An interesting report from ACRL about the future for academic libraries

I found an interesting report “Futures Thinking for Academic Librarians:Scenarios for the Future of the Book”, written by Dr. David J. Staley, and released by the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) in May, 2012. The major goal of this report is to help librarians, especially academic ones, expand their thinking when making decisions about the future of libraries. Staley pointed out that many librarians planned for the future based on one assumption: e-books would replace print books; however, relying on only one assumption might, he further stated that, have potential risks when the future is not what they expect before. Therefore, Staley listed four scenarios for the future of books, including consensus, nostalgic, privatization of the book, and printed books thrive. By expanding the understanding of the future landscapes for library services, librarians can “develop situation awareness”, which might be helpful for their strategic planning in the end.