Published Today: The 2024 Edition of the “Library Systems Report” by Marshall Breeding

The latest edition of Marshall Breeding’s annual “Library Systems Report” is now available online from American Libraries. The 2024 report runs about 6700 words. 

From the Introduction to the Report:

The library technology industry had a quiet year in 2023. But in the absence of major business moves and acquisitions, companies set their sights on executing strategies to strengthen their market position.

Previous cycles of business consolidation have yielded a layered landscape with distinct levels of competition. At the top, a handful of large organizations with considerable resources—Clarivate, EBSCO Information Services, Follett School Solutions, and OCLC—continue to expand their portfolios, covering multiple business sectors and library types. Middle-tier companies, including Axiell, ByWater Solutions, The Library Corporation (TLC), and SirsiDynix, offer growing suites of products used by thousands of libraries. And finally, a group of smaller companies round out the industry, covering specialized libraries with niche products and services.

Competition at each level remains vigorous. Libraries may have fewer product choices because of past acquisitions, but the options remaining are distinctive. Most libraries can choose between for-profit and nonprofit vendors, and between proprietary and open source products. For instance, academic libraries can pick from a short list of library services platforms (LSPs), including a proprietary solution from a for-profit company (Alma), an open source product supported by for-profit companies (FOLIO), or a proprietary product from a nonprofit organization (WorldShare Management Services).

Libraries see their technology vendors as strategic partners. They are increasingly purchasing core products from a single provider, rewarding companies’ efforts to create suites of integrated applications that function more efficiently than mix-and-match offerings. These days, libraries expect third-party integration from their products—but they generally acquire new components from a single main vendor.

Direct to the Full Text Report

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Associations and Organizations, Companies (Publishers/Vendors), EBSCO, Libraries, Management and Leadership, News