Commercial Break: Imagining new ownership models for cultural heritage institutions

This talk will explore several new and emerging models that represent alternatives to the status quo of libraries as customers of corporate products and services. Libraries, archives, and museums all over the world are creating new models for community ownership both through how they work together and in how they choose to invest their resources. I will describe some examples of effective community-driven and consortial models of collaboration, as well as new technological solutions and infrastructure that remove these organizations’ dependency on profit-seeking commercial groups. Finally, I will describe a few recent Internet Archive projects that take mission-aligned approaches to creating new models for cultural heritage institutions, including community building and equity-based programs, services for nonprofits, and alternatives to commercial library infrastructure and software. I will end with a provocation for the audience about how else we can create new models for community ownership and public good.