For a long time, my team at CUNY’s Office of Library Services read release notes the way most people do: quickly, right before a meeting, and with mild dread.

Every quarter, we’d review the Alma and Primo VE updates, then repeat the same conversation six different times—three working groups, three advisory committees. We’d speculate about what a feature probably did based on screenshots. We’d guess which workflows it might affect. And most of that context stopped with the committee rep.

It wasn’t efficient. It wasn’t engaging. And it definitely wasn’t helping 30+ libraries feel ready for change.

So in late 2024, we tried something different.

We called it Shelf Help.

The idea was simple: instead of discussing release notes in silos, we’d host a single, open webinar for all CUNY library staff. We schedule it the Thursday before Ex Libris pushes updates to production. The timing matters—people get clarity before the changes land.

But the bigger shift wasn’t the format. It was the mindset.

We stopped summarizing and started testing.

Now, before each session, we:

• Read every line of the release notes
• Test new features in our Alma and Primo VE sandboxes
• Decide what’s actually relevant to our campuses
• Build examples and walkthroughs
• Share the recording and documentation afterward

Instead of “Here’s what the notes say,” it’s “Here’s what this does in our environment, and here’s what to watch for.”

We launched in November 2024. A year and four sessions later, we consistently see around 70 registrants with roughly 80% attendance. After the first session, 89% of respondents rated their satisfaction as high, and 100% said they wanted the series to continue.

The comments told the story:

“Reading a long list of release notes is overwhelming. The format chosen made the information much more accessible and understandable.”

“I really appreciated seeing updates outside my functional area; they still impact the staff that I supervise.”

“I love Shelf Help! I know it takes a lot for the three of you to prepare. I’m grateful.”

It does take time. But it saves far more time across the system. And more importantly, it reduces anxiety. No one likes waking up to a changed interface and a flood of “What just happened?” emails.

What I’ve learned is this: support doesn’t always mean building something new. Sometimes it means taking something dense and scattered—like release notes—and making it shared, practical, and human.

In a university system as large as CUNY, clarity is a form of service.