Week Two: June 8-12, 2026

As if Week One wasn’t mind-blowing enough, Week Two doubled down on the innovation and raised the wow factor. Every day seemed to introduce a new idea, tool, space, or perspective that challenged me to think differently about libraries, leadership, and how we serve our users.

The week began with Human-Centered Design at the Siebel Center for Design, where we explored the importance of understanding users before attempting to design solutions. What stood out to me was that understanding is at the heart of the process. One idea that stayed with me was that numbers can tell us what is happening, but they rarely tell us why. Interviews and conversations help uncover the motivations, experiences, and feelings behind the data, creating a bridge between the information we collect and the strategies we develop. The discussions around explicit and implicit knowledge, empathy, iteration, and asking the right questions resonated with me. This was, in my mind, a continuation of last week’s question of whether, as leaders, we ask questions to confirm our own ideas or to uncover the right data.

I was also particularly interested in how AI can support the process of understanding users through interview preparation, question development, and custom GPTs. The visit to the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning exposed me to virtual reality, podcasting, and other technologies. Beyond the technology itself, I found myself thinking about the spaces, staffing, and skills required to support innovation and learning in a meaningful way. It also made me consider what creating space for innovation might look like in my own library and the competencies staff would need to develop to support it successfully.

Understanding users’ needs naturally led into discussions on assessment, planning, and impact. Once we know who we are serving and why their experiences matter, the next challenge is determining how we measure whether our efforts are making a difference.

Logic Models, Assessment and Environmental Scanning

The sessions on logic models and environmental scanning reinforced the importance of intentional planning and assessment. The logic model helped me think about the relationship between resources, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact. One takeaway was that being busy is not the same thing as being impactful because activities alone do not tell the story. The real question is whether those activities are leading to meaningful outcomes.

Similarly, environmental scanning highlighted the importance of paying attention to what is happening within and around our organizations rather than waiting for problems to appear. User needs, institutional priorities, and external factors are constantly shifting. Understanding those changes and contextual cues helps leaders make better decisions, anticipate challenges, and plan more effectively. As I reflected on these sessions, I was reminded that good intentions are not enough. As leaders, we must be clear about what we are trying to achieve, how we will know if we have achieved it, and whether the evidence supports our assumptions.

Planning and assessment are important, but libraries rarely achieve their goals alone. This led naturally into conversations about partnerships, collaboration, and the relationships that help transform ideas into action.

Strategic Partnerships, Grants and Community Engagement

The discussions on strategic partnerships and grant development highlighted the importance of collaboration and communicating ideas clearly. Big ideas are exciting, but they often begin with small, practical steps and the right people around the table.

The visits to Champaign Public Library, the MacArthur Foundation, and ALA reinforced this in different ways and highlighted how partnerships and community engagement contribute to creating value and impact. Whether through funding, advocacy, programming, or collaboration, successful initiatives rarely happen in isolation.

While partnerships help extend the reach of libraries, they must also respond to broader changes in the information environment. Several sessions explored what this looks like in practice, particularly in relation to civic literacy and artificial intelligence.

Civic Literacy, AI and the Evolving Information Landscape

The civic literacy and AI sessions explored how libraries are responding to changes in the information landscape. Discussions ranged from government information and civic engagement to AI literacy, institutional strategies, and legal research instruction.

During our visit to the University of Chicago Library, I had the opportunity to pose a question to the Director of the Law Library. I was curious about how the library was approaching AI in legal research instruction and preparing law students to use AI responsibly. She shared that students are required to complete an asynchronous AI course covering large language models, ethics, use cases, and foundational concepts. Rather than ignoring the technology, they are teaching students how to engage with it critically and ethically.

That approach felt practical and realistic given where the profession is heading. As a law librarian myself, it is one idea that I can take back to my colleagues as we continue to think about AI and its place in legal education and legal research. I was also grateful for the opportunity to engage with a fellow law librarian and learn how another institution is navigating similar challenges.

Beyond the visible services and instruction that users experience, libraries also undertake a significant amount of behind-the-scenes work to ensure information remains discoverable, accessible, and usable.

Technical Services, Cataloguing and Research Data Management

Although cataloguing is not my area of expertise, the Technical Services panel discussion provided useful insight into how metadata, discovery, and usage data support access to information. It was a reminder that much of the work users never see has a direct impact on their experience.

The Research Data Management session highlighted the importance of organizing and managing information effectively so that it can be understood, used, and preserved. Both sessions reinforced that data becomes most valuable when it helps inform decisions and improve services.

Although the topics varied, what connected both sessions for me was the realization that many of the systems, standards, and processes that shape the user experience operate behind the scenes. Users may never think about metadata, cataloguing standards, or research data management, but these functions play an important role in ensuring information can be discovered, accessed, and used effectively.

As valuable as the frameworks and ideas discussed during our sessions were, the field visits offered an opportunity to see many of these concepts in practice, and I will admit that they were my favourite part of the week.

Field Visits and Professional Networking

At the University of Chicago, I was particularly interested in the Law Library’s approach to AI instruction and the student spaces within the library. I was especially drawn to the informal student space. It was simple, welcoming, and intentionally designed for students, and it immediately made me think about the possibilities for creating something similar at my own institution. The Mansueto Library storage facility was another highlight of the University of Chicago visit. It was fascinating to see the level of organization involved, the technology and the systems used to manage large collections. It also made me think about a challenge many libraries face: how do we manage growing collections, limited space, and user expectations at the same time? As libraries continue to expand electronic collections while maintaining print resources, finding that balance remains an important consideration.

The visit to the American Library Association (ALA) headquarters gave us the opportunity to meet ALA’s new Executive Director and hear firsthand about his vision for the association. What stood out to me was his focus on building on ALA’s existing strengths rather than reinventing the wheel. He spoke about the importance of fostering partnerships, strengthening the association’s work, and continuing to serve as a voice on issues affecting libraries and the profession. It was interesting to hear how leadership at the national level is thinking about advocacy, collaboration, and the future of libraries.

The formal site visits were not the only source of learning. Dinner with my library buddy was a reminder that some of the best professional conversations happen outside the classroom. Coming from similar Caribbean backgrounds but working in different environments gave us plenty to discuss, compare, and learn from. It was an opportunity to reflect on how context shapes our experiences while also recognizing many of the challenges and opportunities we share as information professionals.

While each visit and interaction highlighted something different, they all reinforced a common idea: there is no single way to create impact. Every institution must respond to its own users, context, and constraints while remaining open to new ideas and opportunities.

Final Thoughts

One idea kept resurfacing for me: libraries operate in environments that are constantly changing. Technology evolves, user expectations shift, and the communities we serve continue to develop new needs and priorities. While some institutions have access to more resources than others, every library must find ways to respond to these changes while continuing to fulfill its mission.

What I appreciated most was seeing different approaches to the same challenge. Some institutions leveraged technology, some relied on partnerships, some focused on assessment, and others invested heavily in understanding their users. The common thread was intentionality. Each organization was making deliberate decisions based on its context, users, and goals.

As library leaders, we may not always have every resource we want, but we can be thoughtful in how we use the resources we do have. We can listen to our users, make informed decisions, build meaningful partnerships, and remain open to new approaches.

Perhaps what struck me most is that adaptation is not new to libraries. Libraries have endured because they have continually evolved alongside the communities they serve. Each generation has faced its own technological, social, and informational changes, yet libraries have found ways to remain relevant while staying true to their core purpose. We do not simply react to change; at times, we help shape it. Whether through innovation, advocacy, partnerships, or service design, libraries and librarians continue to demonstrate their ability to adapt, respond, and create value in an ever-changing world.