Futures Thinking for Academic Librarians: Scenarios for the Future of the Book

Abstract

Many current conversations about the future of libraries assume that printed books will give way to e-books. This report by David J. Staley, Staley, director of the Harvey Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching in the History Department of Ohio State University, presents four alternate possible scenarios for the future, based in part on feedback from academic library directors. It includes scenarios which intentionally favor the continued existence of the printed book as a viable technology so that academic and research librarians may expand their thinking about the future to include a richer set of environmental conditions.