This presentation was provided by Danuta A. Nitecki of Drexel University during the NISO event, "The Library of the Future: Inside & Out", held on December 12, 2018.

1. Hedging Our Bets on the
Library of the Future:
Planning Inside and Out
Danuta A. Nitecki
Drexel University
NISO Virtual Conference
The Library of the Future: Inside and Out
December 12, 2018

2. How might directors hedge their bets
on the future

3. Are standards of an academic library
where to place your bets?
1. Organized collection
2. Trained staff who
• Provide and interpret materials
• Meet needs of clientele
3. Established schedule of available services
4. Physical facilities
—National Center for Educational Statistics

4. Or is the library organization?
• Relation to University or College mission
• Position within the academic culture [how much
is it a service vs a partner]
• Enable collaboration, resource stewardship,
service commitment, ethics, continuous learning,
aligning evidence

5. Today’s speakers will delve deeper on
such broad library identifiers
Betting – in and out—on:
1. Collections
2. Staffing and client interests
3. Space

6. “Collections” come with IN and OUT
challenges

7. Staff and clients: who’s in and out?

8. Facilities
• Physical or cyber spaces?
• House collections, technologies and people?
• Work or learning environments?
• Library as place or as a metaphor?

9. Strategic planning illustrate
“In and Out” bets for Drexel
• First strategies [2011-16] around the
Libraries’ purpose became obligations to the
University community
• Current strategies [2017-22] focus Libraries
staff on their unique contributions to address
the University’s challenges

10. Obligations are what worries all
directors
• Ensuring access to authoritative information
• Building informal learning environments
• Strengthening University’s connection to scholarship
• Modeling an effective, collaborative, evidence-driven
organization

11. Local settings frame current
library opportunities to…
• Contain costs of higher education
• Shape future research
• Inspire quest for life-long learning

12. 1. Containing costs of higher education
Place bets on access to electronic resources
over relying on building owned print collections.

13. 2. Shaping future research
Bet on enabled discovery and access to Drexel-
generated research output will increase global
exposure and thus institution’s contributions to
scholarship.

14. 3. Inspiring a quest for life-long learning
Bet on designing library spaces as informal
learning environments [4th space] – where
learners take ownership of their learning.

15. Conference engagements
• Listen and share approaches to framing strategies to
engage with transformation of academic libraries
• Consider balancing local and external responsibilities, plan
In and Out
• Offer reactions to Drexel illustration of shifting from In-side
library planning to Out-side institutional engagements
• Bet on multiple facets since all change rapidly

16. Thank you
Danuta A. Nitecki
dan44@Drexel.edu
215 895 2750
Link to Drexel Libraries’ strategic pathways:
https://www.library.drexel.edu/about/strategic-plan/

17. Image Sources:
Photograph of man watching sports betting screens. Retrieved from
http://www.cricketworld.com
Photograph of the Princeton University Library’s ReCAP shelving unit. Retrieved from
http://library.princeton.edu/news/general/2018-04-27/recap-accessions-15-millionth-item
Photograph of Cambridge University Reading Room. Retrieved from
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/reading-room
Photograph of students sitting in a common work area around laptops. Photo by Fox from Pexel.
Retrieved from www.pexels.com
Photograph of W. W. Hagerty Library, courtesy Jaci Downs Photography.
Photograph of students studying in the W. W. Hagerty Library, courtesy Jaci Downs Photography.