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Koha Community Newsletter: October 2026

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Koha Community Newsletter: October 2026 Subscribe
Volume 17, Issue 10
ISSN 2153-8328
Edited by Michael Kuhn

Please submit news items to mik (at) adminkuhn (dot) ch

Table of contents

Development

Current Koha versions

Read the respective release notes by clicking the revision number.

Date Revision Notes
6 October 2026 Koha 26.05.04
stable		 3 enhancements, 38 bugfixes (6 security fixes)
6 October 2026 Koha 25.11.09
oldstable		 42 bugfixes (5 security fixes)
6 October 2026 Koha 25.05.15 6 bugfixes (6 security fixes)
6 October 2026 Koha 24.11.20 (LTS) 5 bugfixes (5 security fixes)

The Debian packages are usually available within days after the release.

Roles for Koha 27.05

by Lisette Scheer

It’s that time again; we’re coming up to release time for Koha 26.11, and that means picking the team for the 27.05 cycle!

Please see the roles page at https://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Roles_for_27.05 and add your name to a role if you would like to propose volunteering for it. The team vote will take place.

New people are more than welcome and it’s just as important to have non-developers helping to steer the ship as it is the developers!

Some roles we’d like to draw your attention to:

  • Bug Wranglers – We can always do with more bug wranglers! These people love to keep things tidy, and Bugzilla is always in need of your help. We need people to help manage “the list”, identify the duplicates, promote bugs to specialists, and find people to do sign-offs and testing. Everyone is invited to this party; we need you! This is a great first-time role to take on, and it makes a real difference to active community contributors’ lives!
  • QA Team – This is a current bottleneck as there is a fairly small team to review all the code, including string and trivial changes. We have an optional weekly meeting every Thursday at 14:00 UTC and a team that’s happy to help answer questions. Please reach out if you’re interested in learning more.
  • Documentation Team – The documentation team is a growing team that’s made great inroads into bringing Koha’s documentation up to date and ensuring we have a well-documented piece of software. There’s plenty more to do, and they’re always on the lookout for new contributors. The documentation team is a super-friendly group and would love to see you join them. What I’d also love to see are developers taking a look at the documentation team to support with infrastructure, approaches, or more technically challenging parts of Koha.
  • Wiki Curators – Koha’s wiki is bursting at the seams with good information, but we need your help to bring order to the chaos and keep improving the content. If you’ve got an interest in maintaining an area of the Wiki, helping identify out-of-date information, or categorising data, then this is a job for you.
  • Meeting Facilitators – We have regular meetings in the community to discuss development progress, documentation tasks, and general community needs. It would be really helpful to have someone to help promote those meetings, keep them on track, and work on the minutes. Right now, these meetings are still run by me with help from the attendees, except for the documentation team, where the burden lies on the team managers. A new face in this role would really be appreciated!
  • Accessibility Advocate – In Koha, we really want to be open and accessible to all, but accessibility is an area that many of us are not as aware of as we should be. We’d like to have some people helping to promote best practices and report accessibility issues we might not be aware of.
  • Release Maintainers – We are still looking for someone interested in doing release maintenance for the stable release. To be frank, this is not an easy job, but it is a very rewarding one. If you want to understand how things actually work behind the scenes and learn git the hard way, this is the role for you!

If you’d like to volunteer for any of the roles, I am happy to chat about the ones I have experience in or point you to a person that is better suited to give you an overview. – Lisette Scheer: lisette@bywatersolutions.com / Phone: 888-900-8944

ColonOS and ColonOS Koha plugin : automated Colon Classification for Koha ILS

by Amit Suwal

We are excited to present an update on ColonOS and its dedicated Koha ILS plugin integration, bringing advanced, automated Colon Classification to the global Koha open-source community.

About the developer: Amit Suwal

Amit Suwal, a dedicated Librarian and the creator and developer of ColonOS, brings a unique blend of practical library science expertise and software development skills. With a strong background in Python software development, backend web engineering, and library database management, Amit has focused on bridging traditional library classification principles with modern digital frameworks. His work centers on solving complex bibliographic organization challenges, building structured e-book and physical collection hierarchies, and designing intuitive database solutions that empower libraries to manage extensive collections efficiently.

What is ColonOS?

ColonOS is an innovative system and algorithmic framework built to handle the intricate mechanics of library classification. At its core, the system’s standout feature is its ability to generate accurate, faceted class numbers using Colon Classification—the renowned bibliographic classification system developed by Dr. S. R. Ranganathan.

  • Faceted synthesis: It processes complex subjects through Ranganathan’s fundamental categories (Personality, Matter, Energy, Space, and Time) to synthesize precise class numbers.
  • Advanced algorithmic processing: Implements custom Python logic and regular expressions to handle isolates, space hierarchies, form division short-circuits, and specialized subject indexing.
  • Precision classification: Automates and streamlines complex classification tasks, ensuring that specialized collections and intricate titles are organized with exceptional accuracy.

The ColonOS Koha plugin

To bring these powerful capabilities directly into open-source library ecosystems, the ColonOS Koha plugin integrates these Colon Classification features seamlessly with the Koha integrated library system (ILS). The plugin offers profound benefits for libraries:

  • Automated class number generation: Allows librarians to automatically generate and assign Ranganathan’s Colon Classification numbers directly within their Koha workflows, drastically reducing manual calculation time.
  • Automated workflows: Integrates smoothly with backend database schemas and web handlers to organize resources and e-books into structured class and subject folder hierarchies based on faceted analysis.
  • Enhanced cataloging and synchronization: Executes database migration and synchronization scripts across library databases, refining data accuracy and reducing manual cataloging overhead for complex titles.
  • Optimized discovery: Empowers librarians and patrons with a cleaner, highly structured cataloging system that honors established bibliographic standards while leveraging modern open-source flexibility.

We invite the Koha community to explore these tools as we continue to innovate and refine open-source library management solutions.

Contact: Amit Suwal – amitsuwal50@gmail.com, 9258144645

Introducing Koha.pro – Free MARC utilities and Universal MARC Reconstruction

by Rudy Hinojosa

Koha.pro was created to simplify some of the more challenging tasks involved in preparing bibliographic data for Koha. The platform provides utilities for merging MARC files, modifying MARC fields and subfields, converting holdings information, removing duplicates, and exporting records in MARC or MARCXML format.

One of our newest developments is Universal MARC Reconstruction, an experimental feature designed to help libraries recover bibliographic and item data from SQL Server databases, including databases that do not store records as conventional MARC files. Rather than requiring a vendor-specific export utility, users can explore database tables and map columns to MARC components through a browser interface. The reconstruction workflow supports:

  • Uploading SQL Server database backups or database files for temporary processing.
  • Mapping bibliographic identifiers, MARC tags, indicators, subfields, and field values.
  • Reconstructing MARC records from data distributed across multiple SQL rows.
  • Combining bibliographic records with item information stored in separate database tables.
  • Mapping item barcodes, home and holding branches, and call numbers into Koha’s 952 fields.
  • Exporting reconstructed records with validation warnings to help identify potential data issues.

We’ve successfully tested this functionality using a synthetic, multi-table SQL Server database containing bibliographic records and related item information. The tool reconstructed the MARC records and associated Koha 952 item fields, including preserving branch codes and barcodes. The feature remains in beta, and we’re particularly interested in feedback from Koha developers, migration specialists, and librarians who have experience extracting data from legacy library systems. Our goal is simple: library data should be portable, and the tools needed to prepare it for Koha should be accessible.

Koha.pro is available at no cost and does not require an account. The project is made possible by Lightwave Library.

Website: https://koha.pro

Introducing Report Assistant – PDF Writer: DAB Reports (Describe and Build)

by Rudy Hinojosa

Lightwave Library has developed Report Assistant – PDF Writer, a Koha plugin designed to simplify and modernize report creation by combining artificial intelligence, natural-language descriptions, and visual report design tools.

One of its most exciting features is DAB Reports (Describe and Build), which allows users to explain what they want in everyday language and have their preferred AI provider generate Koha-compatible SQL. Rather than requiring extensive SQL knowledge, library staff can describe a report such as: “Show me all overdue items grouped by library, including patron names, titles, and due dates.”

The AI assists in constructing the SQL using Koha’s database schema, and users can validate the generated query, review errors, request AI-assisted corrections, and save the completed report directly into Koha.

Voice dictation – Speak your report into existence

The plugin also includes microphone-based dictation. Users can simply speak their reporting requirements, review the transcribed description, and have AI assist with generating the corresponding SQL.

Two visual report designers

Report Assistant includes two approaches to report formatting:

  • Simple Visual Designer: Allows users to customize report columns, headings, layouts, and printable output without extensive technical knowledge.
  • Advanced Visual Designer (Beta): Provides a drag-and-drop canvas with report bands, headers, footers, field positioning, font customization, page margins, snap-to-grid alignment, and reusable layouts.

The plugin also supports Koha runtime parameters, allowing users to select values such as libraries, dates, and item types when running reports.

Flexible exports and reusable reports

Reports can be previewed and exported to PDF (through browser printing), HTML, CSV, and Markdown. Report definitions and visual layouts can be saved for future use, with backup and restore functionality.

AI Provider Flexibility

Rather than requiring a specific AI vendor, DAB Reports supports configurable OpenAI-compatible AI services, allowing Koha administrators to select an appropriate provider and model for their environment.

Community Availability

Report Assistant – PDF Writer is currently available as a downloadable Koha plugin (version 1.24.1), with continued development underway. Learn more, see screenshots, and download the plugin: https://koha.pro/pdfwriter/

We welcome feedback, testing, and feature suggestions from the Koha community. The Advanced Visual Designer remains in beta, with additional reporting capabilities planned for future releases.

Developed and made available by Lightwave Library ( https://lightwavelibrary.com/ )

Community

New Koha libraries

USA

Koha tips and tricks

Support provider news

Upcoming events

For all upcoming meetings, see next meetings or the Koha Community calendar.

For any other Koha-related meetings, see the Koha Community calendar.

Past events

For all past meetings, see the following links or the Koha Community calendar:

For any other Koha-related meetings, see the Koha Community calendar.

Kohacon26: Celebrating our global community!

by Michaela Sieber

Kohacon26 successfully concluded on 9 October 2026 at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. The conference brought together more than 400 registered participants from 45 countries, with around 200 attending in person, for a week of knowledge sharing, collaboration and open-source innovation.

The programme featured presentations, hands-on workshops, a community hackfest and collaborative work on Koha software and documentation. Topics included accessibility, artificial intelligence, electronic resource management, and Koha implementations and migrations. The event once again demonstrated the strength of our international community and our shared commitment to developing Koha together.

Missed a session or want to revisit a presentation? The Kohacon26 videos are now available on the conference website! Whether you want to catch up on sessions you couldn’t attend, revisit an interesting topic, or discover what happened at KohaCon26, you can now watch the recordings online.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made Kohacon26 possible! To all participants for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm, to our sponsors for supporting an open and accessible conference, to our speakers and workshop facilitators for their valuable contributions – thank you!

Kohacon26 may be over, but the collaboration continues. Let’s carry the ideas, connections and inspiration from Karlsruhe forward as we keep building Koha together.

Kohacon26 website: https://kohacon26.bibliothek.kit.edu/