With more than 2,400 libraries worldwide relying on Alma™, the November 2025 Feature Release continues to advance our shared vision of smarter, more connected library services. Now available to all customers, this release delivers intelligent automation, richer analytics, and new collaborative tools that simplify day-to-day work and empower institutions to make data-driven decisions together.
Leading this release is the introduction of AI-powered Insights, a new capability that automatically delivers role-based notifications drawn from analytics reports. Instead of running manual queries, library staff now receive timely, contextual updates tailored to their responsibilities, helping them stay informed and act quickly on trends that matter most.
Cataloging teams will also see notable productivity improvements. Controlled vocabulary lists can now be uploaded directly from CSV or Excel files, simplifying metadata management and minimizing manual data entry. This improvement allows for quicker enrichment of bibliographic records while ensuring accuracy and consistency across collections.
For fulfillment and user management, Alma now allows libraries to share patron blocks across all institutions within a consortium – ensuring consistency and policy alignment across networks. Additionally, libraries can delete users based on specific sets, with scheduling options that provide greater automation and control over account maintenance.
Resource Management workflows benefit from multiple refinements designed to improve visibility and efficiency. Community Zone collections pending deletion now display both the reason for removal and suggested replacements, helping libraries make more informed decisions about electronic resource continuity. The Portfolio Loader has been enhanced to automatically resolve multiple bibliographic matches, while repository searches now support rolling date queries – a valuable addition that simplifies ongoing automation and reporting.
Within Acquisitions, the Receiving Workbench has been upgraded to include new actions such as opening predicted items, withdrawing single items, and viewing item notes. These improvements make it easier for staff to manage daily receiving and tracking tasks in a single, streamlined environment.
The overall user experience also sees a meaningful uplift. Record action layouts have been reorganized for clarity, while clickable titles, expanded title and holdings links, and a simplified menu structure help staff move more fluidly through their work. These refinements reflect a continued focus on usability and efficiency.
Another important step forward arrives for consortia and collection development. For the first time, member institutions – not just the central office – can directly compare their holdings with other members through new collection development analytics reports. These tools identify overlaps, gaps, and opportunities for coordinated strategies, strengthening collaboration across the network. Meanwhile, new Rialto retention and deselection workflows, available to Alma libraries that opt in via the data sharing profile, enable evidence-based decisions for maintaining or withdrawing physical items based on shared holdings and defined criteria.
In total, the November release delivers 15 customer-requested enhancements from Idea Exchange, representing 2,517 community votes – a testament to our ongoing partnership with libraries worldwide.
Explore the full list of November features in our Release Notes on the Ex Libris Knowledge Center.
You can also view the November What’s New videos on the Knowledge Center.
The next quarterly Alma release is scheduled for February 2026.
