Below is a detailed description of the framework I apply to my simulations on Future Library Dreams Substack with four key tensions libraries should watch and consider when planning for the future.
Artificial Intelligence is going to change how people in our communities look for and access information and entertainment. As libraries, we need to be ready for this change, or we risk becoming obsolete. We have the opportunity now to look ahead 10 years to the multiple futures that could be and take steps to navigate our way to one that seems both realistic and desirable. The purpose of my blog is to paint some of those futures in vivid detail, thinking not just about AI, but AI in convergence with robotics, VR, and other tech trends.
I analyze my Future Library Dreams through the lens of four critical tensions.
Tension 1: Privacy and anonymity versus data gathering
Artificial Intelligence is built on data, and most companies have now started to save a concerning amount of data on their customers’ clicks, views, purchases, and so on. Customers have almost come to expect this behavior, and most have some awareness that they are being surveilled while on their devices. By contrast, libraries have long been champions of the individual’s right to privacy and anonymity when it comes to media consumption for information and entertainment. The thought of automatically gathering data from our customers on what they are reading, watching, or borrowing, without their express consent, makes librarians uncomfortable. And this is without touching the sphere of personally identifiable information.
However, falling short of our community’s expectations when it comes to services also risks compromising our service standards. Choosing not to gather data on our customers will mean just that—AI-backed services like personalized recommendations, which are built into every modern media platform, won’t be available to library customers who would like them. Without AI-backed services, libraries will begin to appear technologically delinquent at a time when we want our communities to trust our expertise and guidance in this area.
It would also be wise not to assume that the opt-in model for data gathering will always serve us well. Some groups of people are more likely to opt-in to data gathering, while others are more likely to decline. This creates a dataset where some groups are overrepresented compared to others. Uneven representation creates bias in the dataset, which AI tends to amplify and make worse. In short, you get an AI that marginalizes or discriminates against under-represented groups. Overall, the choices libraries make about their data gathering practices will dictate what kinds of AI-backed services they can offer customers, and what data is driving strategic decisions and funding. With time, I’m certain a larger consensus will set some new standards in this area, but we are developing those standards now.
We need to think now about where we stand in the data gathering vs. privacy tug-of-war, and start making our demands known now, or the companies that develop large AI or ILS systems may be the ones who decide for us.
Tension 2: Automation versus deliberate human presence
The question of whether to automate or not is not new to libraries, but AI will enable it on a scale not yet seen before. Co-bots—robots equipped with multiple sensors to allow them to work safely next to humans—could significantly reduce or even eliminate shelving jobs. Agentic AI and improved self-checkouts could do the same for circulation staff, while AI-improved automatic search and recommendation software could eliminate the need for reference librarians. What’s left could be a single human working from home who remotely troubleshoots any technology problems and virtually addresses any human concerns for several library branches at one time.
However, we are living in the long shadow of a pandemic that demonstrated to many the importance of real-life human interaction. People need people, and as retail locations cede to online shopping or fully automate to stay competitive, there’s a chance interacting with real humans will become a novel and needed experience for a growing number in our communities.
Another facet of this automation vs. human tension is the prevalence of recommendation AIs. AIs can now help us choose books to read, videos to watch and clothes to buy. They suggest food to order, cars to drive, furnishings for our homes, places to see, people to date, and homes we can live in. In an AI saturated world, there seems little opportunity for spontaneous discovery of things outside of what the computer has suggested based on the data that has been gathered about us. Here may be another opportunity for the library—offering non-AI-driven methods of discovery that allow our customers to grow in areas not determined by their Ontario postal code, income level, or past actions.
We know libraries can exist entirely online, and people can access lots of media and resources without any assistance from another human being. We already need to be aware of and deliberate with our choices around where and how we integrate the human presence within the library. As the pressure to automate increases, libraries also need to increase their awareness of, and advocate for, this presence even more.
Tension 3: Expanding horizons through knowledge versus through experience
One thing that will keep human librarians in the library is to find them meaningful work that helps advance the library’s mission. Also, this work should involve something other than just robot oversight or social greeting. This may seem obvious, but in a world where co-bots and agents can do a significant amount of traditional library work, we have to ask what meaningful library work will human librarians do? The answer has already started to emerge in the last decade, but the why of it might not always be clear.
To get to that why, we should look at what value the library offers to the community. It’s not just a repository of interesting facts or entertainment to take on vacation. Using library resources like reading books or watching video allows us to expand our horizons by building our knowledge and empathy. There is another way to expand horizons: through experience. Reading about a skill will never be as empowering as doing the skill—and in a world where good information is easily accessible, libraries can empower their communities by offering that horizon-expanding, first hands-on experience.
As an example, I once ran a program for tweens that involved using scroll saws. The participants could have read up on how to use a scroll saw. There are endless videos online demonstrating scroll saw use and care and safety. But even so, most of those tweens had never touched a scroll saw, and many of them were intimidated by the motions and sounds it made. A physical machine and a physical person giving direction and assurance were needed for those participants to have their first experience using a new tool, in a way no amount of internet searching or virtual AI coaching ever could.
This is why so many libraries are developing makerspaces, digital studios, and building up non-traditional “Libraries of Things”. Many new partnerships and programmes are also being developed, not just because they are “fun” and “cool”, but because they build on our expanding horizons value proposition to our communities. And they require humans—librarians with a whole new and unique set of skills.
Of course, there is pushback. On the budget level, humans, spaces, and tools are all expensive compared to books and shelves. Our communities expect and will continue to expect the library to put budget towards buying physical books, probably until the demand for e-book streaming overwhelms the demand for print books, making the mass printing of books unprofitable for publishers. If or when this happens it will be too late to suddenly pivot to “expanding horizons by experience”, so we need to start investing and learning what works now. By balancing the demand for experiential vs media-based learning today, we can protect our spaces and librarians from being replaced by software companies like Amazon and Overdrive tomorrow.
Tension 4: Future scanning and preparation vs stagnation and reactionism
By scanning for signals of the future, and exploring them through future scenarios, we can imagine multiple possibilities for what might be. Turning this vision into action allows us to both navigate towards a future we desire, and to prepare for the future we fear. Libraries that lean into future scanning and preparation can position themselves proactively, whereas those that choose stagnation and reactionism risk being caught flat-footed.
With careful guidance in these areas, libraries of the future will have AI-backed systems and services that meet customer needs and expectations, while still respecting their personal information and data. There will be fewer staff engaged in records maintenance and collection management, but more librarians engaged in expanding our communities’ horizons through cultural, educational, and social experiences. Far from the doomsday scenario for libraries, this future holds many possibilities.
Broader Societal Shifts Impacting Libraries
Indeed, as advances in technology accelerate change, libraries may find themselves pulled in many different directions. Consider:
- Constant re-skilling: People are living longer and having longer careers which require them to reskill, learn new technologies, and increase their digital literacy repeatedly.
- Distance work and learning: Students as young as grade 6 through to PhD level may soon decide they prefer distance learning to classroom learning because of the flexibility it allows them, and because online platforms, gamification and AI mentors will make it fun, easy and accessible. These remote learners will join remote workers at the library when home becomes too distracting, or a change of scenery is desired.
- The requirement for good mental health: The labour market is now built largely on mental and not physical labour, and AI will only intensify the demand for complex mental output. For this reason alone, mental health will remain a key focus in our lives and our communities. Illicit drugs, social media, VR, AI, and the demand for unplugged experiences will add further complexities in this area.
- More newcomers: As the climate becomes more volatile, the prevalence of environmental refugees and human migrations will increase—people learning how to live and work in a new place, in a new language, perhaps with technology beyond their previous imagining. This will be especially evident across Ontario's shifting demographic landscape, where these people will also want places to celebrate their cultures and require our communities to build new cultural sensitivities and inclusiveness.
These are only some of the shifts occurring in areas libraries are already invested in. More change is inevitable.
Back to Services Future Library Dreams Substack