Pulse of the Library 2026: Global library trends report
Global survey of academic, national and public libraries on AI adoption, open science and the challenges shaping the future of libraries
Assessing global library trends
Clarivate’s Pulse of the Library survey 2026 shows libraries continuing their cautious AI adoption, but with no improvement in confidence over 2025 and few gains in implementation.
At the same time, students and researchers are increasingly turning to AI-powered tools as part of their everyday information-seeking behavior. The gap between how quickly users have moved and how carefully libraries are implementing AI is the central tension of this year’s research.
When investigating the tactics that work, libraries reporting the greatest progress in AI adoption are more likely to have organizational foundations that support its use, including clear governance, defined strategy and investment in staff development.
AI takes center stage, but the 2026 report also explores the wider landscape of open science, evolving library missions and the impact of geopolitical and economic pressures.
Executive summary
Clarivate’s Pulse of the Library 2026 report draws on insights from more than 1,800 librarians globally, representing academic, public and national libraries.
The picture has shifted since 2025, when the data showed a sector at the start of its AI journey. This year’s findings reveal a growing divergence: some libraries are deepening their engagement with AI, while others still remain cautious and at the earlier stages of implementation.
The 2026 data provide deeper insight into what separates the two.
What’s changed since 2025?
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AI adoption is deepening, but progress remains cautious, with 33% of libraries still in the exploration and evaluation stage.
The “no plans” or “not actively pursuing” segment has fallen from 37% in 2024 to 30% in 2026. Active implementation has changed little at 3%, only a marginal increase from 2% in 2024. -
Joint library and IT governance shows a correlation with active implementation of AI, with active implementation more likely to operate under joint library and institutional IT governance.
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Strategy, governance and AI literacy are associated with AI progress, but most libraries lack all three when it comes to AI. For some libraries, an undefined position is a deliberate stance.
Qualitative responses highlight a concern about the ethics of AI and the need to see AI tools mature before making a commitment. -
Improving staff productivity is the leading objective for AI, followed by streamlining administrative processes and improving content discovery.
Academic libraries are broadening their objectives, with staff productivity gaining importance alongside their continued focus on student learning. -
Concerns are shifting from budgets toward trust and reputational risk and are greatest in libraries at the initial implementation phase.
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Budget and geopolitical pressures are easing in the United States and United Kingdom, but intensifying in Asia and elsewhere, a flip from previous years’ surveys.
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Student engagement and retention are the missions decisively overtaking research support in academic libraries.
For public libraries, community engagement and social services remain the leading priority. -
Commitment to open educational resources is rising, especially among libraries facing financial pressure. Meanwhile only 11% of libraries have a defined open metadata policy in place.
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Frontline strain continues, with librarians reporting being stretched thin on capacity, absorbing responsibilities beyond their traditional remit and being asked to do more with less.
Advocacy and communicating the value of the library is now one of the single largest areas of expected role growth.
Survey findings
While confidence in AI stalls, adoption is deepening cautiously
“I would like to maintain trust by showing the library’s position as one that continues its traditional direction: taking responsibility for collection development, carefully creating metadata that enables users to discover the information resources provided, and having staff respond to users sincerely. At the same time, the library should not distance itself from the trend of users increasingly turning to online information sources and AI, and should continue to explore the necessary responses.”
Minoru Yamada, Senior Library Administrator, Aichi Shukutoku University Library, Japan
46% of academic libraries report initial, moderate or active implementation, a gradual increase from 37% in 2024.
More public libraries are evaluating AI, but with very little movement in the later stages of implementation since 2024.
Matching the pace of change on the user side
While library confidence and implementation are moving slowly, user behavior has accelerated. Clarivate’s user experience research shows that among students surveyed globally year-on-year, AI use for school assignments has increased from 45% in 2024 to 95% in 2026.
“Students are going to use tools like ChatGPT and Claude anyway, so I’d like to see a way for those tools to route them back to ProQuest databases and the library’s resources, the way Google Scholar lets us connect users to our holdings. I’d like to be able to tell students, ‘Yes, you can use Claude, and it will still get you back to the library.’ That keeps library databases valuable instead of making them obsolete.”
Scott Cohen, Library Director, Jackson State Community College, U.S.
Our research shows that students critically evaluate AI-generated content: they report fact-checking their work and, most often, say they want a trusted source of information. Libraries are well placed to provide that support if they can match the pace of their users.
Libraries are focusing on improving productivity with AI
Artificial intelligence is becoming part of library operations worldwide, but adoption remains uneven. According to Clarivate’s Pulse of the Library 2026 survey, libraries are taking a cautious approach, with many still evaluating technologies, developing governance frameworks and building staff skills before broader implementation.
For the first time, staff productivity is the single most-cited objective for AI. Alongside it, streamlining administrative processes and improving content discovery are the only three objectives to show sustained growth since 2024. Together these findings indicate a growing focus on efficiency.
“AI is creating value across the library’s overall administrative operations. Looking ahead, although this will depend on the university’s overall policy, I am paying attention to the direction of generating rich metadata for the discovery of information resources.”
Minoru Yamada, Senior Library Administrator, Aichi Shukutoku University Library, Japan
“In the future, I would like to see AI move beyond simply generating answers and play a greater role in detecting system anomalies, securely managing user data and usage records, and diagnosing access issues related to electronic resources. Greater transparency is also essential, enabling users to verify the sources and evidence behind AI-generated information.”
Jaewan Jo, Libraian (Acquisitions/IT Service), Honglik University Library, South Korea
Libraries prioritizing staff productivity are more likely to report staff time saved as an impact of AI initiatives.
What predicts progress in AI adoption in libraries?
Libraries with both a defined AI strategy and a structured decision-making process report significantly stronger impact and more advanced implementation than those without. There is a clear correlation between structured governance and depth of AI implementation.
“What we’ve got to do is keep learning and be able to use that in a very, very smart way… whether it’s linked data, whether it’s AI. Every second year there should be something that is challenging us.”
Roxanne Missingham, Director, Collections and Chief Librarian, State Library Victoria, Australia
Libraries in the United States are less likely to adopt AI
Respondents from the United States report lower concern about budgets and funding pressure, alongside greater concern regarding policy, bias, and misinformation – a significantly different concern profile than other regions.
Asia and Mainland China have pulled ahead of other regions
Both Asia and Mainland China report the greatest strategic clarity of any region, with 30% and 41% respectively focusing on a balanced approach of actively maintaining their own AI environment, as well as making library content and services available directly in external services such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude (against 19% overall). Both regions also report a lower likelihood of having no structured decision-making process in place (Mainland China: 13% and Asia: 13% against 28% overall).
“There is also the potential to integrate AI tools into specific subject services, enabling subject librarians and users to access relevant information with greater precision and personalization.”
Liu Liu, Head of the Information and Consulting Department, Wannan Medical University Library, Mainland China
Concerns around AI grow alongside engagement
As libraries engage more deeply with AI, their concerns have shifted from resource constraints toward ethics and trust.
“Users expect us to provide authoritative, credible sources, and faculty are already dealing with students turning in material that has been written by AI. Their concern is the lack of critical thinking and how to determine whether students are doing their own work. What would help is technology that can connect students back to trusted, verified data, but we’re also going to have to work with faculty on this.”
Scott Cohen, Library Director, Jackson State Community College, U.S.
Role shapes both confidence in AI and how librarians see their jobs changing
“There has not been increased importance of my role just increased workload.”
– Academic library, Singapore
Across the entire sample, librarians are mostly confident about their understanding of AI, with systems librarians leading the way. More than a third of librarians report that the greatest evolution in their role has to include advocacy and communication of the value of the library.
“I love working with students and I love their questions. I try to make myself as approachable as possible because I never, ever don’t want a question. Librarians love this work. If you have a really good question, you might get swarmed. I always tell my students, ‘I’m going to find your information by any means necessary, as long as it’s legal.’”
Celina McDonald, Government Information & Criminology Librarian, University of Maryland, U.S.
Budget and geopolitical challenges
Budget concerns remain a top challenge among librarians, with the exception of Mainland China, where respondents reported greater-than-average concern with the technological impact on library services.
Geopolitical climate: Fewer libraries report that the geopolitical situation is shaping how they prioritize collections, including the United States (29%, down from 50% in 2025). However, libraries in Asia are significantly more likely than average to report the most severe budget cuts.
Public library trends: a snapshot
Public library responses are heavily concentrated in the United States, which accounts for 89% of this group, yet the United States represents only around 4% of the world’s public libraries . It is important to note that the public library findings here are not globally representative.
Confidence in AI concepts and terminology continues to build slowly, showing gradual improvement from 2024.
67% of public libraries have no defined strategic position on AI and 37% have no structured decision-making process at all. However, public libraries recognize how AI can support staff efficiency: 60% said that enhancing staff productivity is their top primary objective in implementing AI tools.
Methodology and demographics
The survey was hosted online from April 22 to May 18, 2026. In partnership with Library Journal, Clarivate promoted the survey to academic, national and public libraries through email, listservs, website pop-ups and social media. It was also shared directly by key stakeholders. To ensure accessibility, the survey was available to complete in English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Korean and Japanese languages.
- In total, 1,876 responses were analyzed after data cleaning, supported by 20 qualitative interviews. The demographic profile of respondents differed when compared to 2025:
- 65% represented academic libraries, a decrease from 77% in 2025;
- 57% of respondents were located in the United States, an increase from 46% in 2025.
- As observed in 2025, while we refer to library types where there is notable variation, responses from public libraries are heavily influenced by respondents from the United States (representing 89% of this demographic).
The full demographics of the 2026 survey can be found here.
FAQs
Our Pulse of the Library program explores how academic, national and public libraries worldwide view and use artificial intelligence, their attitudes towards open science, and how these forces and external pressures are reshaping their work, missions and priorities.
According to Clarivate’s Pulse of the Library 2026 survey, academic libraries are primarily using artificial intelligence to improve staff productivity, streamline administrative processes and enhance content discovery. Many institutions remain in the early stages of adoption, focusing on governance, strategy development and staff AI literacy before wider implementation.
Public libraries represented an important part of Clarivate’s Pulse of the Library 2026 survey. The findings suggest that confidence in AI concepts and terminology continues to build gradually, while many public libraries remain in the early stages of establishing AI strategies and governance frameworks. As with previous years, public library responses were heavily concentrated in the United States, so findings should be interpreted as a snapshot of participating libraries rather than a globally representative view of the public library sector.
Libraries continue to face a range of challenges, including budget pressures, staffing constraints and rapidly changing user expectations. The Pulse of the Library 2026 survey also found growing concerns about trust, misinformation, ethics and reputational risk associated with AI adoption.
Libraries play a central role in advancing open science by supporting open access publishing, open educational resources, research data management and metadata initiatives. The Pulse of the Library 2026 findings show growing attention to open science activities, particularly among libraries navigating financial and operational pressures.
Clarivate’s Pulse of the Library 2026 survey analyzed 1,876 responses from academic, public and national libraries worldwide, supported by 20 qualitative interviews. The survey was conducted between April and May 2026 and was available in multiple languages.
Our global library trends report, first launched in 2024, is an annual report based on a global survey of academic, national and public librarians. 2026 will mark the third edition of the Pulse of the Library.
You can access the 2024 report and 2025 report here.
The Pulse of the Library 2026, now in its third year, explores this question through insights from more than 1,800 academic, public and national librarians around the world. The report reveals how the sector is balancing innovation, resource pressures and changing user expectations. It also shows how library trends have evolved since 2024 and 2025’s surveys.
Yes. Similar to the 2024 and 2025 reports, the 2026 report’s data will be freely available from launch day via a Creative Commons license on our interactive microsite.
The Geography related data show data split based on these countries/regions: Asia (excl. Mainland China), Europe (excl. U.K.), North America (excl. U.S.), Rest of the World, Mainland China, United Kingdom, United States.
| Region | |
|---|---|
| Asia (excl. Mainland China) | Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Cyprus, East Timor (Timor-Leste), Georgia, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea (North), Korea (South), Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Macao SAR, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen. |
| Europe (excl. U.K.) | Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Vatican City. |
| North America (excl. U.S.) | Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago. |
| Rest of the World | Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic of the), Congo (Republic of the), Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe. |
| United Kingdom | United Kingdom |
| United States | United States |
| Mainland China | Mainland China |
Past Pulse of the Library reports
Track how library priorities, emerging technologies and evolving user expectations have shaped the library sector over time.
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