Are You Using All of the Tools in Your Digital Library Toolbox?

Public libraries are doing more with less every day by serving growing communities, managing diverse collections, and connecting people with ideas in new ways. Behind the scenes, staff juggle multiple systems, workflows, and expectations, often without realizing the tools available to them. 

When your library’s digital tools work together as one connected ecosystem, everyday tasks become easier, engagement grows, and IT demands shrink. With solutions that support personalized content promotions, multilingual experiences, integrated messaging, and fines management, you can extend the value of your current setup and create a more unified experience for staff and patrons. 

Simplify the Behind-the-Scenes Work 

Staff time is one of the library’s most valuable resources. Manual processes and disconnected systems can slow everything down. 

 Libraries that add tools like BiblioCloudRecords and BiblioFines streamline operations and reduce effort behind the scenes. Managing fines and digital records doesn’t have to be a time sink. With these add-ons, libraries simplify administrative workflows while ensuring data accuracy and consistency across systems. 

• BiblioCloudRecords automatically connects and updates metadata, so your catalog reflects new and digital materials faster. 

• BiblioFines helps patrons view and understand outstanding balances directly from their account, reducing service desk traffic. 

• BiblioLanguages supports multilingual collections and services with accurate, catalog-based translations, so all patrons can easily engage in the language they prefer.  

Each tool removes friction and saves time, allowing your staff to focus more on community service and less on maintenance. 

Transform Everyday Interactions into Engagement Opportunities  

Every digital interaction is a chance to connect with patrons. Expanding your suite with tools designed for engagement can help your library stay visible and relevant between visits. 

Libraries using MessageBee, Content Promotions and BiblioSuggest are turning routine notifications and catalog browsing into meaningful connections. 

MessageBee

Every notification, from holds and renewals to reminders, represents a chance to connect. MessageBee delivers accessible, branded messages that align with your library’s tone while streamlining ILS communications. By utilizing Native Texting your deliverability rate achieves a 95% success rate in comparison to email gateway text messaging that only has a delivery of 50% typically. Your staff will see an improvement in their Holds workflow since patron reminders that are viewed mean staff don’t waste time pulling books only to reshelve them days later. A robust analytics dashboard can help report on email, SMS, and voice channels. To learn more about MessageBee and the partnership with BiblioCommons check out the webinar from earlier this year.

Above: MessageBee ILS Notifications provide a unified platform for sending email, SMS, and voice notifications to patrons that are library-branded, engaging and delivered.

Content Promotions

Libraries have incredible stories to tell, but staff time and website space are limited. Content Promotions helps libraries automatically showcase events, services, and collections across digital touchpoints so more patrons discover what’s happening, without extra effort from staff. Among patrons who interact with these promotions, 63% take action by placing a hold, checking out an item, or saving it to their shelf, and those patrons are four times more likely to register for an event or join a waitlist. Even better, it helps close a critical visibility gap: 74% of catalog visitors never explore the library’s website outside of the search, using Content Promotions ensures more of your programs and collections are seen where patrons are already engaged. 

Above: Content Promotions allow libraries to promote their resources, events, and services directly in the catalog search results, on the bib page, and through the app. 

BiblioSuggest

BiblioSuggest makes it easy for patrons to recommend new titles right from the catalog, since the suggestion form is fully embedded within BiblioCore. Libraries can set monthly suggestion limits to prevent overload from individual patrons, and popular or well-known authors can be auto-approved to streamline review. By filtering out duplicates and managing suggestions in a structured workflow, BiblioSuggest helps reduce staff workload and keeps the collection development process focused and efficient. Libraries interested in learning more can watch our recorded webinar.

Above: BiblioSuggest features can be embedded within your BiblioCore site for easy access and management. 

When these tools work together, they create a consistent, personalized experience that builds loyalty and encourages discovery. 

Make the Most of What You’ve Built  

Your BiblioCommons products are designed to provide a unified, frictionless experience. When additional tools are added, they enhance each other’s impact. 

Libraries that use multiple BiblioCommons solutions together see improvements in staff efficiency, patron engagement, and overall satisfaction.

Expanding your digital tools within one trusted platform also reduces IT and security risks. By managing fewer vendors and integrations, your library can maintain consistent privacy practices, simplify maintenance, and ensure a unified approach to updates and data protection across all digital touchpoints. 

Adding new tools is not about buying more software. It is about extending the value of what you already have and creating a more connected experience for your patrons. 

Why the Full BiblioCommons Suite Works Better Together 

Each BiblioCommons product is powerful on its own, but the real value appears when they work together. The unified design and data structure across BiblioCore, BiblioWeb, BiblioEvents, BiblioEmail, and BiblioApps means your staff and patrons move through one connected experience without duplicate logins, content gaps, or conflicting data. 

• BiblioCore anchors discovery, helping patrons find what they want and uncover what they didn’t know they needed. 

• BiblioWeb extends that discovery to your library’s website, offering a flexible, accessible CMS built specifically for libraries. 

• BiblioEvents connects programs, services, and collections so patrons can easily engage with their community online or in person. 

• BiblioEmail drives timely, branded communications that link directly to catalog records and events. 
  

• BiblioApps brings it all together on mobile, giving patrons a connected experience wherever they are.  
  

Above: The BiblioCommons product suite provides a unified, frictionless platform where all products work together and complement the user experience for both library staff and patrons. 

BiblioCommons helps libraries bring this connected experience to life, enhancing the systems you already use and creating new opportunities to reach, inform, and delight your community.

Takeaway

Every library’s digital ecosystem is unique, but the goal is the same: to make staff more efficient, patrons more engaged, and technology less of a barrier. The more your BiblioCommons tools work together, the more impact you can create, with less effort behind the scenes.  

If your library is only using part of the platform, there may be easy wins waiting to be unlocked. Whether it’s personalized promotions, multilingual content, or smarter patron communications, each add-on builds on the foundation you already have.

Contact your Customer Success Manager to explore how tools like BiblioLanguages, MessageBee, BiblioSuggest, and Content Promotions can help your library achieve more! 

Want to Stay Informed?

If you’d like to continue the conversation or learn how these ideas could support your library’s goals, we’d be happy to connect. Just fill out the short contact form and our team will follow up.

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