Two hands-on preconferences will precede the OCLC Library Futures Conference: Community Catalysts. Read more about the preconferences below, which are open to all libraries. See the full OCLC Library Futures agenda.

Design Thinking: Craft powerful stories about your library

Do you struggle with how to tell impactful stories about the great work you do with your communities? Design thinking is a creative problem-solving model that has a broad range of applications for libraries, including communicating your value to stakeholders in the community. The process begins with strategies that will help you understand your community more deeply and discover the interests and aspirations of target audiences. Design thinking offers an array of tools that will expand your possibilities and foster iterative experimentation with solutions.

In this lively, interactive workshop led by OCLC’s WebJunction, you will learn design thinking principles and practice the innovative techniques and reflective strategies that can lead to crafting powerful stories that communicate your value to community members and key stakeholders.

As a result of this workshop, you will:

• gain familiarity with design thinking principles and recognize their versatility for application to libraries
• practice some design thinking techniques and experience the creativity and collaboration that result
• develop plans to take back to your library to apply design thinking techniques in targeted situations to acquire fresh insights into your community stakeholders and to develop impactful stories about your library’s value

Stewardship and Services: Your library's role as a “community catalyst”

Digital environments are reshaping the nature of library collections and services in research libraries, and libraries need tools to be effective “community catalysts” and to adapt to the audiences they serve. 

In this event led by the OCLC Research Library Partnership, you will explore how libraries are responding to the seismic changes underway. This includes the increasing role of the library in managing the research and other outputs of the university (e.g., the inside-out collection, exemplified in repositories, RIM systems, deep interactions with open content, and distinctive collections). Additionally, you will delve into how the library is facilitating access to a broader range of local, external, and collaborative resources organized around user needs (the facilitated collection).

During this interactive afternoon, you will use these concepts to share and discuss how institutions are responding to these challenges.

As a result of this event, you will:

• gain familiarity with models and terminology which can then be applied to your own ecosystem
• discuss how these models may be used to articulate the value of the library to external stakeholders at your parent institution
• discuss topics and network with peers from research libraries