I'm sure we all agree, we have chosen to enter the Library profession at a time of radical change. Not to say that libraries are not constantly evolving, but as the digitization of information becomes more economical, efficient, and widespread, libraries and archives are faced with a major shift in material management. Use of space is changing, formats are changing, patron expectations are changing, all in line with this digital upswing. So what will tomorrow bring?
In 2010, a group of librarians, service providers, publishers and government agents assembled for a series of workshops sponsored by the British Library and the Society of College, National and University Libraries. These workshops were designed to develop scenarios of how teaching and research libraries might evolve under different economic and social pressures. Called the Academic Libraries of the Future project, the group developed three specific scenarios designed to facilitate strategic planning for academic libraries. These scenarios were created based on two particular axis, a State/Market axis, and a Open/Closed axis. You can find more detail about the project at www.futurelibraries.info.
The question that comes about is: do we have to predict exactly what the future of libraries will be in order to be prepared for it? I believe that the fundamentals inherent in library ethics and culture will be critical in any possible scenario. As librarians, we are a facilitator between resource and patron, and regardless of socioeconomic forces, it remains imperative that our focus remains on service, regardless of what drives our infrastructure or dictates access.
