SCONUL's Spring Conference 2026, Openness Under Pressure: Strategic leadership for libraries in an era of disruption, will take place in London on Friday 1 May from 10am to 4pm (registration from 9.30am). We will explore how we sustain our mission in an environment of economic challenge, geopolitical fragmentation and cybersecurity risk. Across panel discussions, peer exchanges and lightening talks, we will consider how to move beyond reactive adaptation toward intentional leadership: shaping digital futures that are equitable, resilient and aligned with institutional priorities.

The conference will be held at Royal College of Physicians, 11 St Andrews Place, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4LE. Tickets are £175pp, please email sconul@sconul.ac.uk for registration details.

Keynote speech

Can we handle the truth?
Professor Karen Stanton, Vice-Chancellor, University of the Arts London

We’re delighted that Professor Karen Stanton will be sharing her reflections on the challenges and opportunities facing UK HE at the conference. Karen is both a hugely experienced HE leader and a qualified librarian and is uniquely placed to offer insights and advice to the sector on navigating through this period of intense change.

Panel discussions

Defending Openness in a Fragmenting World
The library community has a commitment to openness embedded in its DNA - fostering access to knowledge for all, formalised in our commitment to the open access in publishing and to open research. However, there are countervailing pressures within our society including growing economic and political nationalism; cybersecurity concerns around open systems; financial pressures on institutions to prioritise retaining IP over open sharing; on-going academic scepticism of OA publishing; and concerns over LLMs capturing and commercialising research which is openly shared.  How can the advocates of openness address these challenges and continue to move the open research agenda forward?

Speakers: Professor Theo Papaioannou, Professor of Politics, Innovation and Development, Open University; Vanessa Proudman, Director, SPARC Europe; Nick Hillman OBE, Director, HEPI; Andrew Barker, Director of Library Services & Learning Development, Lancaster University.

The next generation of students: a discussion on Gen Z and Alpha
The next generation of students (Gen Z, born 1995–2009, and Gen Alpha, 2010–2024) are commonly seen as digitally fluent, preferring interactive, personalised, and "bite-sized" learning, and as expecting on-demand, flexible education. How true a picture is this of these generations of students, and how will our institutions adapt their teaching and support systems to meet the needs of these cohorts. What will this mean for libraries?  How will we shape how we support our users and deploy our systems and resources?

Speakers: Jonathan Neves, Head of Business Intelligence & Surveys, Advance HE; Dr George Hulene, Deputy Dean of the College of Business and Law, Coventry University; Lesley Castens, Director of Education Services, University of Plymouth; Duncan Calvert, President, Glasgow University Students’ Representative Council.

Lightning talks

The Collaboration Zone: harnessing our collective power
We will have lightning talks highlighting new and exciting collaborations taking place across the library community. We will hear from:

• Dr Jessica Gardner, University Librarian and Director of Library Services, Cambridge University Library, will introduce the recently formed Libraries Alliance, a new partnership of library bodies from school libraries to academic, from public libraries to independent, from legal deposit libraries to nationals. The Libraries Alliance is working to strengthen and champion libraries of all kinds. Jessica will outline the group’s remit and goals round the theme of “libraries through life”.
  
  
• David Beales, University Librarian, Brunel University of London, who will give an update on the progress of the OER Community of Practice for UK & Ireland since its launch in 2025 including a first look at the new Open Textbook Library for UK & Ireland, and opportunities for colleagues to get involved in the work of the community.
  
  
• Jane Saunders, Associate Director: Content and Discovery, University of Leeds, and Amy Warner May, Associate Director, Scholarly Resources, The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, will introduce the newly created UK Open Bibliographic Metadata Task and Finish Group sponsored by SCONUL's Markets and Technologies Group. The group aims to identify and implement the steps needed to create a more open, dynamic and cost-effective metadata environment for the benefit of libraries and their users.  Amy and Jane will talk about the advantages of Open Metadata and outline the 3 key areas of work: open policies and licensing for metadata; BIBFRAME as a vehicle for delivering a linked open metadata environment; technical solutions and infrastructure required to sustain a UK open bibliographic metadata environment.

Library Exchange Labs

SCONUL is introducing a new initiative to allow members to come together, network and share challenges, opportunities and experiences or simply to connect with people with similar priorities via a set of three library surgeries.  Each session will have a facilitator.

We will be holding surgeries on:

• Digital transformation and managing legacy technology
  The kinds of questions members might want to explore include: given tight budgets, how can we utilise our existing technologies in new ways? Are there collaborative approaches to help us manage the transformation process? How can we get involved in priority projects for our institutions?  And are there technologies we may be able to dispense with as a result of technological shifts?

• Space planning
  In addition to the questions of renovation and redevelopment of libraries, the kinds of questions members might want to explore include navigating the shifting landscape as institutions consolidate buildings and estates; harnessing our students’ love for our spaces for library advocacy; meet the sustainability challenge and the opportunities and challenges of co-location and partnerships?
  
  
• Squaring the circle on meeting institutional priorities with a shrinking budget
  Members might want to consider exploring new approaches to team structures as well as what it means to lead with authenticity both with institutional leadership teams and library teams given the necessity of changing the nature of the service that we can offer, as well as how we can we support staff navigate the change process.

This event is supported by:

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