The American Library Association’s 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition (June 27–July 2) brought 13,532 registrants to sunny San Diego for educational programs, featured speakers, business meetings, and celebrations. Though attendance was slightly down from the past two years, the conference attracted more than 550 vendors to the Library Marketplace, the largest commercial exhibition aimed at the global library community.
Vendors displayed a near-comprehensive range of products and services available to libraries, both physical and digital. Representatives were on hand to demonstrate solutions for use in the library, as well as services that can be offered virtually to patrons or deployed beyond building walls.
Books and authors
Much of the activity in the exhibit hall focused on publishers’ packed menus of titles. Vendors included the Big Five (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster) and hundreds of mid-sized and independent organizations spanning an incredible array of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and graphic novels. Periodical literature included the major scholarly publishers, specialized journals, and zines.
As always, library workers queued in long lines for a photo or quick word with authors on hand for book signings. Advance reading copies remain the most coveted items on the exhibit floor.
The publishing industry is an important aspect of the library community. In an interesting parallel to the conference, oral arguments were heard June 28 in the appeal of the Hachette v. Internet Archive lawsuit, which concerns the ongoing battle over digitized books and controlled digital lending. The outcome of this lawsuit has important implications for libraries and was a hot topic in the hallways of the convention center.
The Internet Archive, defendant in the lawsuit, promoted its vision of digital lending at a booth it shared with subsidiary Better World Books, an online platform that helps libraries dispose of materials weeded from their collections.
Libraries generally rely on specialized distributors to select and purchase new items for their collections, including the vast number of new titles featured in the exhibit hall. Baker & Taylor showcased its many services to distribute print and digital materials, as well as its services to facilitate processing and cataloging. Its collectionHQ system provides analytics tools to help libraries optimize collection development and fulfillment. Ingram Library Services, another major distributor, highlighted its metadata and shelf-ready processing solutions.
Digital, audio, and streaming
Ebooks, audiobooks, and streaming video services have become mainstays for libraries. OverDrive has established itself as the leading distributor for digital lending, with more than 3 million titles from 30,000 publishers available to libraries. As of April, patrons have checked out more than 4 billion titles through the platform—including the Libby and Sora apps—since the first checkout in 2003. OverDrive also offers Kanopy, a video-streaming service.
Hoopla demonstrated its broad selection of digital content, including audiobooks, ebooks, movies, TV shows, music, magazines, and comics. Other digital content lending services that exhibited at Annual included Boundless from Baker & Taylor and cloudLibrary, which OCLC recently acquired from Bibliotheca.
Scholarly content and primary sources
Most of the big names involved in scholarly publishing exhibited at Annual. Elsevier, one of the largest global businesses that publishes scholarly journals, offers discovery and analytics tools such as SciVal, Science Direct, and Scopus. The company showed their wares in a modest booth this year. Other scholarly publishers represented on the floor included Oxford University Press, Sage, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley.
Gale, part of Cengage Group, featured many of its primary source collections, including the Gale Literature Resource Center database. In addition to the industry powerhouses, smaller organizations were in attendance. This included Coherent Digital, which has assembled research reports and other content from more than 1,200 organizations, including think tanks, nongovernmental organizations, and intergovernmental organizations.
The outcome of Hachette v. Internet Archive has important implications for libraries and was a hot topic in the hallways of the convention center.
Patron-facing technologies
Public libraries demand elegant interfaces and compelling digital services that can capture the attention of their community members while also giving equal attention to mobile and desktop presentations.
Communico displayed its full suite of products for website management, digital signage, event management, scheduling, and equipment reservation. Library Market helps libraries deploy customized websites and calendars using modern, mobile-enhanced designs. SOLUS demonstrated its new-generation Library App, which combines discovery and self-checkout capabilities with event management, room bookings, and other features.
StackMap provides a service that enables libraries to include visual maps in their catalogs that guide patrons to the locations of collection materials. LocalHop highlighted its low-cost event management and calendar package. Springshare, known for its LibGuides suite of applications widely implemented in academic libraries, is building a growing presence among public libraries, thanks to its recent acquisition of the Patron Point marketing platform.
Delivering efficiency
Even with digital options, libraries still see physical materials being circulated at high volumes, driving an interest in products and services that can capably handle large-scale print collections. Offerings based on RFID and other technologies address different aspects of managing materials for loan.
Bibliotheca offers a wide range of products for self-service, automated materials handling, theft detection, digital signage, and inventory management. Its Open+ system enables libraries to maintain unattended facilities, including the ability for extended hours in specific areas of a building. Similarly, Envisionware provides solutions for delivering services via unstaffed locations, such as through its 24-Hour Library. The company also offers self-service kiosks, sorters, automated materials handling equipment, tablet management and checkout kiosks, and payment solutions, as well as analytics tools for measuring the use and impact of services.
Likewise, mk Solutions demonstrated its Open Library products for unstaffed facilities. In addition, the company promoted its mk LibLocker (which provides secure access to patron-requested materials), LibDispenser (which provides self-service access to items outside of library facilities), and other RFID products for self-service and anti-theft.
Comprise Technologies offers many solutions for materials, room and equipment bookings, payments, and print management. D-Tech International displayed its self-service and sorting products, pickup lockers, security solutions, and laptop-lending kiosks. FE Technologies provides a wide range of products for self-service, sorting, collection security, and unattended access. And Nexbib is a European company that recently entered the North American market with its line of self-service and automated materials handling products, lockers, and solutions for unstaffed libraries.
Lyngsoe Systems specializes in automated materials handling, including high-capacity sorting systems and self-service equipment. Its Intelligent Material Management System helps libraries optimize the flow of their items among multiple branches and storage locations. Meescan provides a variety of cloud-based solutions for mobile- and kiosk-based self-service, fee collection, curbside pickup, and patron authentication.
Management and discovery
Almost all the major providers of library management systems and collection discovery services exhibited at this year’s Library Marketplace.
OCLC’s broad range of services and initiatives are too numerous to fully itemize. At conference, the nonprofit demonstrated its Tipasa, WorldCat Discovery Service, WorldShare Interlibrary Loan, WorldShare License Manager, and WorldShare Management Services platforms. The organization continues to expand its linked-data services with its new data-editing tool, Meridian, as well as ongoing enhancement of WorldCat records with linked-data entities.
Lyrasis, another nonprofit organization, provides services that promote and support open source software initiatives, such as ArchivesSpace, CollectionSpace, DSpace, and Islandora. In partnership with the Digital Public Library of America, Lyrasis manages the Palace Project, a digital-lending platform based on open source software.
The Clarivate booth reflected its current state of business integration, with less emphasis on the unique brands that Clarivate has acquired in recent years. Its library software business incorporates the products of Ex Libris, including its flagship Alma library services platform (LSP), Primo discovery service, Leganto course list management system, and a number of resource-sharing solutions. Innovative’s featured products included the Polaris integrated library system (ILS) and Vega suite of patron-facing interfaces and services, both geared to public libraries. Innovative also highlighted new versions of the Sierra ILS used by many public and academic libraries.
EBSCO Information Services promoted EBSCO FOLIO, an LSP based on open source software that includes EBSCO’s own components for discovery and catalog interfaces, analytics, electronic resource management, and linked-data services. Other featured products included the company’s broad assortment of EBSCOhost databases and other content offerings.
ByWater Solutions also featured services for open source library software, including the Aspen Discovery interface, which is interoperable with both proprietary and open source ILS products; Koha ILS, which is being adopted by increasingly larger and more complex library systems; Libki print management solution; and Metabase analytics platform.
The Library Corporation (TLC), which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary in business, demoed its CARL•Solution, Library•Solution, and Library•Solution for Schools ILS products. Its sister company, Tech Logic, brought an example configuration of its automated materials handling equipment for sorting and movement of library materials.
SirsiDynix promoted its CloudSource OA discovery service, which streamlines access to open content, in addition to its Symphony ILS and BLUEcloud suite of web-based applications with optimized workflows. The BLUEcloud suite includes the new BLUEcloud Mobile2 discovery app for patrons.
Also specializing in technologies for public libraries is BiblioCommons, which presented its BiblioCore discovery interface, BiblioWeb website builder, BiblioApps mobile interface, and BiblioEmail platform for marketing and automated messaging.
MediaFlex demonstrated its open source OPALS ILS used by schools and other types of smaller libraries. Book Systems showed its Atriuum ILS for public and school libraries, while LibLime demonstrated its Bibliovation platform. Other ILS products featured at Annual included those from Infovision Software, Insignia Software, and Libib.
LibraryThing demonstrated its flagship service for cataloging small and personal collections, as well as TinyCat, an online catalog for these collections. The company also highlighted Syndetics Unbound, a collaborative service with ProQuest that enriches library catalogs through recommendations and bonus content.
For libraries interested in outsourcing their cataloging or record-enrichment services, both Backstage Library Works and MARCIVE presented a variety of interesting options. Baker & Taylor offers its BTCat service as a utility for libraries to obtain MARC records to support their cataloging operations. Additionally, WT Cox provides services to help libraries to manage their print and electronic resource subscriptions.
The Library Marketplace provided a venue for ongoing conversations between customers and vendors on artificial intelligence.
Large-scale storage
Libraries of all types continue to value their physical collections and often make great investments to retain and manage them—even when they exceed the capacity of their regular shelving. Large-scale offsite storage helps libraries dedicate more space in their buildings for core collections and patron services while preserving lesser-used materials and providing them upon request.
Two companies, Clancey Relocation and Logistics and Iron Mountain, presented their physical storage options as alternatives to libraries allocating their own dedicated facilities. Aurora Storage Products displayed shelving and storage cabinets for libraries creating new or additional capacity for physical materials in their facilities.
Collection analytics
Several products and services help libraries understand and optimize their collections and offerings through enhanced data and analytics.
Recollect has collection management and community engagement tools to help libraries refine collection development strategies. Attendees who visited the Counting Opinions, libraryIQ, and SimplyAnalytics booths learned about the distinctive approaches of each company’s products, which in turn help libraries optimize their operations based on internal data and external sources.
Digital transformation
There was no shortage of companies ready to assist libraries with digitization projects. Those offering scanning equipment and software included The Crowley Company, Digital Transitions, DLSG (Digital Library Systems Group, a division of Image Access), and Scannx.
Luna Imaging provides a sophisticated web-based environment for the management of image collections. In addition to its well-known collections of backfiles and journal articles, JSTOR also offers JSTOR Forum, enabling libraries to take advantage of a mature and scalable platform to manage local digital collections.
Global tech
It’s always interesting to see which of the global tech giants opt to exhibit at Annual. Amazon Business came to show how its e-commerce and procurement services can be used to support library processes.
Google, which has presented at recent conferences, was noticeably absent this year.
Waiting for AI?
One of the key topics discussed at many sessions was artificial intelligence (AI), particularly the fast-moving world of generative AI. Many speakers expressed both optimism and concern about this new set of technologies, and its potential to disrupt many aspects of library services.
Yet the tone toward AI seemed much more tentative and subdued in the exhibit hall. Some companies are beginning to articulate strategies and even implement enhanced services based on AI. Perhaps more importantly, the Library Marketplace provided a venue for ongoing conversations between customers and vendors on this topic. Hopefully these insights will inform how AI can be harnessed and applied in bringing meaningful benefits to the library community, as they accelerate into full-fledged products and services.
