MiALA 2026 Annual Conference

Building a Culture of Curiosity in Academic Libraries: Toward Resilience, Innovation, and Thriving

In an era of rapid institutional change, academic libraries face persistent pressure to defend their relevance and navigate competing demands (shifting student populations, resource constraints, and questions of institutional identity and sustainability). Yet amid these external pressures, a more fundamental challenge emerges: How do we stay true to our values (integrity, inquiry, and genuine connection) while adapting to an uncertain future? And when emerging technologies like AI arrive, how do we resist the temptation to default to either fear or uncritical enthusiasm?

This keynote argues that cultivating a culture of curiosity is not a luxury or a soft skill. Rather, it is foundational infrastructure for organizational resilience, innovation, and the kind of workplace thriving that sustains us through volatility and change. Drawing on insights from the multidisciplinary literature on curiosity, 26 years of design and experimentation in academic libraries, and new AI and service design projects, we will explore:

1) What a culture of curiosity looks like in practice and why it matters for librarians and the institutions we serve.
2) The conditions that enable curiosity to flourish: safety, freedom, equity, and renewal.
3) How deep inquiry into problems and possibilities becomes the foundation for wise action, especially when facing rapid technological change and institutional transformation.
4) Concrete practices for building curiosity into our services, collaborations, and everyday interactions.

This session is designed to spark reflection and conversation. You will leave with frameworks and tangible takeaways, but more importantly, you will leave reconnected to the deeper purpose of your work and your power to shape the culture where you lead.