Digital transformation in higher education libraries isn’t just about buying new platforms or moving services online. It’s about reshaping how the library supports learning, teaching, research, and student success, whilst budgets tighten, expectations rise, and teams are stretched.
For library leaders in UK universities, this work can feel especially complex. Libraries sit at the crossroads of technology, pedagogy, information literacy, access and inclusion, and institutional strategy. Many of the challenges are “live” and messy: they involve people, culture, and competing priorities as much as they involve systems.
That’s why Action Learning Sets (ALS) can be such a strong approach.
What are Action Learning Sets?
An Action Learning Set (ALS) is a small peer group (often 5–8 people) that meets regularly to support one another in tackling real workplace challenges. Each session is structured so that one person brings a current problem. The group then helps them think it through by questioning techniques (clarifying and probing), reflection, and practical action planning.
Instead of being a space for “sharing best practice” in the abstract, ALS focuses on real issues, real constraints, and real action.
Why this matters in Higher Education Libraries
University libraries sit in a pivotal position when it comes to digital transformation.
They’re often expected to support digital learning environments through services such as reading lists, VLE integration and online induction, while also enabling digital scholarship and open research practices. At the same time, libraries are involved in modernising systems, improving access to digital content, and developing the digital and information literacy of both students and staff. This work increasingly informs wider institutional priorities, including the student experience, retention, and performance in frameworks such as TEF and REF.
All of this takes place alongside significant ongoing pressures. Libraries must navigate rising licensing costs and complex procurement processes, respond to hybrid learning expectations in the post-pandemic environment, and adapt to changing student behaviours and service expectations. Many teams are also dealing with skills gaps, workload pressures, and the need to meet accessibility and inclusive practice requirements.
These challenges rarely have straightforward solutions; instead, they require experimentation, influence across organisational boundaries, and steady leadership over time.
Three key challenges HE librarians face in digital transformation
1) Leading change through influence rather than authority
Libraries are heavily impacted by decisions about digital transformation and how it impacts the student experience, but librarians often don’t “own” these areas. That means they must lead transformation through relationship-building, persuasion, and alignment work rather than unilateral decision-making power. This can create barriers, especially where peer-level buy-in is missing even if senior leaders are supportive.
2) Staff fatigue, stretched capacity, and declining engagement
A major barrier is maintaining buy-in and motivation among library staff when the whole institution is tired. Project fatigue is common across HE, and library teams are often already stretched. Even worthwhile initiatives can feel like “just another project”, especially when teams are restructured, vacancies exist, or responsibilities expand.
3) Complexity across schools and inconsistent needs
HE libraries serve multiple schools with different teaching and learning strategies, priorities, and levels of digital maturity. This creates a practical challenge: how can librarians research and understand each school’s strategy and map digital frameworks to their objectives? This is achievable, but it takes time, coordination, and local relationships.
Practical ways ALS supports librarians
ALS is especially useful in HE digital transformation because it doesn’t assume perfect conditions, full authority, or unlimited time. Instead, it helps cut through the noise and focus on what can realistically move forward.
The ALS approach creates progress without requiring ideal circumstances.
Turning institutional uncertainty into manageable next steps
When priorities shift and projects stall, ALS helps librarians move from frustration to clarity. Rather than trying to solve the entire digital skills provision problem at once, ALS supports a smaller, more strategic focus.
For example:
- strengthening communication of project objectives so the “why” is clear
- refocusing on immediate support areas, such as AI guidance
- identifying what can be progressed even while the institution debates ownership.
Strengthening influence through better alignment and alliances
Librarians frequently collaborate with other departments and ALS can be a strong method for building influence. It supports actions like:
- researching each school’s teaching and learning strategy so the library’s digital framework aligns with real objectives
- identifying a “buddy” or ally in each school to help deliver the message locally
- building relationships with new roles (e.g., a new student experience lead) to influence institutional change across the university.
Rebuilding team energy and reducing project fatigue
ALS can directly address staff exhaustion by shifting the culture from “big change programmes” to achievable actions. It can also:
- create a sense of psychological safety for a team that is still forming
- provide space for reflection and shared problem-solving
- improve engagement by giving staff ownership of realistic actions rather than abstract strategy.
Reflections
HE librarians face digital transformation pressures that are constant, cross-institutional, and often outside their direct control. They are expected to lead change while managing fatigue, shifting priorities, and complex stakeholder landscapes.
Action Learning Sets offer a grounded way forward: they help librarians focus on what is real, what is influenceable, and what can be shifted through small, strategic actions, building momentum, confidence, and collective resilience even in imperfect conditions.
If you would like to find out more about digital transformation in libraries Jisc has produced the Digital Transformation Library Lens resource – a useful tool for libraries to amplify, enhance and evidence their role and impact in digital transformation.
