ACLPD

The Future Is Shared
Libraries Sharing Resources: Three Possibilities for 2030

Presented by the CT State Library DLD’s Advisory Council for Library Planning and Development, Resource Sharing Committee

View the recordings of these 2020 presentations from any of the dates listed below:

The CT State Library State Library Board endorsed the CT Vision for Resource Sharing at the November 22, 2021 meeting.

(See the Agenda, Minutes, and State Librarian's Report from the meeting.)

View the supporting documents: 

What does 2030 resource sharing look like for CT libraries? How do we get there from here?

The CT Resource Sharing Philosophy frames a goal, that "Connecticut's libraries willingly cooperate and collaborate with each other and affiliated organizations to provide maximum access to materials, services and expertise for the mutual benefit of all."

Maureen Sullivan, Interim State Librarian, invited the library community to hear three different scenarios of the future from teams of CT librarians about how they envision libraries and resource sharing based on community needs ten years from now.

How did we create these possibilities?

Together, these teams implemented the tools of Strategic Foresight, namely Scenario Planning, which is the process of using scenarios to envision outcomes, evaluate present and future strategies, and create tactical actions for an organization against a suite of possible futures.

The Scenario Planning tool acts as an ethnographic analysis, or a holistic scan of various scenario worlds by highlighting the potential partnerships, services, disruptions, and opportunities to begin leveraging for the most optimal outcome, in this case towards fulfilling the CT Resource Sharing Philosophy.