In this article we’re going to take a look at some emerging trends in library technology and how digital resources can contribute to a better experience for patrons and staff alike. Before we dive in, though, we should make one point clear: while technology might be the hot topic of the day, the traditional role of public libraries as repositories of books is not a thing of the past. Far from it.
In a 2023 column for Publishers Weekly, publishing-industry veteran Tim Coates cited data showing that the vast majority of library users visit the library expressly to check out books, with all other activities (such as using the internet or accessing Wi-Fi) trailing distantly behind.
Coates further points out that, in the US and the UK, public libraries have pulled millions of books off of their shelves in the past decade and have not replaced them. He argues that this has been a major contributing factor to declines in library patronage:
I believe that refocusing library service on access to print books, replacing the quantities of books they have removed, and committing to adding more books would rapidly, measurably, and visibly increase the usage of public libraries, and begin to reverse the negative trends of the last decade.
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Coates is not incorrect, although it would be a mistake to conclude that books alone will allow public libraries to thrive well into the future. Emerging technologies and digital services will also have a large part to play.
We certainly saw how important technology can be to the survival of libraries when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
In a 2021 Chronicle of Higher Education article, Scott Carlson looked at how the pandemic affected the way libraries delivered their services to communities. He was speaking specifically of libraries at colleges and universities, but the lessons are applicable to public libraries as well.
Carlson wrote that lockdowns were an unexpected development that led to libraries being deserted. Under duress, librarians were compelled to accelerate their delivery of remote services and other digital technologies to users.
In July 2024, the Public Library Association (PLA) released the results of its most recent technology survey, which collected info from administrative staff at more than 1,500 libraries across the United States. Here are a few of the PLA’s findings:
Almost half of libraries (47%) offer hotspots for checkout.
About a quarter of libraries (25%) have digital media production equipment and more than a third (40%) have maker production equipment.
95% of public libraries offer some kind of formal or informal digital literacy training. Features like faceted search in the library catalog can enhance digital literacy and create a better user experience.
95% of libraries offer eBooks and/or eAudiobooks and 58% offer streaming and downloadable media for patrons.
Here are a few of the technology trends shaping the future of your local library.
Think about your morning routine. Do you like to kick the day off old-school, savoring your morning latte with the daily newspaper spread out in front of you — and perhaps a pristine vinyl copy of Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits spinning on the turntable?
For those of us who are not so determinedly retro, digital devices tend to play an increasingly important role throughout the course of the entire day. We keep up with the news by scrolling X (known to your grandparents as Twitter) and catch up with friends on Facebook. We discover new music on Spotify, and wind down at night with a good read on our Kindles.
We at PressReader published our first report on the future of libraries in 2019. Among the new trends we noted back then was a significant shift in the way people discover and interact with content — whether it’s videos, music, news media or peer-reviewed academic journals.
A well-developed and well-organized library catalog with features like faceted search can help users discover and access digital content more efficiently.
Many public libraries offer digital collections as well as platforms such as PressReader, which features thousands of newspapers and magazines from around the world. With remote access, patrons can use PressReader from anywhere, at any time, all on their own mobile devices.
As we observed in a previous blog article on how academic libraries use AI to improve their services, controversies surrounding the use of artificial intelligence in academic work are likely to continue as the technology becomes more sophisticated and its use gets harder to detect.
On the positive side, AI has a number of practical library applications. Chatbots (or virtual assistants) and other tools have the potential to transform librarianship for the better.
The fact is, most librarians have been employing AI applications for years — whether they realize it or not. As the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) observed in the introduction to its publication, The Rise of AI:
Librarians are uniquely positioned to rise to the challenge that AI presents to their field. Libraries and their like have existed for millennia; they progress with society, altering and adapting their services to meet the information needs of their communities. Academic libraries today have greatly expanded their digital offerings, not just to include electronic books or journal articles but also to support software application discovery and use. Some academic librarians might say they lack a foundational knowledge of AI or that they are ill-equipped to speak on the subject, and yet they have likely been interacting with AI through the different types of software applications they support.
Public libraries, too, can benefit from AI technology. In 2023, the Urban Libraries Council issued a leadership brief outlining five ways public libraries can integrate cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies in their work:
Move from informing to practicalizing such as leveraging AI tools for performance improvements at branches and in program design.
Leverage prompt engineering skills of library professionals who are already trained to find bodies of information using keywords or phrases.
Advance information literacy of staff and patrons through hands-on use of AI, such as workshops where participants learn how to generate short stories and poetry with AI.
Create an AI-focused digital inclusion network to ensure equitable access to the economic benefits of new AI-powered technologies.
Advocate for the responsible use of AI to ensure these advancements benefit the community at large, and that foundational standards of education, innovation and access to information are preserved.
Public libraries can benefit from automation in various ways to streamline operations, enhance the user experience and improve efficiency. Among other tasks and processes, the following can be automated at a public library:
Cataloging and inventory management: Libraries can automate the process of adding books, and digital resources to the library catalog. This includes importing metadata, generating call numbers and updating records.
Circulation and check-out: Self-checkout stations and radio frequency identification (RFID) can help automate the borrowing and returning of library materials. Library users can check items in and out without the assistance of a librarian.
Hold and reservation management: The process of placing and managing holds on books and other materials can be automated. Patrons can reserve items online and the system will notify them when the items are available.
Interlibrary loan requests: Libraries can use an automated system to request and receive resources from other libraries. This can streamline the process of borrowing items not available in the library's collection.
Book reshelving and sorting: An automated sorting system can quickly and accurately sort returns back into their proper locations on the shelves.
Visitor analytics: As long as staff remain vigilant about cybersecurity and privacy issues, library automation can collect and analyze patron data to better understand usage patterns and preferences, which can inform collection development and program planning.
Acquisition and ordering: The process of ordering new materials can be streamlined through the automation of purchase requests, vendor communications, and order tracking.
Security and access control: Libraries can implement automated access control systems, including card access and surveillance, to enhance security and protect library resources.
Staff and volunteer scheduling: Automating the scheduling of shifts for staff and volunteers can ensure adequate coverage during library hours.
While many libraries run their systems with proprietary software, more and more are turning to open source instead. What's the difference?
The term "propietary software" refers to software that is copyrighted and to which its publisher, vendor or developer has imposed limitations to its use, distribution and modification. A proprietary program is sometimes called “closed software” to distinguish it from “open software”.
Open-source code, on the other hand, is written with a license that allows it to be modified and enhanced by the end user. Library professionals like open source systems because they are endlessly customizable — and also because they are often free, which frees up a bit of the library budget.
By embracing technology, libraries can significantly improve the efficiency of their operations — by automating certain processes, for example, which enables library staff to focus on more complex tasks.
However, it's essential to balance automation and artificial intelligence with personalized human interactions to maintain the essential aspects of library services, such as enhancing the patron experience.
Digital formats may never replace books entirely, which means that the librarian's traditional role remains relevant in the 21st century, even as it continues to evolve and expand, adopting new innovations and responding to the needs of the community.