Key Library Tech Takeaways from ACRL’s 2026 Top Trends Report

AI isn't the only trend, ACRL's new report shows (but it's a big one)

Posted on June 24, 2026 in Blog Posts

The ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee recently released its “2026 Top Trends in Academic Libraries” report, which surveys the academic library landscape to identify the most pressing issues and concerns. The full report covers the challenging political environment, tightening university finances, and the fraught fate of DEI programs, among other issues, but in this post, we wanted to highlight and discuss the technology-focused findings. The committee did an excellent job with this report, and readers should take some time to sift through the truly outstanding footnotes. 

📜 Read the full report 

⛓️‍💥 Technology doesn’t move in just one direction. 

Understandably, we give a lot of attention to emerging technology, with AI forcing our heads in that direction (and we’ll get to AI in just a second). But early in the report, the committee turns our heads in the opposite direction by pointing out the looming problem of technological obsolescence. Vendors may stop supporting older software; repositories may be unable to meet current data needs; and the hardware required to access certain artifacts may fail and be difficult to replace, among other issues.  

This isn’t a negligible problem. As the report notes, “The cost of constantly fixing aging or clunky software systems in the United States is more than $1.52 trillion.” For libraries with thin budgets, the cost of technological obsolescence can present acute strain. 

This problem will balloon over the next several years, creating financial and access issues, not to mention cybersecurity threats posed by advanced AI agents. This finding inserts a point of caution about new technology adoption: What will be the costs of its eventual obsolescence? 

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😕 The big trend in AI is ambivalence. 

The committee notes that AI literacy and integration into library services continue to advance, but adoption and opposition to AI within the profession are growing apace. As the report notes, many AI literacy frameworks assume that AI is “potentially necessary and desirable,” despite its ethical shortcomings. However, a countermovement is developing, which contends that the ethical problems with AI are insurmountable. We have tried to give voice to this debate on LibTech Insights, but it remains nowhere close to resolved. 

Indeed, to editorialize, my hunch is that AI opposition will take a firmer shape by the end of the year, with the US midterm elections in November. The Trump administration has largely shielded AI companies from politics, but current candidates for office on both sides of the aisle are eager to politicize opposition to AI, pitching constituents on uniting against its economic harms or the encroachment of data centers. Up to this point, opposition has mainly been an individual choice, but the politicization of AI is likely to offer opposition a collective voice. As anti-AI politics take shape, we’re likely to see this professional debate sharpen. 

🎊 Data librarians get a well-deserved shout-out. 

Though I’ve spared you the full report, the trends, in general, aren’t great: austerity budgets, revanchist politics, and AI anxiety are creating a lot of stress for academic librarians. The report highlights a few wins—such as the ADA’s expansion into accessible web content—but “2026 Top Trends in Academic Libraries” is certainly not a BuzzFeed, end-of-the-year, “This Is What We Loved in 2026” puff piece about the present moment. 

So, I appreciate the committee’s decision to praise a group of librarians and other volunteers and professionals who stepped up during a difficult moment and lent their skills to a greater purpose. Namely, the report shines a light on the work of the Data Rescue Project, a grassroots volunteer community that formed to preserve large tranches of data removed from government websites. The committee puts it beautifully: “As the public witnessed the vulnerability of digital information and real-world examples of critical data loss, the data librarian community demonstrated the immense value of the stewardship skills they have espoused for decades, resulting in real social impact during this historic moment.” 

An encouraging example for us all. 

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