This message is posted on behalf of Fei WANG, Associate Research Librarian at Peking University Library
The Compass of Academic Library Modernization (CALM) Report (2026) was released on 18 September 2026 at the Academic Library Section session of the Annual Conference of the Library Society of China. Published every five years—following the inaugural 2021 edition—the report serves as a trend report for Chinese academic libraries, jointly developed by Peking University Library, the Society for Academic Library of the Library Society of China, and the Institute of Informatization and Human Information Behavior at Peking University.
The 2026 edition comes at the outset of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) and at a pivotal moment for advancing toward the 2035 education modernization goal. It aims to help academic libraries grasp the direction of change, clarify their positioning and mission, and optimize development models in the new stage.
Developed over four months, the report primarily employed the Delphi method through four rounds of anonymous consultation with 56 senior experts from university libraries and the information resource management discipline across China. Expert opinions focused on major issues and countermeasures in academic library modernization over the next five years, covering nine key areas: librarian workforce development, user relationship management, resource development, service delivery, cultural development, AI application, core institutional functions, social relations, and internationalization.
Based on expert consensus, the report identifies six major strategic issues and proposes six corresponding development modes—high-quality development, connotative development, integrated development, isomorphic development, complementary development, and leading-edge development—and distills six overall trends for the next five years. The report offers Chinese insights and perspectives that could resonate with the global library community, and it seeks to contribute to broader discussions on the modernization of academic libraries.
The full report is available at:
https://www.lib.pku.edu.cn/5jlhd/56cgfb/znzbg/znzbgywb/7a2892791ef64ff7b9d8a9de62745382.htm