The COVID-19 pandemic impacted libraries of all types around the world, requiring library leaders to respond to rapidly shifting community and institutional needs. OCLC Research interviewed 29 library leaders from 11 countries to capture their experiences during the pandemic and understand what they envision for their libraries moving forward. The authors describe these transformations—how leaders strategically adapted to meet evolving needs and expectations—as movements toward a New Model Library.

With a foreword from Janice Welburn, this high-level briefing synthesizes findings and recommendations within the context of work experiences, collections experiences and engagement experiences. And within each of these contexts, it identifies New Model Library transformations occurring because of four areas of impact:

• Agility
• Collaboration
• Virtualization
• Space

The resulting framework can help you and your library find common ground with peers and identify new ideas and directions for your strategic planning. We hope you find this foundation useful as a way to share your own experiences and ideas for your New Model Library.