Library management systems often cost thousands of pounds per year. Some charge £5,000-£20,000 annually for a single location.
That seems absurd for what is essentially a database with a checkout function. So what's going on?
They're selling to a tiny market
Most software gets cheaper when more people buy it. Library software does the opposite.
There are only about 4,000 public libraries in the UK. Add in universities and schools, and you're still looking at maybe 30,000 potential customers total.
Compare that to accounting software (millions of businesses) or email platforms (billions of users). Library vendors simply can't spread their development costs across many customers.
They're targeting big institutions
The pricing makes more sense when you realise who they built it for.
Large academic libraries need features like:
- MARC cataloguing standards
- Integration with 15 different systems
- Staff permissions for 50+ employees
- Support for 100,000+ items
- Detailed usage analytics
- ILL (inter-library loan) management
Building and maintaining all that is genuinely expensive. A university paying £15,000/year for software that manages 500,000 books isn't getting ripped off.
The sales process costs a fortune
Enterprise software isn't sold. It's negotiated.
A typical library software sale involves:
- Multiple demos over 6-12 months
- Customisation discussions
- Security reviews
- Contract negotiations
- On-site training
- Dedicated account managers
Those sales team salaries have to come from somewhere. They come from the price you pay.
They're built on ancient technology
Many library systems were written in the 1990s or early 2000s. They're running on outdated tech stacks that require specialists to maintain.
Finding developers who know the old systems is expensive. Keeping those systems running is expensive. And migrating to modern technology? Also expensive.
The costs pile up and get passed to customers.
Lock-in makes it worse
Once a library commits to a system, switching is painful.
You're migrating years of data. Retraining staff. Updating printed materials and signage. Possibly changing hardware.
Vendors know this. When you're stuck, they can raise prices gradually, and most libraries will pay rather than face the disruption of changing systems.
Support expectations are high
Library staff expect phone support during business hours. They expect training. They expect someone to answer when their system goes down on a busy Saturday.
That level of support requires real humans - lots of them. And humans are expensive.
Most weren't designed for small libraries
Here's the core problem: almost every library system was built for universities, government libraries, or large public library networks.
They have every feature those institutions might need. Barcode scanning. Patron portals. Fine management. Acquisitions workflows. Cataloguing standards.
A small community library with 500 books doesn't need any of that. But they're paying for it anyway, because the software wasn't built with them in mind.
What about the "free" options?
Open source library software exists. But it's rarely actually free.
Someone still needs to:
- Set up and host the server
- Configure the system
- Maintain it when things break
- Handle updates and security patches
For a small library without technical staff, "free" software can end up costing more in time and stress than commercial options.
So why isn't there cheaper software?
There is now. Some newer options have emerged specifically for small libraries.
They skip the enterprise features. They use modern, maintainable technology. They're designed to be simple enough that you don't need training or support calls.
But the old vendors? They're stuck. Their costs are real. Their customers expect those enterprise features. And their entire business model is built around high prices for complex software.
That's why library software is expensive. It was built for a different world.
