Printing in Libraries: Technology to Tailor Your Offer
April 30, 2026
Printing in libraries is a hugely popular service. It’s the most affordable and convenient option available on the high street. In fact, it’s very often the only option – libraries fulfil an essential role with other print providers few and far between.
With so many documents accepted in digital form these days, it may be surprising to some to hear just how important printing services remain. Not everyone has access to a computer or even a smartphone to store and view documents – around 1.6 million people in fact. Add to this the 8 million in the UK who lack basic digital skills.
And of course, most of us need to print out a ticket, document or correspondence at some point, and not always when we’re in reach of a working home or office printer.
Library staff will be able to vouch for just how important their printing services are. In our 2025 customer survey, printing from library PCs was rated essential by nearly 95%, with almost 90% rating own-device printing to library printers as at least important, and nearly 50% rating it essential. So it’s critical they have the right print software to support their operations and their customers.
Many library print customers may be out of work or retired. Some may be from underprivileged groups or with particular needs. Libraries are very adept at supporting these demographics and at Lorensbergs we’re mindful that our software supports their work. Print management is fully integrated in the Netloan library solution, enabling staff to easily assist library users with printing tasks from either PCs or their own devices. Users follow a familiar printing workflow and are kept informed on print options and price. Clear signposting on how to pay for and collect their jobs means print queries are kept to a minimum. So staff can focus their attention on those in most need of their support.
More than this, the Netloan solution makes it possible to provide print discounts to those groups that meet library policy. These discounts are applied automatically. It’s easy to configure the Netloan system to provide this support. Netloan authenticates to the Library Management System, so any user group categories are recognised in the print system allowing their particular needs to be accommodated.
Here are some example scenarios that this functionality supports:
A big advantage of having a combined PC and print management system, such as Netloan, is that the special print allowances you provide to certain groups can be reflected in PC session privileges too. So for example, if disabled users are typically taking longer to print from PCs or complete other tasks, you can allocate them longer session times automatically as well.
Printing is a service that is essential to library users, so it’s important libraries are supported with the best print technology. Systems that supports your policies for directing help where it’s most needed is available from Netloan – talk to us today for advice and ideas on tailoring your service to meet the varying needs of your community of users.
