Overview

Academic and public libraries are much different today than they were even two decades back. Academic as well as public libraries nowadays have to face constant change. As libraries modernize, they face an increasingly harsh budget environment, as well as technological disruption in media, scholarship, and education. The political, social, and technological environment is one of transformation and uncertainty. College and university libraries are at the center of changes to the library system. Academic libraries must serve groups of users with diverse information needs and research skills. In addition to the structural challenges facing all libraries, academic libraries must also confront a rapidly changing educational and publishing environment, in which the value and cost of a university education is being questioned. A higher demand for accountability means academic libraries must prove their value and the value of the university system. The growing demand for publishing services suggests new roles and responsibilities for academic libraries in the near future. Each institution requires a unique vision for creating an intellectual center for 21st-century teaching, learning and collaboration. Moreover, that vision must reflect the institutions own voice and ask what it means to support the creation of academic scholarship. Libraries must now foster a positive ecology of relationships, connectivity settings, and tools layered together to foster discovery and learning within the context of a dynamic academic framework. But today, public libraries are at a turning point. The way we access and consume information has changed dramatically in the 21st century, and this presents major challenges and opportunities for public library systems across the world. The advent of new technologies has changed some of our reading habits. But our need for shared, community-centered spaces to find information and connect with others is unlikely to change any time soon. To survive in the digital age and stay relevant, public libraries need to be brave and innovative. They must embrace both the physical and virtual. Reflecting on the Future of Academic and Public Libraries gives an overview about leadership competences needed to succeed with deliberate large-scale changes in libraries. This should be of immense guide for library managers, academic and public librarians, LIS students and academics and anyone interested in the future of libraries.

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9781681176369

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