Get Fit for Brisbane (9/10): evolution or revolution in our partnerships?

The trends set out in the Trend Report Literature Review will not just affect libraries. The information and knowledge environment, for good or for ill, can have a strong structuring effect on the full range of actors and groups out there.

It’s about Partnerships!

Just as we are likely to see some aspects of our work grow in importance and others fall, so too will others see their roles change over time. In the previous eight posts in our series, we’ve explored these and thought more about how.

Linked to this, our needs will change. We will need different skills, different resources, different support from our funders and partners. And again, similarly, others will find themselves requiring more of some things, and less of others, including of course from libraries.

When needs connect with provision, we have the potential for partnerships.

A first key question for libraries as we look into the future is which partnerships will both allow us to do what our communities need us to do, and ensure that we are making the maximum possible positive contribution.

There are of course organisations and stakeholders with which we already have strong links. But by stepping back and thinking about our evolving needs and strengths, we may identify new and unexpected partnerships.

A second, once we have identified the partnerships we need, is how to make the most of these. The more we rely on our partners in order to have an impact, the more interest we have in ensuring that they are performing, and that we can rely on them.

The strongest partnerships will be those which get beyond the purely transactional, and which bring mutual benefits, making it possible to think and build together.

Both of these questions can apply to a range of different partnerships – including those with communities, with other libraries, and with funders or other organisations.

Exercise Questions

Key questions for reflection ahead of the Information Futures Summit could therefore be:

  • Where are our partnership blind spots? Are there organisations or groups which we have tended to neglect when thinking about collaboration?
  • What partnerships have worked for you? And which ones are underperforming? Why?
  • Looking into the future, which partnerships do you think will become more important, and how can we make sure that they deliver?

At the Information Futures Summit, there will be three dedicated sessions looking at the topic of how we can make the most of our partnerships. These echo the theme chosen by Vicki McDonald for her IFLA Presidency – Stronger Together.

Our Trends to Practice Sessions will look respectively at partnerships with other libraries, with communities, and with other stakeholders.

These will provide an opportunity for sharing and discussion about what has worked, and learning about how we can make sure we are making the most of partnerships to ensure the impact of libraries into the future.

Look out for the 10th and final post in our series soon!