WMS Circulation release notes, January 2026
Release Date: January 19, 2026
Introduction
This release of WMS Circulation provides several new features and enhancements. These features will help you manage more complex workflows, including:
- New Next-Generation Notifications features, including new patron and billing notifications, as well as formatting options for date/time in your templates
- Ability to try the new WMS Circulation UI, offering a more modernized and accessible user interface
- Required update to Digby that reduces resource use on your device
- ZFL enhancement to improve pickup location options.
Many of these enhancements are the direct result of your feedback. Thank you!
Recommended actions
For this release, we recommend that you review the following checklists and complete the relevant tasks so that you can adjust your policies and workflows and train your staff. These checklists identify updates that we have determined as significant for most institutions. We encourage you to review all of the items in the release notes to determine whether there are other items that might require additional action or follow up by your institution.
Administrative actions
These items require immediate action or decisions.
| Action |
|---|
|
Retirement: WMS Collection Management API (1 April 2026) The WMS Collection Management API will sunset on 1 April 2026. Please review the Collection Management API transition resources to learn how to migrate to the Metadata API, which is much more modern, flexible, and robust. We acknowledge that a common use case for the WMS Collection Management API has been a spine label printing solution. This feature is available via the Label Print Lists functionality within Record Manager, WMS Circulation, or WMS Acquisitions. If you have questions or concerns about how this change will impact you, please contact support@oclc.org. |
Follow-up actions
In an effort to keep your staff informed of new features and changes, you may also want to consider these items.
| Action |
|---|
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Begin planning your transition to Next-Generation Notifications In the coming months, we will announce a 2027 cutover date from legacy notifications to Next-Generation Notifications. We recommend you begin planning your transition now. Our Next-Generation Notifications overview self-paced training is a great starting place to familiarize yourself with this exciting new feature set. Topics include:
For a more detailed look at NGN functionality, explore our WorldShare Circulation help documentation. |
| Action |
|---|
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Group aware libraries: Ensure consistent patron experience by enabling NGNs at the same time For group aware libraries, enable Next-Generation Notifications (NGNs) concurrently across all member institutions to ensure a consistent patron experience. When any member library enables a single NGN, its legacy notification will be disabled, so coordinate a single rollout window across the consortium to avoid mixed notification experiences for patrons who borrow from multiple libraries |
New features and enhancements
New Next-Generation Notifications and configuration options
All Patron notifications now available
The complete set of Patron notifications is now available for you to configure:
- Account Overview: Provides a summary view of a patron’s account information. (Text message notification integration is not supported for Account Overview.)
- Miscellaneous: Allows staff to send a custom email notification to a patron directly from the staff interface. (Text message notification integration is not supported for Miscellaneous.)
- Membership Bill Notice (new this release): Communicates membership-related charges or invoices to a patron.
- Membership Confirmation (new this release): Confirms a patron’s membership bill has been paid and the membership is now active (acknowledging membership status, effective dates, and any relevant membership details).
- Membership Expiry Reminder (new this release): Notifies patrons that their membership is approaching expiration.
- Suspension Notice (new this release): Notifies patrons when a suspension has been applied to their account.
To access Patron templates, navigate to Service Config > WMS Circulation > Next-Generation Notifications > Templates > Patron.
Visit Patron and Contact patron for additional information and workflows.
Configurable date/time format for NGNs
You can now configure how dates and date/times are formatted for:
- Email and network print notifications
- Default: Full
- Printed slips / POS
- Default: Full
To change this setting, navigate to Service Config > WMS Circulation > Next-Generation Notifications > General Settings > Other settings.
Format options
| Format | English (United States) |
|---|---|
| Full |
Tuesday, December 31, 2999 |
| Long | December 31, 2999 December 31, 2999, 11:59:59 PM EST |
| Medium | Dec 31, 2999 Dec 31, 2999, 11:59:59 PM |
| Short | 12/31/99 12/31/99, 11:59 PM |
| ISO 8601 | 2999-12-31 2999-12-31T23:59:59 |
| ISO 8601 - with offset | 2999-12-31 2999-12-31T23:59:59-05:00 |
| ISO 8601 - with timezone | 2999-12-31 2999-12-31T23:59:59-05:00[America/New_York] |
Visit Other settings for additional information and workflows.
Try out the new WMS Circulation user interface (UI)
The refreshed interface for WMS Circulation is now more accessible and modern. To try it out, select Enable new UI in the top right corner of any Circulation screen.
WorldShare Circulation has introduced several accessibility improvements to better support users with low vision, mobility limitations, and multilingual needs. These updates align with WCAG 2.2 standards and are intended to improve clarity, consistency, and ease of use throughout the application.
Text and Iconography
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Higher contrast for text and icons to meet WCAG contrast requirements (WCAG success criteria 1.4.3 and 1.4.11)
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Slightly larger font and icon sizes, to ensure we meet the minimum Target Size requirement (WCAG 2.5.8) for users with dexterity limitations
Typography
- New font supports 150+ languages and 2,528 characters
- Improved disambiguation (users can easily distinguish zeroes from o's, and l's from ones) reduces user confusion and reading errors
Navigation and structure
- Consistent heading structure (WCAG 1.3.1)
- Side menu navigation now allows more than one accordion to be open at a time
Keyboard interactions and focus order
- All components—including data grids, accordions, and tooltips—are keyboard operable (WCAG 2.1.1)
- Double focus ring to improve focus visibility (WCAG 2.4.7)
Room scheduling screens
Improvements have been made to the room scheduling screens. These changes include:
- Browse Rooms
- Users can now run a general search to filter the list of rooms across the data in all columns
- Users can now filter on all columns instead of just Branch
- Specific filters are now accessed by clicking on the filter icon on the top right of the data grid
- View a room
- There is a new Create Event button that takes the user to the Create Event form
- Users can now click a 30-minute slot on the calendar to be automatically taken to the Create Event form with the selected time pre-filled in, instead of having to drag an event onto the calendar
- View an event
- Hovering over the info icon next to the room name only shows the branch the room belongs to, not the capacity, equipment, and notes
- There is a new link to return to the list of events for all rooms
Usability benefits for library staff
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Reduced errors thanks to clearer workflows and disambiguated fonts
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Faster scanning of interface due to higher contrast and consistent visual semantics
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Lower cognitive load thanks to consistent page structure
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Better performance on small displays through target size adjustments
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Improved keyboard efficiency for staff who navigate data grids and forms frequently
We'd love your feedback on the Community Center! If you notice anything misbehaving, please contact OCLC support.
Digby 3.7: Update required!
We've made some back-end changes to Digby that will make it use less of your device's resources—and perhaps less of your battery! This change will require you to update to the newest version of Digby before you can continue using the app.
ZFL pickup location enhancement
ZFL pickup location ISILs are now populated by the AusgabeOrt field (if it's not blank) instead of the AusgabeOrtNumerisch field.
Visit Set up integration for additional information and workflows.
Bug fixes
- When creating a new patron account, the ID verified box should now automatically be checked after a barcode is added to the Circulation details (as documented).
Important links
Self-paced training for student workers
We are pleased to share that new Student Worker self-paced training is now available for WorldShare Circulation. Topics covered include:
- Material check-in and check-outs
- Working with holds
- Assisting patrons
To see all available training, access the WorldShare Circulation self-paced training page.
Office Hours
View recording of our December 2025 Office Hours
Login to the Community Center to view our December office hours recording. We reviewed new Circulation features, exciting new Next-Generation Notifications releases, and a recap of our WMS Community Conversations in WMS Discussions.
Register for our 12 March 2026 Office Hours
Register on the Community Center for our 12 March 2026 Office Hours, where our WorldShare Circulation Product Management team is ready to answer your questions and provide in-depth insights. This is your chance to:
- Get detailed answers to your pre-submitted questions.
- Ask less complex questions during the live session.
- Engage directly with our Product Management team for expert advice.
Support website(s)
Support information for this product and related products can be found at: