On December 10th the Minnesota Library Futurists gathered at the St. Cloud Public Library to discuss the general outlook for Minnesota in 2025, with the goal of creating a common framework for the Futurist’s work in upcoming months. In preparation for the meeting, Futurists researched current trends and outlooks for demographics, economics, education, and technology. For each of these areas, mini-SWOT analyses were performed.
Additionally, Futurists analyzed and discussed the current political climate and how it could impact the library landscape in 2025. Ideas for how libraries will move forward into the future began to present themselves as the day came to a close. These ideas have been recorded for further examination.
The Futurists are also excited to announce that a website and blog are now available. The website is available at https://sites.google.com/site/mnlfi2025/home, and will be used to convey information about the MN Library Futures Initiative, the 23 Futurists, the key focus areas, future-forward bibliographies, archived recordings of guest speakers (when available), and plans for upcoming meetings. Feedback and ideas from the library community are welcome on the MNLFI blog at http://mnlfi2025.blogspot.com/?zx=4e5a215efb8b40d7. The blog will include updates from the Futurists, but the hope is that those with an interest in the future of libraries will also post to the blog. Questions, commentary, and ideas about the future are encouraged.
The group’s next meeting will take place at St. Paul Academy on Friday, January 21st. The focus for the day is technology.
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