Why join SCONUL?

SCONUL advocates effectively for our diverse membership, speaking with a single voice on the strategic issues facing the sector and arguing for the value and needs of libraries with government, regulators, service providers and many others. 

We provide support and leadership for the sector, bringing members together with external and international thinkers to support active consideration of service and wider sector developments. We share intelligence through events, case studies and briefing papers driven by our Board and groups.

Our working groups and community of interest groups are available to staff at member institutions to join and are a great way of contributing to debate about the future of the sector and widening your networks.

We offer staff a range of services and resources to help you progress in your career, engage with the wider library community and understand the library landscape more fully. We help our members stay fully briefed on the latest developments, for example of AI and the development of shared services.

What's new for 2026?

• We will be launching our new Organisational Development Knowledge Base which will allow members to share and compare information about organisational structures and job descriptions. 

• Our programme of work sharing knowledge and skills on AI continues including our monthly AI coffee mornings.

• We will be publishing a set of case studies on advocacy and service development to help share effective practice in this space.

• We’re consulting on new approaches to sharing SCONUL’s benchmarking and other data. 
  
  

Representing the community and advocating for you

SCONUL works with other bodies to:

• Negotiate better deals on library resources and bring down the costs for all. 

• Highlight the importance of libraries in the national press and support our members to do likewise.

• Develop and showcase best practice in emerging areas and develop practical steps to encourage members to follow suit.

Supercharging your career

• Full programme of virtual events, free for members and access the library of recorded events.

• Sets of case studies on key issues for libraries to provide inspiration for new projects and approaches.

• Tailored groups available to support your transition into new roles, and to help on those managing significant institutional change.

• Mentoring scheme, available to a wider range of staff, benefit from the skills and knowledge of our skilled mentors.

• Community of Interest groups and working groups – bring the national into your institutional work and share your best practice.

Leading change with our EDI work 

• Quarterly EDI newsletter, with practical tips, produced in conjunction with national and regional partners.

• Positive action case studies, showcasing sector graduate traineeships and next steps for organisations.

• Leading the way with the publication of our EDI statistics report highlighting the ethnic make-up of the sector and our next steps for further diversity in the workforce.

Keep up to date with all the issues with our packed events programme

• Upcoming events in 2026 mor on AI, sustainability, and open educational resources. Could you be a speaker at our next event?

• A range of briefings on crucial and evolving topics in librarianship, including Controlled Digital Lending and AI.

And all the rest…

• We support all organisations, but our small and specialist forum takes extra care of our smaller members and brings them together regularly to discuss issues that can be unique to them. Everyone’s opinion matters.