Innovative, part of Clarivate, is pleased to share that Charlotte Mecklenburg Library (CML) has successfully migrated to Polaris 7.8.
This transition marks a significant step in supporting the library’s commitment to efficient service delivery and meaningful community engagement through modern, staff-friendly tools.
Elevating Community Impact
CML has long championed literacy and social equity through key partnerships:
- Promising Pages: Each year, CML collaborates with this Charlotte-based nonprofit to distribute over 100,000 books to children in underserved areas, helping reverse “book deserts”.
- Read to Succeed: This adult literacy initiative provides free one-on-one tutoring and partners with community colleges to offer GED prep and job skills training, supporting lifelong learning for adults 16+, with sessions located at library sites and through community partnerships
- Active Reading workshops: In collaboration with Read Charlotte, CML has trained nearly 10,000 adults since 2017 in dialogic reading techniques-and this practice has reached over 63,000 parents and children at storytimes
These programs reflect CML’s mission to foster literacy at all life stages – whether instilling a love of reading in children or enabling adults to re-enter the workforce.
With Polaris 7.8 as the backbone of its operations, CML can more effectively manage these initiatives through enhanced circulation tracking, targeted patron notifications, and integrated outreach tools that ensure resources reach the right individuals at the right time.
What Polaris 7.8 Brings to CML
- Web-Based System Administration
Expanded support for managing hundreds of settings, tables, and permission groups-now fully accessible through a browser interface.
- Receipt Printing Improvements
Designate a specific receipt printer and bypass the browser print dialog for faster front-desk interactions.
- Patron Import Enhancements
Staff can now upload TRN or CSV files to create or overlay patron records, simplifying student and seasonal patron management.
- Expanded Technical Services in Leap
Includes import profile management, improved authority and heading link workflows, enhanced duplicate detection, and the new Process EDI Invoices workform.
With Polaris 7.8 as the backbone of its operations, CML can more effectively manage these initiatives through enhanced circulation tracking, targeted patron notifications, and integrated outreach tools that ensure resources reach the right individuals at the right time.
Attend the Polaris 7.8 Webinar
Join our upcoming Polaris 7.8 Webinar to see the enhancements in action and hear directly from the team behind the release.
July 23 @ 1:00pm ET
Register here
What’s Ahead
To further explore capabilities of Polaris 7.8, Innovative will host a special webinar in partnership with Library Journal this August.
The session will spotlight transition experience, showcase new features such as web-based administration, enhanced notifications, and improved reporting, and offer live Q&A with product experts.
Whether you’re planning a migration or looking to get more out of Polaris, this webinar is your opportunity to learn directly from a leading library system – stay tuned, we’ll be sharing more details soon.