Imagine2035
Vision 2026-2035:
Delivering Manchester 2035
The University of Manchester Library
Why This Matters
The University of Manchester stands at a moment of profound possibility.
We are Britain's third-largest academic library system and one of the acknowledged great libraries of the world. We support almost 50,000 students and thousands of researchers in the UK's largest single-site university.
During this strategy, our University will reach 100,000 students on campus and online. Our civic reach extends across Greater Manchester and beyond. Our national influence shapes how research libraries think about the student experience, research environments, special collections, open access, digital transformation, public discourse, scientific discovery and cultural inheritance.
But scale and reputation are not strategy. They are the foundation we build from, not the future we build toward. The world has changed more in the past five years than in the previous twenty. The digital transformation we thought we had mastered revealed itself to be merely the beginning. Artificial Intelligence has moved from experimental tool to essential infrastructure.
Geopolitical uncertainty shapes everything from our collecting practices to our data sovereignty. The relationship between universities and their cities, between research and impact, between knowledge and social mobility, all of this is being fundamentally renegotiated.
And into this transformed landscape comes Manchester 2035, the University's new strategic framework. It doesn't ask the Library to support the University's ambitions. It demands that we collaborate, then create and deliver them.
Professor Christopher Pressler
Professor Christopher Pressler
In 2020 we published Imagine2030. We took a step aside to reflect; to think about the future and decided we needed its next iteration.
This is why Imagine2035 matters. This document answers the question: how does Britain's third largest academic library system, and one of its most innovative, become the engine of transformation that Manchester 2035 requires? This is why, by engaging with hundreds of our University Library staff and by listening to colleagues across the University and beyond, we have written Imagine2035.
Professor Christopher Pressler
University Librarian and Director of The John Rylands Library
The Six Transformations
By 2035, The University of Manchester Library will have achieved six fundamental transformations that redefine what a 21st century research library can be:
1. From Service to Engine of Student Success
2. From Collection to World-Class Knowledge Infrastructure
3. From Neutral Platform to Truth-Teller
4. From Local Service to Global Cultural Force
5. From Reactive to Architect of Our Future
6. From Workplace to Community Where People Thrive
These six transformations are integrated and mutually reinforcing. They represent our answer to Manchester 2035's challenge: can we think bigger and work differently? As has always been the case at the University Library our response is an unequivocal yes.
1. From Service to Engine of Student Success
Students will experience the University Library as essential
infrastructure for their success, not optional support but core to their learning. Students will help shape decisions on space design, service hours and collection development. Whether they engage with us at midnight from a workplace setting or spend hours in our reimagined physical spaces, the experience will be seamless, personalised, and transformative. Our National Student Survey (NSS) scores will rank in the top quartile of the Russell Group because we have eliminated every barrier we unconsciously built.
2. From Collection to World-Class Knowledge Infrastructure
Our collections, both modern and special, will be recognised globally as essential research infrastructure. The University Library's special collections will function as active research and teaching datasets. Our modern collections will provide scholars with exactly what they need, when they need it, in the format in which they need it. The British Pop Archive will project Manchester's cultural confidence internationally. The Humanitarian Archive will redefine the concept of applied archives. The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre will be the national reference point for anti-racist scholarship and education. Strategic storage solutions will ensure optimal access while managing our physical and environmental
footprint intelligently.
3. From Neutral Platform to Truth-Teller
In an age of misinformation, the University Library will be
celebrated and sought out as a defender of truth, critical
thinking, and information integrity. We will explore with
students and researchers how to evaluate sources, detect
manipulation, and navigate complex information landscapes. Through our journalism collections, our open education initiatives and our public programming, we will model what it means to seek truth rather than confirm bias. Our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, particularly our anti-racism work through the RACE Centre, will be understood as inseparable from our commitment to fact.
4. From Local Service to Global Cultural Force
We will project the University internationally through
exhibitions, digital programming, and cultural partnerships that transcend geography. Our travelling exhibitions and partnerships will bring Manchester collections to North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Our digital initiatives will make our special collections accessible globally. International scholars will choose Manchester because of our collections and expertise. We will demonstrate that deep civic engagement and global reach are not contradictory but mutually reinforcing. Our international work will be based on the foundation of being the only UK National Research Library in the North of England.
5. From Reactive to Architect of Our Future
We will operate as both traditional academic library and
technology multiplier, embracing AI as infrastructure rather than threat, pioneering new service models rather than protecting old ones, making strategic choices about what we stop doing to create capacity for transformation. We will lead sector conversations rather than waiting for consensus. Our One Library platform will eliminate friction points and demonstrate how genuine integration creates value. Using our own MA Library & Archive Studies we will become an influential founder for the future of our wider professions.
6. From Workplace to Community Where People Thrive
Our inclusive culture will be a defining reason why people
choose to join and thrive here. We will be fully carbon
literate. Our staff demographics will reflect Manchester's
diversity. Progression will be equitable regardless of background. Our commitment to staff wellbeing, professional development, and distributed leadership will be recognised as enabling strengths by our colleagues.
Who We Are Now
Our foundations are strong.
As we can define where we're going, we must also be clear-eyed about where we are.
This requires both recognition of genuine strengths and acknowledgment of critical
gaps.
World-class special collections
The University Library with its remarkable constituent part, The John Rylands Library on Deansgate
in central Manchester, houses special collections measurably ranked in the global top five of
academic libraries. The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre provides unparalleled resources for anti-racist scholarship and education. The British Pop Archive is launching internationally with its New
York and London debuts in 2026 and in 2027 in Berlin. We will profile our outstanding manuscripts
with two North American exhibitions, in Texas on papyri in 2026 and in New York through our Latin
manuscripts in 2029. In 2026 we will also forge a unique partnership with Universal Pictures with a
joint initiative celebrating the global release of Sir Christopher Nolan's film 'The Odyssey' with a
linked public experience of our astonishing Rylands Odyssey Vellum Codex, Greek Manuscript P53,
the oldest known copy of The Odyssey in book form in the world. We will reimagine our approach to
collection development across special collections by identifying thematic frameworks that connect
curatorial areas, enabling innovative growth and clearer priorities for engagement. Our approach
will centre historically marginalised voices, challenge traditional hierarchies and build collaborative
stewardship models with the communities whose histories we document. Our collections are not
just holdings, they are rare, unique research entities, teaching resources, civic, national and
international assets.
Scale and physical infrastructure
We operate the largest UK academic library system by capacity and the UK's largest academic library
building in the Main Library. The John Rylands Library is itself a globally recognised cultural icon. The
Rylands Next Chapter refurbishment, through which we celebrated its 125th anniversary, won the
FX Award for Museum or Exhibition Space 2025. We have award-winning spaces and advanced
digital infrastructure that makes us a sector leader.
Research excellence
We hold National Research Library status and our modern collections span all formats and grow
through strategic investment agility and one of the largest Patron Driven Acquisition programmes in
the world. We are embedded throughout the University's research lifecycle and provide essential
infrastructure for Open Access through the Manchester Open Research Environment (MORE). We
have demonstrated strategic agility in collection development and strong support for
interdisciplinarity.
Student-facing strength
We are deeply embedded in the University's teaching and learning community. Our NSS scores are among
the highest internally, reflecting strong relationships with students. Students participate actively in service
design through consultation groups and feedback mechanisms. Our award-winning Student Team is itself a highly-valued and rich engagement between our students and their Library. We actively seek to promote and develop the Library as one of the best resourced libraries for students in the world. Additionally, our dedicated MA Library & Archive Studies programme demonstrates commitment to developing future professionals and is ranked 20th in the world after only three years of operating.
Civic and cultural leadership
We maintain a high-profile and highly valued role in Greater Manchester. The John Rylands Library serves
multiple functions as research library, cultural institution, and civic amplifier. We have launched major international initiatives and maintain deep partnerships across the city and region, for example, in our extensive Community Membership Scheme which allows access to our collections and services beyond The John Rylands Library.
Organisational culture
We have very high levels of staff engagement. Our Distributed Leadership Model means at least 51% of our staff are directly involved in work which influences policy. We have a demonstrated ability to innovate, to
engender an appetite for change, and a critical matrix working capability.
But we face critical challenges.
Student experience gaps
While our internal NSS scores are strong, we must improve on the quality of study space. Our Main Library estate requires significant ongoing investment to deliver the experience aimed for in Manchester 2035. This isn't
about cosmetics; it's about infrastructure that fundamentally limits how we can support 21stcentury learning. Student feedback consistently points to space quality as our
greatest weakness.
Collections strategy and storage
We face challenges in maximising breadth and depth of collections, managing on-site and offsite storage effectively, and developing integrated storage solutions across the
University's cultural institutions. We will deliver a comprehensive Strategic Storage Review that addresses ambitious growth, access and environmental sustainability for the next 50 years of collecting.
Capacity constraints
We cannot staff for peak demand everywhere simultaneously. Manchester 2035 means the University will reach 100,000 students and asks us to serve 50% of students online or through workplace routes, but our current service model doesn't scale to this without
fundamental redesign.
Strategic capabilities
Analysis points to critical further investment needed in areas essential to our future: collection development across modern and special collections; AI strategy and
implementation, impact measurement frameworks, internationalisation infrastructure, philanthropy and fundraising capacity, and dedicated external and
advancement relations capability beyond traditional communications and marketing.
Integration challenges
Despite our One Library commitment, we still struggle with shared understanding of resource sharing
and acting as one integrated community. Greater agility is needed across all teams to align with
Manchester 2035 ambitions.
These are not problems to be solved through incremental improvement. They are structural challenges that demand structural responses through our anchors and strategic commitments.
Our Strategic Framework: Themes and Anchors
Imagine2035 is organised around five interconnected themes. Within these themes, our anchors provide the concrete delivery mechanisms for transformation. These anchors are strategic not operational, cross-boundary not
siloed, focused on the future not the past
The Five Themes
Our 25 Anchors
Imagine2035 is delivered through 25 anchors distributed across our five strategic themes. These anchors and ambitions are strategic not operational, cross-boundary not siloed, focused on the future not the past. Each anchor is mapped to one of the five Manchester 2035 Leaps, signalling how the work of the Library directly delivers the University's strategic ambitions.
Theme 1: Looking Outwards in All We Do
1. Global Cultural Partnerships Initiative
Manchester 2035 Leap: Partner of Choice
Projecting Manchester's intellectual and cultural leadership internationally through travelling exhibitions, joint digitisation, and scholar exchanges.
2. Humanitarian Archive: Redefining Applied Archives
Manchester 2035 Leap: Research Impact
3. Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre: National Leadership in Anti-Racist Scholarship
Manchester 2035 Leap: Partner of Choice
4. British Pop Archive
Manchester 2035 Leap: Partner of Choice
Transforming what Special Collections can become through dedicated exhibition space, commercial partnerships, and
international touring.
5. Building Advancement and Philanthropy Capacity
Manchester 2035 Leap: Partner of Choice
Creating the strategic infrastructure to realise our philanthropic potential through dedicated advancement capacity and systematic donor cultivation.
Theme 2: Shaping Services Through Listening
6. Main Library Transformation Project
Manchester 2035 Leap: Flexible Learning
Complete reimagining of the Main Library as a world-class flexible learning ecosystem for hybrid education.
7. Students as Learners: Skills, Collections and Peer-Led Learning
Manchester 2035 Leap: Flexible Learning
Dedicated infrastructure for asynchronous support, digital and information literacy, peer-led learning, and proactive outreach to drive social mobility.
8. Research Data Infrastructure 2.0
Manchester 2035 Leap: Research Impact
Becoming essential infrastructure for Manchester's four strategic research platforms through specialised data services.
9.Manchester Open Research Environment: Sector Leadership
Manchester 2035 Leap: Research Impact
Establishing MORE as an
internationally recognised model for Open Access, Flip to Open, and institutional
repository infrastructure.
10. Flip to Open
Manchester 2035 Leap: Flexible Learning
Leading the move to open teaching and learning materials through Flip To Open initiatives that transition closed content to open access at scale.
11. Strategic Storage Review and Next Generation Access
Manchester 2035 Leap: Innovation Powerhouse
Reimagining our entire collections footprint for 2035 with innovative retrieval systems and integrated storage solutions.
12. Knowing Our Users: The Library's Digital Estate
Manchester 2035 Leap: Digital University
Developing sector-leading intelligence on evolving user behaviours in an AI-enabled environment to
anticipate changes in discovery and engagement.
Theme 3: Our People Are the Library
13. Staff Development, AI and Digital Capabilities Programme
Manchester 2035 Leap: Digital University
Ensuring every staff member has the skills, confidence,
and protected time to thrive in a transformed
professional environment.
14. Structural inclusion: From Intention to Infrastructure
Manchester 2035 Leap: Research Impact
Moving beyond diversity statements to structural
change that reshapes how the Library operates.
15. One Library Working
Manchester 2035 Leap: Innovation Powerhouse
Fundamentally redesigning our structures, ways of
working, and size and shape for the 21st century.
16. Metadata: From Description to Curation
Manchester 2035 Leap: Digital University
Strategic shift of metadata capacity from AI-enabled
modern collections to the retrospective backlog in
special collections.
Theme 4: Being Core is Being Central
17. Carbon Literacy and Sustainable Library Practice
Manchester 2035 Leap: Innovation Powerhouse
Achieving full carbon literacy by 2035 and becoming a
sector leader in environmental sustainability.
18. Truth and Information Integrity
Initiative
Manchester 2035 Leap: Research Impact
Establishing the Library as a recognised leader in
information integrity education and practice.
19. The Manchester Impact Framework
Manchester 2035 Leap: Research Impact
Building measurement infrastructure that demonstrates
our centrality to University core business with evidence.
20. The University Library as Cultural Institution
Manchester 2035 Leap: Partner of Choice
Securing recognition of the Library as one of the
University's Cultural Institutions with appropriate
governance and investment.
Theme 5: AI Isn't Coming, It's Here
21. AI Accelerator Programme
Manchester 2035 Leap: Innovation Powerhouse
Ensuring every staff member has the Creative adoption and innovation in AI across discovery, reference, metadata, and personalised learning pathways.
22. One Library Programme
Manchester 2035 Leap: Digital University
In partnership with IT Services, technical infrastructure delivering single sign-on, unified discovery, and seamless integration across all services.
23. Transparency Dashboard and Strategic Portfolio Management
Manchester 2035 Leap: Innovation Powerhouse
Public-facing dashboard and rigorous portfolio management showing goals, progress, and decision rationale.
24. The Agile Library: Innovation, Service Excellence and Student Success
Manchester 2035 Leap: Flexible Learning
Embedding agility and service excellence into Library culture through rapid prototyping, innovation time, and rewarded risk-taking, in service of student success.
25. Metadata: From Description to Curation
Manchester 2035 Leap: Digital University
Leveraging our professional programme to become an influential force in shaping the future of library and archive professions.
How We'll Measure Success
Success requires metrics that go far beyond traditional library measures. We will track outcomes, not just outputs. Our measurement framework aligns with the five themes and demonstrates progress toward the six transformations.
These metrics will be published annually through our Transparency Dashboard in reports that show progress, acknowledge setbacks, and explain course corrections.
Student Success Metrics
- NSS scores: top quartile of Russell Group by 2030
- NSS scores for library services overall: 90 to 95% satisfaction by 2032
- Digital service accessibility: 100% mobile-optimised by 2028
- Student diversity metrics: Library usage matching institutional demographics
- Student voice integration: consultation mechanisms in every major project
- Barriers eliminated: annual audit with action plans and measurable reduction
- Library teaching: number of credit-bearing taught hours, information and digital literacy reach, and Special Collections teaching engagement tracked and growing year-on-year toward a target of every undergraduate programme having embedded Library-led teaching by 2030.
Research Impact Metrics
- Open Access compliance: 100% for eligible publications by 2029
- Research data publishing: 50% increase year-on-year through 2030
- Special Collections research use: tracked through citations, exhibitions, collaborations
- Platform integration: embedded in all four research platforms by 2028
- Research grant income: Library-led or Library-partnered grants tracked and growing
- Impact case study contributions: documented Library role in REF submissions
Civic and Social Impact Metrics
- Open Access compliance: 100% for eligible publications by 2029
- Research data publishing: 50% increase year-on-year through 2030
- Special collections research use: tracked through citations, exhibitions, collaborations
- Platform integration: embedded in all four research platforms by 2028
- Research grant income: Library-led or Library-partnered grants tracked and growing
- Impact case study contributions: documented Library role in REF submissions
Organisational Health Metrics
- Staff engagement: maintained above 50% for policy influence through Distributed Leadership Model
- Diversity and inclusion: staff demographics towards matching Manchester demographics
- Progression equity: no differential progression rates by protected characteristics
- Professional development: 100% of staff with protected CPD time and annual plans
- Carbon literacy: 100% of staff carbon literate by 2035 AI and digital capabilities: 100% of staff with foundational AI and digital capabilities training by 2027
- Wellbeing: tracked through staff surveys and absence data with year-on-year improvement
Infrastructure and Sustainability Metrics
Carbon footprint: year-on-year reduction in digital and physical emissions
Sustainable procurement: 100% of major contracts assessed for environmental impact
Strategic storage: integrated University cultural institutions storage solution delivered
Digital infrastructure resilience: uptime, recovery time, geographic distribution
Main Library Project: space satisfaction moving from bottom to top quartile Russell Group
Partnership and Influence Metrics
International reach: documented engagement in priority regions with concrete outcomes
British Pop Archive: New York launch success, touring exhibition reach, donor cultivation
Philanthropic income: tracked year-on-year with unrestricted giving prioritised
Sector leadership: speaking invitations, sector citations, peer adoption of innovations
University partnership satisfaction: regular surveys of internal stakeholders
One Library integration: reduction in friction points, increase in cross-team collaboration
Open Educational Resources and Flip to Open: number of courses transitioned, reach measured against the 100,000 student total
The University Library Manchester 2035 Needs
Every strategic plan is a bet on the future. Imagine2035 is our bet that the University Library can be more than excellent infrastructure. It can be a transformative force.
This transformation requires us to work differently. We must operate as both traditional academic library and technology amplifier, balance three equally important roles of teaching support, research excellence, and civic impact, lead through courage not consensus, measure impact not activity, build culture that costs us something, and create conditions for others to succeed. The University of Manchester has declared its ambition for 2035. It asks: What knowledge does our age demand? How do we think bigger and work differently? How do we become the university others want to partner with? These questions are now ours to answer. Not through incremental improvement of existing services, but through fundamental reimagining of what a research library can be and do.
Imagine2035 commits us to achieving six transformations by 2035:
From collection to world-class knowledge infrastructure
Our modern and special collections are recognised globally. The British Pop Archive projects our cultural leadership. The RACE Centre is the national anti-racism reference point. Our rare book and manuscripts collections are finally known and celebrated internationally. Our Modern Collections are central to both the Humanities and Science learning and research communities. Strategic storage ensures sustainable access and is planned for a 50-year period.
From neutral platform to truth-teller
We defend truth, critical thinking, and information integrity. We explore and navigate complex information landscapes. Our commitment to EDI and anti-racism through the RACE Centre demonstrates that truth-seeking and social justice are inseparable.
From service to engine of student success
Students help shape our decisions. We eliminate barriers and rank top quartile Russell Group for study spaces. Library teaching is visible, valued and growing. Students experience the Library as essential to their success.
From local service to global cultural force
We project Manchester internationally through exhibitions and partnerships. Our collections, exhibitions and civic engagement produce globally significant outcomes.
From reactive to architect of our future
We embrace AI, pioneer new models, make strategic choices, lead sector conversations. Our One Library way of working eliminates friction. We operate as technology amplifier and multiplier as well as a traditional library.
From workplace to community where people thrive
Our inclusive culture becomes our competitive advantage. We achieve full carbon literacy. Staff demographics reflect Manchester's diversity. We create conditions for success rather than managing performance.
These six transformations delivered through our strategic themes and our anchors, represent our answer to Manchester 2035.
The Library We're Becoming
This is the Library The University of Manchester needs.
The Library we've always been.
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