On July 31st 2015 the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa and Te Rōpū Whakahau co-hosted Taking Libraries to 2025: The Future of Libraries Summit at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington.

Aimed at driving greater collaboration in the sector this future focused summit was looking for concrete actions to cement the integral role that libraries play in their communities, whether those communities are made up of academics, students, employees, or general public.

We were both inspired and humbled by the overwhelming reponse to the day. 160 professionals from around New Zealand joined us in Wellington to debate, discuss, and brainstorm the future of our profession. The financial investment by the sector in this project has been significant and we have a responsibility to ensure that investment is not squandered.

We want to ensure we do justice to the incredible passion and energy that erupted during the day as we explored the possibilities of a transformational future. The summit highlighted the fact that it is essential for the sector to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate changes to secure the future of the profession not solely for our own benefit, but for the public we serve.

We left the summit inspired to tackle the priority issues we identified together. We look forward to continuing our work with you to ensure a solid library framework for New Zealanders. This report then is the next step in an ongoing dialogue about that future. We’ve outlined clear responsibilities, and a proposed action plan, but this isn’t set in stone.