Nearly 80% of library stakeholders rated “library workers and leaders who embrace change” as being very important to the success of future libraries

Image credit: Summary of Stakeholder Engagement Survey Results, the Global Libraries Initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Recently, the Global Libraries Initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation surveyed more than 3,000 library stakeholders to solicit ideas on the role and key attributes of a future library and how the foundation could help encourage those attributes. Respondents ranked trained librarians and visionary, effective leadership as the two most important features of a future library. Characteristics deemed most important to the success of a future library included “library workers and leaders who embrace change” and “visionary, effective leadership.” Responses suggested the Gates Foundation should fund collaborative efforts among libraries and share results with the field in future support initiatives directed at public libraries. Find out more at WebJunction.

Note: This post is part of our series, “The Weekly Number.” In this series, we highlight statistics that help tell the story of the 21st century library.