Future Libraries

Future Libraries is a two-part initiative that will challenge and engage Librarians and library leaders to reimagine libraries in a world of climate change, population shift, and digital advancement.

Future Libraries is comprised of 'Come rain or shine: Preparing public libraries for the future in an age of uncertainty' and 'Future Libraries Toolkit' that contains the practical framework for your library to scan the horizon for strategic and agile thinking.

Future Libraries is funded by Arts Council England and is being developed in collaboration with Libraries Connected, the British Library and Shared Intelligence.

Come rain or shine: Preparing public libraries for the future in an age of uncertainty

Come rain or shine is an in-depth report that scans the horizon of public libraries to help library staff and leaders to become more agile in their strategies and activities.

Library leaders from three different services consulted on the findings of the report to provide critical analysis of potential threats and opportunities facing future libraries.

Future Libraries Toolkit

The future libraries toolkit is a practical set of activities within the futures literacy framework to support libraries with their own horizon scanning activities. This will enable libraries to assess their own specific community contexts and prepare effective strategies for resilient service provision in the future, whatever the weather.

The case studies in 'Come Rain or Shine' were created using the same methodology.

What is Futures Literacy

Future Libraries is based on UNESCO's Futures Literacy framework that allows people to better understand the role that the future plays in what they see and do. Futures Literacy is based on the premises that the future does not yet exist and can only be imagined, and that humans have the ability to imagine.

Read more about Futures Literacy