The collection has been core to the library identity and purpose, and has anchored its services. However, our view of collections has actually changed significantly in recent years and these changes have been accelerated by the pandemic.

This presentation will consider how the library collection now has no boundaries, how libraries support scholarly creation and sharing, and how collections are considered collectively. We are also considering how well collections recognize the experience and memories of all the communities the library serves. The presentation will discuss such recent concepts as the collective collection, the facilitated collection and the inside out collection.

About 

Lorcan Dempsey is a librarian who has worked for library, non-profit and educational organizations in Ireland, the UK and the US. His influence on library directions in the US, Europe and around the world is widely recognized. He currently works for OCLC and lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his family. Previously, he worked for Jisc in the UK and began his library career in public libraries in Dublin, Ireland, where he grew up. He has overseen national library and informational programs in the UK, two internationally recognised library R&D units (UKOLN and OCLC Research), as well as a variety of membership and governance activities, operational services and technical development.