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Weekly News Digest

January 6, 2022 — In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today. CLICK HERE to view more Weekly News Digest items.

OCLC Shares What a New Model Library Would Look Like

The pandemic has created a ripple effect—a stone thrown into the library pond—that is re-shaping the work, collections, and engagement experiences in libraries. In turn, changes to these experiences have been rippling out to communities and organizations that libraries have relationships with, like publishers, other agencies, institutions, community members and groups, and system providers. But of course, the ripples work both ways. As these communities and organizations make their own changes and adaptations, new ripple effects have developed that must also be absorbed by all.

The pandemic initiated or accelerated changes that often were executed in haste and with acknowledged and understandable imperfections. While we all continue to manage life with the pandemic, it is time to reflect on the changes that were made and assess which ones were effective. For library leaders, that means strategically transforming the library to adapt to evolving staff and community needs and expectations—moving toward a New Model Library.

Twenty-nine leaders representing academic (community college, technical, baccalaureate, and research) and public libraries located in urban, suburban, and rural areas across the globe were interviewed by the OCLC Research team from April to July 2020. These leaders discussed the changes to library work, collections, and engagement experiences that they believe will continue and what their visions are for the future of libraries.

For more information, read the blog post.