WMS Circulation release notes, July 2026
Release Date: July 20, 2026
Introduction
This release of WMS Circulation expands Next-Generation Notifications to item management workflows, delivers an AI-powered tool for drafting notification templates, and includes numerous accessibility and reliability improvements. These features will help you manage more complex workflows, including:
- Item management slips, including routing slips, ILL shipping details slips, pull slips, hold slips, and schedule slips, which can now be configured as Next-Generation Notification (NGN) templates, giving your library the same customization tools for physical transactions that you have for patron email and text notifications.
- Auto-generate NGN templates, an optional, AI-powered tool announced in the June 2026 release notes, is now available in Service Configuration. It reviews your legacy notification configuration and generates draft NGN templates you can preview, refine, and publish.
- Updated POS printer app, including a fix for batch printing NGN pull list slips and a renewed SSL certificate.
- Numerous accessibility improvements to the user interface align with WCAG 2.2 standards, and accessibility metadata fields 341 and 532 now display in Discover Items.
- Simplified ZFL external request ID format, making ZFL requests easier to manage.
Many of these enhancements are the direct result of your feedback.
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.
Follow-up actions
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Update the POS Printer app If your library uses POS printing, download and install the updated POS Printer app released on 7 July 2026. This update is needed to enable batch printing of more than five NGN pull list slips at once, and to ensure the app continues to communicate securely with WMS Circulation. Download the latest version from Service Configuration under WMS Circulation > Integrations > POS Printer Preferences. |
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Begin planning your transition to Next-Generation Notifications We're upgrading how your library connects with patrons through Next-Generation Notifications—a more flexible and customizable messaging system for WorldShare Management Services (WMS). Your existing notifications will continue working through June 28, 2027 while you transition at your own pace. We recommend you begin planning your transition now. Please see Getting ready for Next-Generation Notifications for everything you'll need to get started. |
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Group aware libraries: Ensure a 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. For fiscal notifications, all member institutions must also ensure that billing templates are configured and assigned to all patron type policies prior to rollout to avoid receipt interruptions. |
New features and enhancements
Item management slips in Next-Generation Notifications
Item management slips can now be configured using Next-Generation Notification templates in Service Configuration. Supported slip types include routing slips, ILL shipping details slips, pull slips, hold slips, and schedule slips.
To create an item management slip template, go to Service Config > Next-Generation Notifications > Templates > Item management slips.
To enable a template type, go to Service Config > Next-Generation Notifications > Enable notification types > Item management slips.
Enabling NGN item management slips is controlled by per-institution toggles in Service Configuration.
Auto-generate Next-Generation Notification templates
Auto-generate templates is now available in Service Configuration as an optional tool for creating Next-Generation Notification templates with less manual setup. This optional tool uses AI to review your library's existing legacy notification configuration and generate draft NGN templates that you can preview, adjust, and publish.
When an NGN template type replaces a legacy notification, the tool drafts a template based on your existing legacy template content. For NGN types that have no legacy equivalent (or if your library does not have a legacy template configured for that notification), the tool still generates a starting point based on your library's configuration. The tool is available from the Auto-generate templates (AI) button on the Patron, Billing, Loans, Holds, and Schedules pages under Service Configuration > Next-Generation Notifications. Staff review, refine, and activate all generated templates before they are used with patrons.
For more information, see Auto-generate templates.
POS printer app update
A new version of the POS printer app was released on 7 July 2026, ahead of this release. Libraries that use POS printing should update to this version. This release includes two changes:
- A fix that allows batch printing of more than five NGN pull list slips at once via POS printer (see Bug fixes — Next-Generation Notifications below).
- A renewed SSL server certificate, which ensures continued secure communication between the POS Printer app and WMS Circulation.
To update, download the latest version from Service Configuration under WMS Circulation > Integrations > POS Printer Preferences. For step-by-step instructions, see POS Printer Preferences.
Accessibility improvements
This release includes many improvements to the WMS Circulation Staff UI to better support staff who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, and other assistive technologies, in alignment with WCAG 2.2 standards.
Improvements include more descriptive labels for interactive controls such as expand buttons in data grids, close buttons on open room scheduling tabs, and filter delete buttons (which previously announced internal system IDs instead of human-readable filter values). Table accessibility has also improved: select-all checkboxes are now correctly identified in the accessibility tree and reflect a mixed (partially selected) state accurately. Column selector lists are now recognized as lists by screen readers, and logic operator combo boxes in filter panels now have visible labels. Loading spinners throughout the application now announce to screen readers when a page is loading.
Accessibility metadata in Discover Items
Accessibility-related MARC metadata fields 341 and 532 now appear in Discover Items, providing staff and patrons with additional information about the physical and sensory accessibility characteristics of materials, such as whether an item is available in large print, braille, or with audio description.
Simplified ZFL external request ID format
ZFL borrowing requests now use a shorter external request ID, which is the identifier that appears on items and receipts when your library processes a ZFL interlibrary loan. The new format is ten characters long and sequential (for example, @202500001), replacing a longer format that some libraries found difficult to read, type, or scan at service desks. No configuration changes are required; new ZFL requests automatically use the simplified format.
Digby self-paced training now available
Self-paced training for Digby's workflows is also now available. By the end of this course, learners will be able to:
- Identify key Digby workflows available in the app
- Check items out and in using a mobile device
- Manage pull lists, reshelve items, and change item locations
- Perform basic inventory and shelf reading workflows
As a reminder, documentation for Digby's main workflows, as well as documentation to help you Get started with Digby, has been added to a dedicated section on the help site.
Bug fixes
Next-Generation Notifications
- You can now see all supported data fields in the Loan Returned Confirmation when printing via network print, including the returned date and time. Previously, certain data fields (including the returned date/time) were not included in the network print version of the notification, even though those fields appeared correctly when the notification was sent by email.
- You can now batch print more than five pull list slips at once via POS printer when NGN item management slips are enabled. Previously, selecting six or more items for POS printing caused the operation to fail silently, printing nothing.
Service Configuration
- Service Configuration pages now load reliably for all users. Previously, some Circulation pages in Service Configuration intermittently displayed a blank screen and failed to load in some browsers. If you experienced this problem, you may need to restart your browser or clear your browser cache to fully resolve the issue.
Circulation Staff UI
- The left sidebar navigation in the modernized UI now displays one section at a time, returning to the behavior that staff were used to in the previous WMS Circulation interface. Based on your feedback, opening one sidebar section now automatically closes any other open section. Previously, the new interface allowed multiple sections to remain open simultaneously.
Item availability
- Availability information now displays correctly in WorldCat Discovery for records that have a large number of associated items or holdings. Previously, availability queries for such records timed out, causing a message indicating that availability information could not be displayed, even when items were available.
- Items that qualify for hold fulfillment are now correctly identified as available during the hold fulfillment process. Previously, some items that should have been considered for hold fulfillment were missed due to a gap in availability checking, causing holds to go unfilled even when eligible items were on the shelf.
Your feedback on the new WMS Circulation interface
Thank you for continuing to share your feedback on the modernized WMS Circulation interface. Several of the fixes in this release, including the restored one-at-a-time sidebar behavior, came directly from your feedback. We read every piece of feedback you submit, and your input is directly shaping the improvements and bug fixes we make to ensure the new UI works for your workflows.
If you choose to turn off the new interface and are prompted for feedback, the most helpful thing you can do is tell us specifically what is causing problems: which task/workflow, and what went wrong. That level of detail helps us prioritize fixes and make the experience better for everyone. You can also share feedback in the OCLC Community Center or by contacting OCLC Support.
Known issues
See the Known Issues page.
Important links
Support website(s)
Support information for this product and related products can be found at: