FOR decades the messaging for public libraries has been the same – libraries are having to do more with less, expanding their services whilst facing funding cuts, branch closures, hiring freezes, and reduced operational hours. Under these conditions, the relationship between libraries and vendors, which are typically private organisations, can appear to be in conflict with one another. This need not be the case.

Lauren Purton, Marketing Executive at Open Fifth, a CILIP Supplier Partner,(formerly PTFS Europe) explains how public libraries and software suppliers can optimise their relationships. This article, which first appeared in the CILIP Annual Buyers Guide 2025, includes contributions from Andrew Auld, Commercial Director, Fiona Borthwick, Head of Sales and Account Management, and Jonathan Field, Managing Director.

Read on to see how public libraries and library software vendors can work together to get the most out of their relationship.

The expansion of library services

The scope of services offered by libraries has extended far beyond books and media, research, and access to technology. In many libraries, visitors can now pay their council tax, have their blue badge details verified, or apply for a bus pass. That’s not to mention the changing needs and expectations of the public! This shows the adaptability of libraries and the recognition of them as an important public service and social hub.

However, it can also divert the attention of staff and require reskilling of the workforce. Library software can help with these pressures through sign-posting users to relevant resources and services, reducing the need for visitors to ask library staff directly, and enabling access to systems outside of library opening hours.

For libraries: When speaking with your library vendor, make them aware of these pressures and expectations outside of the traditional library offering. They may have a system function or solution that could support member access to these services or help to ease staff pressures.

It may also be possible to seek funding from other council departments by showing them the additional services and value the library offers beyond its defined scope. Additionally, collaboration with other departments or institutions could support applications for external funding.

For vendors: Ensure you’re asking the right questions when seeking to understand what your customer needs and the expectations of users and stakeholders.

Assess your software offering to see where solutions may already exist or could be easily amended to meet the growing needs of libraries.

Consortia and communities of practice

Library consortia are coordinated associations of libraries which share resources or activities. Consortia can be bounded geographically, by mission or area of interest, and libraries may belong to multiple consortia related to different aspects or functions, such as licensing and acquisitions.

There are library consortia throughout the UK which include the procurement of library management systems and software, including for public, health and academic libraries. Belonging to a consortium in these cases can allow libraries to join existing systems that meet their needs, eliminating the need for each library to individually go out to market and undertake time-consuming procurement processes.

This can reduce costs, save time, reduce the duplication of efforts, and free up librarians to focus on their services. There may also be circumstances where consortia do not represent best value, costs may be higher than those for a single system or the group software may not match your particular needs.

If you are not already part of a consortium but still want to share knowledge and solutions, you can benefit from reaching out to your network to establish communities of practice or working groups based on your region, sector or common interests.

For libraries: Review the consortia that you are currently associated with to ensure that you are fully utilising them and that they really represent value for money, weighing up the benefits of each approach for your library when it comes to procurement.

Access the community – speak to consortium member libraries or those within your network to understand how they are using the systems, share practices and discuss challenges.

For vendors: It is essential to understand the consortia available within your customer-base, their requirements, and acceptance periods for new suppliers.

Where permission is provided, introduce libraries who are using the same systems to support the development of communities.

Managing costs with LMS

Good library management systems have features which can support libraries in understanding and managing their costs, including:

• acquisitions modules with workflow automations/integrations to make procuring new resources easier and more efficient
• electronic Resources Management (eRM) modules to enable monitoring of electronic resource subscriptions, usage statistics reporting and cost per use ¬analysis to enable libraries to assess which ¬resources are most and least cost-effective
• collection management tools like stock rotation to enable resources to move around different branches to get the most out of sharing resources and targeting titles at branches with the most circulation or demand
• reporting and analytics tools to give snapshot and ongoing analysis of customer trends and behaviours. Reporting should also be used to demonstrate how libraries engage hard-to-reach customers/users and groups of users that the overarching organisation sees as a priority for the library to work with.

Library software should also be open to integration with other platforms and systems. It should be designed with good and open APIs – ideally free to use so that third parties can get involved in connecting systems or plugging in useful additional applications. An example of this would be enabling good interconnectivity with eBook providers, membership registry systems, interlending providers, the Public Lending Rights, internal organisation systems, and so on.

For libraries: Review your existing systems to assess if you have these features available and how to make the most of them where you do.

When considering new LMS solutions, ensure that the features and third-party app integrations you need are included and that staff are confident in using them.

For vendors: Review the systems that you offer and the platform integrations available to ensure they meet the needs of public libraries, and where they can be adapted if they currently do not.

Listen to your customers to understand what reporting, analytics, and modules could benefit them, and provide training to ensure they are confident in using it.

Member engagement

Engaging users and encouraging access to services is a priority for libraries, and it should be for library software too. Library software can support libraries with member engagement through:

• integration with reading challenge campaigns
• integrated or native event management tools with marketing communications
• easy to use content management systems so that libraries can build compelling web pages and content around the online catalogue
• responsive design should be core to web interfaces so that customers/users can access the library online whatever device they are using
• well designed and easy to use mobile apps for mobile users effective ‘discovery’ platforms to assist users in finding the resources they want and making recommendations
• provide clear sign-posting and information on other services that the library provides and council resources.

For libraries: Review your existing systems to assess if the features you have can support the engagement of your users, and that staff are utilising them.

When considering new LMS solutions, ensure that the member engagement features you need are included and that staff are confident in using them.

For vendors: Review the systems that you offer to ensure they support user engagement functions.

Listen to your customers to understand what member engagement activities they undertake and the needs of their user-base, ensure that training covers how to get the most out of the supporting features.

Open source software

Open source software is software that is publicly available for anyone to use, inspect or modify the source code. The principles behind it include collaboration, transparency, responsive development, and community, many principles which are shared with the library world. Using open source software can give developers much greater control to respond to requests, creating new features and improvements. Due to this open nature, there are no proprietary licenses with the associated fees, which can add up throughout the life of a contract.

The UK Government’s Technology Code of Practice (TCoP) and the Digital Transformation plan include great guidance on the UK’s digital strategy, as well as tips on how digital technologies can save money. The TCoP point 3 is to be ‘be open and use open source’ and remarks on how you could benefit from lower implementation and running costs.

It is not necessary to possess programming and technology skills within your team to operate an open source library system (although if you do have these skills, it is a fantastic opportunity to get involved!). Companies are available throughout the UK that specialise in providing implementation, data migration, maintenance and support services for the many different open source library systems available within the market to meet your needs – and PTFS Europe is one of these.

For libraries: Review the software and systems you are using and the proprietary or open source nature, the principles they represent, and where you can get the best value for money whilst meeting your member needs.

For vendors: Open source software provides great alignment with the principles of libraries around community and open exchange, consider whether you can include these elements in your offering.

Working together

The best way to get the most value out of any supplier is by building a lasting and transparent relationship, rather than seeing them in opposition to your goals. Good suppliers will want to have long-term open relationships with libraries – even if they do not currently supply them.

By taking the time to engage in these relationships, libraries can properly assess which systems are right for their organisation and will therefore add the most value to the organisation in the future. Librarian time is valuable and scarce, but procurement of a new library system can be expensive and is a decision that lasts for many years. It is worth investing time in.

With restricted budgets and staffing levels, librarians often cannot attend supplier events and showcases, making it difficult to engage with vendors on a personal level or compare options in person. The worst type of procurement process is one that surprises the supplier market and does not engage suppliers in good market evaluation sessions before the formal process actually takes place.

For libraries: Be as open as you can with your current and potential vendors about your needs, userbase, and constraints, giving them the opportunity to support you, provide appropriate solutions, and appropriate tenders when procuring.

When initiating the formal procurement process for a new library system, scan the market and ensure that your requirements allow for the most inclusive procurement process that meets the library’s needs, avoid unnecessarily disqualifying possible suppliers before they even apply.

For vendors: Adapt to ‘meet libraries where they are at’ with remote outreach or in-person visits, respecting potential time and budgetary constraints.

In Brief

It may feel like there’s a lot of pressure when selecting suppliers and library systems, however with transparency and an understanding of each other’s needs, great things can happen. An open dialogue with your vendors and effective engagement in the procurement process can support the library by helping to control costs, expanding your service offering, and engaging your members.

We hope that this guide gives both libraries and vendors helpful tips and advice on how to make the most out of their relationship.