Library partnerships in an age of openness

Abstract

• Librarians are strong collaborators. As we move toward the “next normal,” partnerships and collaboration will play an even larger role. In our post-pandemic world, what does “open” mean in terms of access to libraries, their staff, and their services? National libraries, for example, are still, to some extent, fixed in space in physical terms, despite having grown their digital offer before and considerably during the COVID-19 period. Through partnerships with public and academic libraries, the British Library has begun to improve access to its content and events. The library community now has an opportunity to build on experience and to think differently and collaboratively about what openness means in terms of spaces, content, and staff support for our communities in a hybrid digital and physical world—ensuring the enduring “why” and the transforming “how” of libraries in the 21st century.