Libraries deserve software as beautifulas the communities they serve

Uncommonplace was built by two sisters — one a librarian with over twenty years of experience across public, academic, and special libraries, and one a software engineer and digital designer who spent those same years crafting digital products. One had grown (and watched fellow librarians grow) frustrated with money-first access philosophies, outdated interfaces and functions, and cobbled-together tool collections, all from different platforms. The other had spent years in graphic design before discovering a new passion — perfecting the experiences humans have when they interact with technology by building reliable, beautiful software. Both sisters share the same philosophy — digital spaces should always be a delightful experience, technology should serve people (not the other way around), and those who Book deserve the very best. Together, they set out to build the software they had always wanted to exist.

What would library software look like if it were built from the inside — by someone who had stood at the circulation desk, helped a child find their very first book, and navigated the real demands of a working library every single day?

The answer is a platform built for libraries of every size — from a single-branch community library to a multi-location system — without price gouging or sacrificing quality. Uncommonplace is deeply feature-rich in ways that go well beyond any feature list. It includes Enquire, our built-in cataloging intelligence engine. When the free, widely-trusted ISBN-to-call-number services that catalogers had relied on for over a decade were quietly discontinued — replaced only by costly subscriptions — we built Enquire to fill that gap. Every Uncommonplace library gets instant Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress classification recommendations by ISBN, built into every plan at no extra cost. No outside subscription required.

AI was central to Uncommonplace from the very first design conversation — not as a feature to advertise, but as the invisible current that makes both sides of the counter easier, smarter, and more intuitive. Watson, our AI assistant, helps staff work efficiently and helps patrons discover what to read next. The patron-facing tools are designed to give every library a beautiful digital home that readers of all ages will want to return to. Because the goal has always been the same: to put librarians and the people they serve first, and to bring books to the world with all the care they deserve.