Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT) are far above the 2023 B2B SaaS industry average of 77. BiblioCommons will use the feedback gathered to shape the products and services we offer and continue to deliver experiences for library staff and patrons that exceed their expectations.

Amplified Professional Services Packages to Support Library Staff 

In 2023, new services and training were added to the Professional Services Catalog to supplement libraries' expertise. The updated and customized training helps libraries reach their online patron experience goals faster and more effectively. Additional training options are available for BiblioCore,BiblioWeb, BiblioEvents, BiblioEmail, and Readers' Advisory. All ProfessionalServices benefit from the BiblioTeam's expertise and include topics like website content strategy, BiblioWeb redesign, Taxonomy assistance, BiblioWeb accessibility, Google Analytics 4 consulting and dashboards, and much more. A benefit of the BiblioCommons Professional Services is their flexibility.Libraries are welcome to request customized consulting packages tailored to their needs. 

A Website Redesign Tailored for Library Staff

The BiblioCommons website underwent a transformative redesign that was launched in September of 2023. Our goal has always been to put you at the forefront of everything we do. This redesign reflects our commitment to offering library staff an unparalleled user experience. The revamped layout provides a value-packed experience and makes the information visitors seek effortlessly accessible. Most notable are the Resources pages for All Resources, Webinars, and Blogs that have new filters so users can zero in on the precise resources they need.Whether it's a specific area of focus or a particular type of content — from recorded webinars to handy templates — finding valuable resources has never been faster or more intuitive. The overhaul of the BiblioCommons website marks a significant leap towards a more efficient, user-centric online experience that helps empower library staff to make a greater impact on their patrons and communities.

‍

Co-Founder Is Named General Manager

BiblioCommons appointed Co-Founder Marty Tarle as the new General Manager of BiblioCommons as of July 1, 2023. Marty co-founded BiblioCommons in2007 with Beth Jefferson and Patrick Kennedy, and he 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. With twenty years of senior leadership experience across technology, strategy, and operations roles, Marty is poised to lead BiblioCommons into a new era of growth, innovation, and customer-centric excellence.

‍

Connecting the Public Library Community

Many new public libraries joined the BiblioCommons Community in 2023. The following libraries subscribed to the BiblioCore online catalog:Richmond Public Library (CA), Toledo Lucas County Public Library (OH),Naperville Public Library (IL), Richmond Hill Public Library (ON), WarrenCounty Public Library (KY), and Valley Library Consortium (MI). Additionally, Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library (ON) and Thunder Bay Public Library (ON)subscribed to BiblioCore and BiblioWeb; and Central Arkansas Library System (AR), Beverly Hills Public Library (CA), and Mississauga Library System (ON)subscribed to BiblioCore and BiblioApps.

Various Partner Libraries expanded their BiblioCommons subscriptions to benefit from the product suite's tight integration. HennepinCounty Library (MN), Mid-Continent Public Library (MO), Glenview Public Library(IL), Kenton County Public Library (KY), Harris County Public Library (TX),Lakeland Library Cooperative (MI), Innisfil Public Library (ON), Frisco PublicLibrary (TX), Palm Beach County Library System (FL), Naperville Public Library(IL), and Muskegon Area District Library (MI) subscribed to BiblioApps, SanJose Public Library (CA) subscribed to BiblioWeb; Christchurch City Libraries(New Zealand), San Mateo County Libraries (CA), and Kitsap Regional Library (WA)subscribed to BiblioEmail; and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry County Library (ON)subscribed to BiblioWeb and BiblioEmail.

This past year, various libraries went live with their newBiblioCommons-powered digital experience platforms (integrating the library’s website, catalog, and events in one platform) including Timberland RegionalLibrary (WA), Kitsap Regional Library (WA), Dayton Metro Library (OH), WoodBuffalo Regional Library (AB), Stark Library (OH), Glenview Public Library(IL), Harris County Public Library (TX), and Palm Beach County Library (FL). eiNetwork migrated from vuFind to BiblioCore, becoming the first Pennsylvania library system and one of the biggest consortia to subscribe to the BiblioCore catalog.

As we close another year of growth and advancement, it is clear that the milestones achieved will lead the public library community toward a more innovative and connected future. Together, BiblioCommons PartnerLibraries and the BiblioTeam will continue to build on past successes and make2024 even more transformative.

About BiblioCommons  

BiblioCommons builds software that transforms the public library's essential online services—the website, the catalog, the events calendar, the marketing communications, and the mobile app—from transactions to experiences worthy of the public library. BiblioCommons powers integrated online experiences for many of the top public libraries of all sizes across the United States, Canada, NewZealand, and Australia.

-end- 

For more information, please contact: 
Eliana Franco, Marketing Director 
Eliana.Franco@BiblioCommons.com

‍