Lean Library

Connects and benefits user
groups at your institution

libraries

Takes your library to your patrons

Takes all of your library into your patrons’ online workflows, increasing usage and relevance of your library services and resources.

patrons

Boosts patron productivity

Whether your patrons are students, researchers or staff, Lean Library streamlines their workflow to increase productivity and save them time and money.

Key features

Promotes the library throughout your patrons’ workflow

Lean Library is the ultimate promotional tool for your library’s content and services, showcasing your content, services, and customized branding in patrons’ online workflows. You can surface targeted library messages on different domains and fully customize the extension branding to surface your library’s logo an average of 100k times per year.

Streamlines access to library content and resources, increasing patron usage

Lean Library provides alternative routes to full-text articles, eBooks and more when patrons search online. It streamlines access to these resources, whether in your library’s holdings or via a publisher site you have licensed access to. This drives usage of library resources up to 40% and saves patrons an average of 3 mins per search.

Unlocks free content and saves money for both the library and patrons

Lean Library also integrates with Unpaywall, the OAPEN Foundation and other Open Access repositories to redirect patrons to over 30M articles and 75k eBooks when they hit paywalls – saving libraries and patrons an estimated $40k every year.

Puts library guidance and instruction on any academic resource or website online

Libraries spend hundreds of hours creating and maintaining support materials – but making patrons aware of what’s available can be an uphill struggle and result in low usage. Lean Library delivers these materials on any academic resource or website online so your patrons can view your LibGuides or instruction materials at their point.

Brings the library discovery service to patrons’ preferred search tools

Your library’s discovery service is one of the most valuable tools you can offer your patrons but only 6% of patron searches start there, while 40% start on Google. Lean Library showcases the power of your discovery service via the extension pop-up sites like Google and Google Scholar, so patrons can search your library holdings from Google and beyond.

Source: Evans, G. and Schonfeld, R.C., 2020. It’s Not What Libraries Hold; It’s Who Libraries Serve: Seeking A User-centered Future For Academic Libraries.

Why choose Lean Library?

The original visionary innovator, backed by Sage

Lean Library is the original innovator in the market, made by librarians to champion the future of the library – with Sage’s backing to always think several years ahead. We have a long-held plan and destination, stay with us for the ride.

Works across all pillars of the library

Lean Library is far more than an access broker. We launched as an access broker with a difference, and then brought all pillars of the library into patron online workflow. We plan to extend our reach across the patron workflow beyond access and discovery and into citation, authoring and beyond.

Amplifies your library’s value and impact

Lean Library is the ultimate promotional tool for your library, putting your library back in the patron workflow and increasing visibility and usage of your resources and services.

Puts patrons in the driving seat to enhance productivity

Lean Library ultimately helps the library help their patrons. We boost patron productivity, shaving an average of 3 mins off every patron search, support the critical assessment of resources they use and ultimately improve student outcomes and research output.

Open integration with more OA repositories than other providers

We value openness and integrate with more Open Access databases and other library service providers than any other tool. Being part of Technology from Sage also means we benefit from shared services with Talis Aspire, including our own growing Open Access and OER repository.

How it Works: Packages

Lean Library Access

Essentials offering for libraries that simplifies online access to library content and open access alternatives. As the most comprehensive solution of its kind, Lean Library Access helps libraries drive usage and save money.

Lean Library Workflow for LibGuides

Upgrade package exclusively for LibGuides customers. On top of Lean Library Access features, Lean Library Worfklow for LibGuides also powers up your LibGuides in your patrons’ workflow.

Lean Library Futures

Premium offering bringing all your library into your patrons’ workflows, increasing usage and relevance of your library services and resources. Lean Library Futures has all the features of our other options plus more.

view package features

What other libraries
achieve with Lean Library

case study

University of Lancaster

Working with Lancaster University to support their user-centred strategy, raise online visibility of unique and distinct special collections and deliver librarian support into patron workflows.

Read Article

Don’t just take
our word for it

We’ve used Lean Library for several years and I’m going to be honest – it’s one of my favourite bits of library technology!

Matthew Hawkes, Academic Librarian

University of East Anglia

[Lean Library] is one of the most exciting projects I’ve been working on in my many years of being a librarian.

Janina Van der Westhuizen, Technical Services Manager

The University of Johannesburg

I really appreciate working with the Lean Library team. The Lean Library team responds quickly and kindly to our concerns and is always open to suggestions. They, in turn, give us suggestions on how to better reach our users.

Laura Tobler, Information Specialist for eResources

Bern University of Applied Sciences

From Acquisitions Librarians to requests from external faculty members, Lean Library has helped internal staff to see more easily what the university library owns and access these resources immediately.

Derek Malone, University Librarian and Associate Professor

The University of North Alabama Library

The implementation of Lean Library in Mersey Care has contributed towards a 45% increase in online journal usage…

Andrew Cheney, Evidence Services Lead

NHS Mersey Care

Having invested so much time to provide our patrons with library training materials, we want to see them used. With Lean Library Futures delivering our LibGuides into our patrons’ workflow, we have seen usage for a LibGuide increase by 450%.