It is no secret that the use of the libraries has undergone drastic changes and numerous articles have been written on this subject. There are several valuable resources available for understanding the trends and the future of the libraries. I would like to link to a few here that are directly relevant to what I would like to discuss.

• Center for the Future of Libraries (Especially the trends)
• Future Libraries –  An excellent report on the future libraries emerging from a series of workshops held by ARUP (“We are an independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists offering a broad range of professional services. Through our work we make a positive difference in the world.”)
• Ithaka S+R publications on collections and preservation
• “Campus Libraries Rethink Focus as Materials Go Digital“

Ithaka S+R US Library Survey 2013 executive summary (the last available survey from them) summarizes some of the key findings on collections:

• A minority of respondents, even at doctoral institutions, believes that purchasing
  print books to build research collections is important, while the large
  majority believes that building local print collections has declined in importance.
  By comparison, the vast majority of respondents see resource sharing
  as an important library function and there is ample evidence across institutional
  types of the importance of collaborative approaches to serving users’
  information needs.
• For journals, the shift from print to electronic collecting has been, from a
  budget allocation perspective, nearly completed. Library directors tend to
  be more comfortable than are faculty members with the print to electronic
  transition for scholarly journals.
• A possible format shift from print books to ebooks appears to be occurring
  at a more measured pace, with relatively small projected increases in ebook
  spending. Views about the importance of ebooks in their libraries have not
  measurably changed over the past three years. With respect to books, library
  directors may if anything be less aggressive in moving towards electronic
  formats than are faculty members.

Drafting a viable plan for managing the library collections as well as the efficient use of library spaces to meet the emerging needs of the students and faculty are activities that we are engaged in. These are extremely difficult topics on which there are differing views, but this statement generally applies to anything we do in library and technology services! What is important is to have broad, and informed conversations, take into consideration multiple dimensions of the issues and come to a sensible conclusion. Yup, easier said than done, but we are making progress…

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