Introducing Jisc’s library portfolio roadmap

Academic libraries sit at the heart of research, learning and knowledge creation. They manage increasing complexity, from unsustainable scholarly communication models to accelerating digital transformation, while continuing to deliver trusted, equitable access to information for their communities.

Over many years of close engagement with libraries across the UK, you have talked to us about the pressures you are facing: tightening budgets, fragile and fragmented infrastructure, increasing technological complexity, and evolving expectations of spaces and services for students and researchers. You’ve also been clear that sector‑wide collaboration, shared standards and stronger national infrastructure will be essential in meeting those challenges. You’ve also asked us to set out a clearer view of how our services will evolve, to support shared planning across the sector.

Today, I’m pleased to share Jisc’s new library portfolio roadmap (pdf), a transparent view of how we intend to support the sector across discovery, access and digital capability across the research and learning life cycle.

This roadmap is a starting point for a sector‑wide conversation, based on our current services, your feedback to date and the emerging needs we see across higher education and research. Now we need your insight to help us refine it and ensure it genuinely aligns with your priorities for the years ahead.

Why a roadmap, and why now?

Over the years, Jisc’s library portfolio has grown organically in response to need but the pace of change now requires greater focus and prioritisation. As part of our broader approach to portfolio management, a transparent roadmap helps us identify the most significant shared digital and data challenges, prioritise co‑investment and coordinate solutions no single institution can deliver alone.

Libraries work in a complex ecosystem of shared national infrastructure, community‑owned standards, and collaborative licensing and procurement. That ecosystem is under sustained financial, technical and operational pressure. Like the rest of the sector, we are feeling those pressures too, and this has meant making some difficult decisions as a result. This roadmap helps us take a more strategic, portfolio-wide view so we can focus our collective effort where it will make the greatest difference.

What the roadmap covers

The roadmap sets out our early thinking across five areas where Jisc already has a long‑standing role supporting libraries:

1. Sustainable acquisition of content and systems: supporting affordable, reliable provision of the digital content and systems libraries depend on, reducing cost and complexity through collective negotiation and clear procurement routes.
2. National discovery infrastructure: stewarding trusted, national-scale data and discovery services that strengthen collection management, improve visibility of knowledge and support evidence-informed decisions.
3. Identity and access management: ensuring secure, dependable and straightforward access to digital resources, enabling a smooth experience for users wherever they study or research.
4. Community and standards: coordinating the communities and shared standards that help libraries strengthen practice, improve metadata quality and stay connected to national and European developments in open scholarship.
5. Digital transformation and capability: providing the resources, insight and expert support libraries need to modernise systems, build digital maturity and influence institution-wide transformation with confidence.

Across each area, the roadmap outlines activity planned for now, next and later but we know these priorities must evolve in step with yours.

We need your guidance to shape the next iteration

For the roadmap to be meaningful, it must reflect the realities libraries face across the sector: where you want to invest, where gaps are emerging, and which national‑level interventions will have the greatest impact.

That’s why we are inviting library directors and senior leaders to join us for a dedicated webinar, on 6 May, 10:00 – 11:00, where we will:

• Walk through the roadmap in detail
• Discuss emerging needs and pressure points
• Invite your feedback on where our collective effort should focus
• Explore how we can strengthen governance, transparency and sector alignment

Your insight will directly shape the next iteration of the roadmap and the future direction of Jisc’s library portfolio.

Join the conversation

If you lead the library strategy at your institution, I strongly encourage you to take part. The more perspectives we hear, the better we can ensure that our services deliver long‑term value and meet the evolving needs of the sector.

Register for the webinar.

Our commitment

Jisc remains committed to:

• Listening to members and responding to the priorities you identify across the sector.
• Stewarding the national-scale infrastructure that protects the visibility, discovery and preservation of knowledge.
• Working collaboratively with SCONUL, RLUK, UKRI and the wider community to ensure strategic alignment with shared national priorities for research, learning and open scholarship.
• Supporting financial, operational and digital resilience through collective negotiation, trusted data services and practical transformation support.
• Strengthening shared standards, metadata quality and international engagement.
• Evolving services openly and transparently, with governance shaped by the sector

The roadmap is one step towards deepening this partnership.

If you would like to discuss the roadmap ahead of the webinar or share initial thoughts, please do get in touch. I look forward to the conversation and to shaping the future of our shared library infrastructure together.