How libraries & consortia can build a sustainable future

The International Coalition of Library Consortia issued a report in September 2022 which outlines the challenges facing libraries pertaining to technology, access to information, and strategic direction.

I have been involved with the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) task force for a full year and helped with the evolution of the ideas and strategies within its written report. I recently wrote an article summarizing the report, and this piece is now published in the January 2023 Journal of Library Administration.

The concerns of the task force can be summarized in the following:

• The rising cost of accessing and curating digital knowledge, coupled with shrinking budgets, political and institutional challenges, and multiple staffing issues facing the profession, mean that ever-increasing system costs impose unsustainable burdens on many—if not all—libraries.
• Libraries have collectively turned responsibility over to a new and growing industry of companies with expertise in delivering solutions for library needs. These solutions were largely proprietary, with library funds thus flowing into a corporate-controlled marketplace.
• As market consolidation has taken place, libraries have few options for responding to the changing needs and expectations of end-users.

The Way Forward

For libraries to accomplish their missions, serve their users, and effectively steward limited resources, libraries of all types must be able to select the services, platforms, and technology providers that match organizational values and meet both long- and short-term needs.

To that end, we argue that libraries must empower themselves by reestablishing agency and reasserting control over the technical infrastructure critical to libraries’ success.

We call on library administrators to evaluate their existing infrastructure costs, dependence on corporate entities, and associated risks, and to consider adopting one or more of the strategies outlined in the report.

Our recommendations

1. The ICOLC report outlines what libraries should do differently in their ongoing relationships with vendors and the open-source community.
2. Suggest alternatives to the typical library/vendor model, especially open-source/community-owned efforts that address the needs outlined in the report.
3. Articulate a broad vision for how these efforts tie together and provide a framework for libraries to support these projects.
   1. Radically rethink our operations to build the future we need.
   2. Reframe contracts for proprietary services.
   3. Design, support, & fund alternative solutions now.

Library-created solutions are important and central to the way forward.