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For libraries · Charleston Circle pilot · open now · free

Your library, inside the assistant your readers already use.

Students and researchers ask an AI assistant first. With your library's connector added to Claude or ChatGPT, the assistant looks in your library first: catalogue, holdings, loans, and the licensed texts a publisher has granted to your community. AI can make libraries better.

Request a pilot place Watch how a reader uses it

A reader's first ten minutes

A student adds the library's connector once, signs in with their institutional email, and from then on the assistant answers from the library: what is on the shelf, what is on loan, and what may be read.

Chapter 1: Connecting your library.

The reader opens the assistant's settings, goes to its connectors, searches for Greyhaven and connects Greyhaven University Library.

Chapter 2: Signing in.

The reader signs in with the institutional email [email protected] and is connected. The chip Greyhaven University Library, connected, shows above the message box.

Chapter 3: Finding items.

The reader asks: Do we have anything on coastal erosion in the Pacific, in French?

The assistant answers: Two titles in your library match, one in French. Érosion côtière et îles du Pacifique, Marchand, 2019, Main Library, available. Pacific Islands under a rising sea, Ashworth, 2021, listed by the library as available via ebooks.greyhaven.edu. Source: Greyhaven University Library catalogue.

Chapter 4: Placing a hold.

The reader asks: Place a hold on the French one. Hold placed. Pick up at Main Library. The assistant confirms: Done. Greyhaven will email you when it is ready.

Chapter 5: Your loans.

The reader asks: What do I have on loan? Two loans: The tiger that isn't, due in 6 days on Nov 4, 2026, and Statistics without tears, due in 14 days on Nov 12, 2026.

The first loan is renewed, now due Nov 25, 2026.

The reader asks: Can I read the Ashworth book here? The assistant answers: Not yet. Greyhaven has not been granted an AI reading licence for this title. Here is the shelf copy and the e-resource link. Licensed reading opens when a publisher grants it.

Illustrative walkthrough. Simulated library and reader. Loans, renewals and holds are live on Koha today. Works with any AI assistant that supports connectors (MCP), not only Claude and ChatGPT.

What your library gets, free

A branded connection to your library that students, researchers and staff add to Claude or ChatGPT in two clicks. Discovery is free and stays free.

  • In the pilot

    Plain-language catalogue search

    Readers ask in their own words and their own language. Results come back as cards inside the assistant, from your catalogue, with your library named as the source.

  • In the pilot

    Holdings and availability

    What is on the shelf, at which branch, and whether it is in. Live from your library system where it is connected; from your latest export otherwise.

  • In the pilot

    Links to your e-resources

    Where a record carries a link to a vendor platform, the assistant points the reader to it as "listed by the library as available via" that platform. We point; we never open.

  • Live: on Koha

    Loans, due dates, renewals, holds

    Readers see their loans and due dates, renew, and place or cancel holds from inside the assistant, through your library system. Koha first; other systems as they are connected.

  • In the pilot

    Sign-in restricted to your community

    Readers sign in with their institutional email. The library decides which domains may enter, and can revoke a reader's access.

  • In the pilot

    Usage reporting, title by title

    What your community searched for and looked at, per institution and per title. No reader identity, and never the text of a reader's question.

What it asks of the library

Nothing to install. A catalogue export or a connection to your library system, the email domains of your community, and a named contact. The connector carries your library's name and is yours to switch off.

In the pilot: offers; reading when licensed

Licensed reading, when a publisher has granted it

Discovery tells a reader that a title exists and where it is. Licensed reading lets them open it, inside the assistant, when a publisher has granted that right to your institution. It is built into the same connector.

  1. 01

    A publisher offers your library a licence

    On terms the two of you agree: which titles, which readers (students, staff, faculty), for how long, and on what basis. You accept the offer in your library's panel; nothing is switched on without you.

  2. 02

    Entitled readers open the text where they found it

    The same search that found the title opens it. The reader gets the passage, cited, with the publisher and the library both named. No separate platform, no second sign-in.

  3. 03

    Predictable cost, agreed up front

    Catalogue search, holdings and links stay free whatever happens. Licensed reading is on terms you agree with the publisher before anything is switched on. Nothing goes beyond what you accepted, and usage is recorded against the licence so it can be checked at any time.

Libraries share in the value they create.

In the pilot

Your own collections, the same way

Special collections and digitised archives. Upload them and offer them through the same door, to your own community or to the public, for readers to explore, question and cite.

In the pilot: a monthly per-title report

See what your community is discovering

See which books your readers find through AI, which ones you do not own yet, and where holds pile up. Buy with evidence, not guesswork.

Anonymous: no names, no reading histories, no query text.

Greyhaven University Library

Simulated
Searches this month
1,284
Titles discovered
312
Not yet owned
41

Most discovered titles

  • Coastal erosion and the Pacific islands Not yet owned96
  • Introduction to marine geology 78
  • Climate migration: a reader Not yet owned61
  • Statistics without tears 44
  • Reef ecology in a warming ocean Not yet owned37
Simulated report. Counts per title, no reader identity.
In the pilot

Sign-in your library controls

Readers sign in with their institutional identity. The library decides who may enter and can revoke anyone at any time. We never ask a reader for a card number or PIN.

Privacy and control

We hold the minimum that makes the connector work, we say exactly what that is, and the library stays in charge of who may enter.

What we store

  • Your catalogue records, as you export or connect them, so they can be searched. The assistant sees public catalogue fields, holdings and vendor links only; borrower records never leave your library system.
  • The reader's institutional identity, because it is how they sign in.
  • Usage counts per library and per title: searches, records viewed and, where licensed reading is in use, texts opened.
  • A reader's own highlights and notes, if they choose to keep any, attached to their reader record.

What we never store

  • Passwords or PINs. We never ask a reader for a card number, and no password is ever created with us.
  • The text of a reader's questions in any report. Reports carry titles and counts, never queries and never a reader's name.
  • A copy of licensed text taken from your catalogue. Your records are indexed only so they can be searched. Licensed text is served from where its owner keeps it, under that owner's licence, and we hand nothing over for training.
  • Borrower records or reading history from your library system. Loans and holds are looked up live when the reader asks; we keep the link between reader and library account, not the records.

The library controls who may enter

You decide who counts as your community. You can remove a reader, or switch the connector off, at any time.

Deletion on request

A reader, or the library on their behalf, can ask for the reader and everything attached to be deleted.

Reporting without identity

Usage to the library is per library and per title, with no reader identity and no query text.

What we need from you

Nothing to install. Three things, and your branded connector follows.

  1. 01

    Your catalogue

    A catalogue export or a read-only connection to your library system; Koha is connected today, other systems join through a standard MARC export. An export is enough for the pilot.

  2. 02

    The email domains of your community

    For example student.greyhaven.edu and greyhaven.edu. Readers with those addresses, and nobody else, can connect.

  3. 03

    A named contact

    One person we can call about the catalogue, one we can call about readers and data. Often the same person.

The Charleston Circle pilot is open

Open now · free · no cap, no fixed term

Use it today. Help set the terms tomorrow.

What a pilot library gets

  • A branded connector your readers add to Claude or ChatGPT, at no cost.
  • Catalogue search, holdings and e-resource links, and, on Koha, loans, renewals and holds.
  • A monthly usage report per title.
  • A direct line to the team building it, and a say in what comes next.

What a pilot library gives

  • A catalogue export or a connection to the library system.
  • An hour a month of honest feedback from the people who run the catalogue and the people who answer readers.

Every member gets a seat at the table as we negotiate with the AI companies.

Request a pilot place

Questions libraries ask

Does this replace our discovery layer or catalogue?

No. It meets readers where they already are, inside the assistant, and sends them back to your catalogue, your e-resources and your shelves. Your discovery layer, link resolver and vendor platforms carry on unchanged.

Does the AI train on our catalogue?

Not through us. Your catalogue records are indexed so they can be searched, and we hand nothing over for training. Licensed text is served from where its owner keeps it, under that owner's licence, one passage at a time.

What about our e-book and database vendors?

We point, we never open. Where a record carries a vendor link, the assistant shows it as listed by the library as available via that vendor, and the reader follows it under your existing agreement.

What does it cost?

Discovery is free: catalogue search, holdings, availability, e-resource links and library-system services. Licensed reading is on terms you agree with the publisher before anything is switched on, and nothing is charged until your library has accepted a licence.

Which library systems do you connect to?

Koha today, with live availability, loans, renewals and holds. Any other system can take part in the pilot through a standard MARC export, with holdings refreshed on a schedule.

How do readers sign in, and can alumni or the public get in?

Readers sign in with their institutional identity. The library decides who may enter and can revoke anyone at any time. We never ask a reader for a card number or PIN.

What do we see about usage?

A report per title: searches, records viewed and, where licensed reading is in use, texts opened, for your library. No reader identities and no query text.

Which assistants are supported?

Claude or ChatGPT, and any assistant that supports connectors (MCP). One connector serves them all.

What happens if we stop?

You switch the connector off and your readers can no longer connect. Ask us and we remove your catalogue records. Nothing in your own systems changes, because nothing was installed.

Request a pilot place

Tell us about your library and your library system, and we will arrange a short call to walk through the connector and agree a start date.

Request a demo

Tell us who you are and we will arrange a walkthrough with the right person.

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