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Growing Libraries. So much more
than a tagline. It’s all we do.
Growing Libraries is not just our name—it’s our purpose. We care deeply about public libraries and founded our business to help you engage your communities, share the library-love, and increase cardholder numbers. Our leadership team brings decades of experience in library workflows, software, and marketing. Through a partner-first approach, we’re committed to developing a genuinely useful, market-leading solution that public libraries love and rely on.
Our Mission & Vision
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Mission
Our mission is laser-focused: help public libraries raise awareness within their communities and grow their cardholder numbers. At Growing Libraries, we do this by leveraging the same proven strategies and data-driven tactics employed in other sectors to drive meaningful engagement.
Our Community Insight™ platform helps libraries analyze their communities, segment and identify non-cardholder households using sophisticated data analytics. Our Growth Programs™ then help deliver the right messages to the right households—showcasing all the great things happening at the library and encouraging them to join.
Vision
We believe public libraries are the heart of every thriving community. They are more than buildings filled with books—they are safe spaces where neighbors connect, where children discover the joy of reading, where job seekers find vital resources, and where people of all backgrounds come to learn, grow, and belong. In a world facing division, inequality, and digital fatigue, libraries stand as one of the last truly public spaces that welcome everyone. Our vision at Growing Libraries is to champion public libraries as essential community lifelines—spaces that foster opportunity, inclusion, creativity, and hope for all.
Our Leadership
Our team combines creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and deep technical expertise to solve real-world challenges. We are passionate about libraries and marketing—and at Growing Libraries, we pride ourselves on doing things the right way while delighting our library partners.
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Ian Downie, CEO
Ian has a strong track record of building and growing library software organizations. Most recently, he was co-founder and CEO of Patron Point, the leading marketing automation solution used by public libraries around the world, which was acquired by Springshare in 2023. Prior to that, he was a co-founder at collectionHQ, where he oversaw the sales, marketing and international growth of the business prior to its acquisition by Baker & Taylor in 2011.
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Alan Gibson, CTO
Alan has extensive experience leading large software teams to develop complex solutions in various industries. Recently, he served as CTO at Patron Point, where he defined and executed the technology strategy, managed product development and data capabilities. Before that, he spent over 10 years leading product development at collectionHQ. As CTO at Growing Libraries, Alan oversees our technology strategy, product development, and manages our technical and data partnerships.
Our Partners
We love collaborations and working with partners. We believe that working well with others is always the best approach and leads to better outcomes.
Library Organizations
Growing Libraries are proud members of the greater library community and support the work they do to promote libraries and all that they stand for.
Technology Partners
Our solutions integrate with a range of ILS and Data Platforms. CI-Sync™ is our real-time connector that automates data management and connects our platform to your ILS and community data sources.
Data Partners
Data is crucial to our work, so we carefully choose our partners, collaborating with top data providers. Growing Libraries are registered with the necessary State Data Broker registers.
