NEXT LIBRARY is an international gathering of forward-thinking library professionals, innovators and decision-makers who are pushing boundaries and making changes that support learning in the 21st century. Created by Aarhus Public Libraries in Denmark, a Next Library event looks ahead to explore the ever-evolving nature of the public library. A core aim of Next Library events is to involve attendees as much as possible in creating ideas, topics, and formats, ensuring relevance and meaningful opportunities for networking and learning among participants from libraries all over the world.
Next Library Satellite events are Next Library events held outside of Aarhus, Denmark, and are organized by local partner institutions in collaboration with Aarhus Public Libraries. Previous Satellite events have been hosted in Chicago and Berlin, each reflecting regional perspectives, challenges, and possibilities for public libraries today.
In May 2026, Next Library Satellite Seoul will take place in Asia for the first time. This edition will bring together libraries from around the world alongside libraries from Korea and Asia, bridging the Next Library approach into a new local context. Together, participants will connect global and local perspectives, exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, and exploring new ways libraries can serve their communities in the 21st century.
Through experiences of mutual learning and knowledge exchange among library professionals and institutions, and between the local and the global, Next Library Satellite Seoul invites participants to imagine the future of libraries – focusing on inclusive libraries, libraries as platforms for content, experience, and exploration, and libraries as meaningful physical places in an increasingly digital world.
Themes:
Reimagine the Library
Next Library Satellite Seoul will feature conversations reimagining the future of libraries. The event will be filled with experiences and ideas from everyone who works within and beyond the library world.
We invite librarians, planners, designers, architects, researchers, activists, innovators, and professionals from any field who are interested in libraries to join the conversation. Whether you work inside libraries or in entirely different sectors, if you have an interest in libraries and believe in their potential, you’re welcome to join this dialogue.
Inclusive Libraries: Beyond Open Doors
Libraries are often seen as “public spaces open to everyone.” This perception of libraries as accessible places that anyone can visit and use represents one of their most important values. But can all people truly feel free and comfortable there? Might there be invisible forms of exclusion that we’re overlooking?
Inclusion doesn’t end with slogans or declarations. It requires concrete practices: carefully observing people’s experiences, welcoming their stories with hospitality, and reflecting these insights in our spaces and collections. By paying attention to details—from pathways and spatial structures to language and signage, from programs to collections—we can create opportunities for more people to participate together.
What might libraries that embrace diverse bodies, languages, and cultures look like? Who else could libraries welcome? These questions might serve as a starting point for reimagining tomorrow’s libraries.
Content, Experience, Exploration
The experiences and content that broaden our perspectives are becoming increasingly diverse. We now encounter new worlds not only through books but also through video and audio, games, and digital tools. Sometimes we continue our exploration through writing, conversations, and hands-on creation. Libraries are evolving into places and platforms that embrace these changes.
What new forms of content and experiences might future libraries hold? Can they encompass the processes of people seeing, hearing, touching, and creating together? Content that communities create collectively might transform libraries into entirely new spaces for learning and growth.
Ultimately, this leads us to consider: what kind of growth is possible within libraries? What content do people need to expand their own worlds and build their narratives? Have you experimented with or imagined new types of content and experiences for libraries? We’re curious about your experiences and visions.
Why Place Still Matters: Libraries as Places
We live in an era where knowledge and content are accessible at our fingertips, anytime and anywhere. So why should libraries continue to exist as physical places?
Libraries are spaces we can stumble upon and step into by chance. They’re places where unexpected encounters and discoveries happen, where people connect with people and ideas connect with ideas. As human beings, we learn through our senses—we need to touch, see, hear, and experience together. We naturally gather where others gather, seeking connection and shared understanding.
In an age of AI and misinformation, libraries serve as a democratic infrastructure where face-to-face conversations and genuine dialogue can still flourish. They are neutral, safe spaces where people can exercise curiosity, challenge perspectives, and engage in the kind of empathetic exchanges that build community. Here, casual conversations about everyday life can occur naturally alongside more in-depth discussions about democracy and society.
What creates a library’s sense of place? What kinds of spaces and experiences are needed to make libraries meaningful in our society? How can libraries become shared living rooms, laboratories, or urban sanctuaries where offline connections matter more than ever? We’d love to have conversations with those who are imagining, creating, and operating libraries as places with these questions in mind.
Core Values:
NETWORKING AND INVOLVEMENT
The aim of Next Library events is to involve attendees as much as possible in creating the ideas, topics and format in order to ensure the relevance and opportunities for networking and learning for the attendees from libraries all over the world.
WE CELEBRATE MISTAKES
We take risks when we organize new events and explore new ways of learning. And we learn from experiences.
NEW FORMATS
The format of Next Library is a “patchwork” of co-learning, co-creative, participatory, engaging, and interactive meetings, and lots of parallel sessions, great keynote speakers, wildcard sessions, demos/exhibitions, gaming, Get2Gether, Social un-conferences, Labs and surprises.
DIVERSITY
Diversity, recognition, engagement and network are key factors for the success of Next Library learning environments and communication.
Speakers:
Host & Partner
SeeArt Foundation is a nonprofit foundation based in South Korea. SeeArt operates experimental libraries, collaborates with public libraries, partners with diverse professionals, and supports library innovators. Our goal is to establish libraries as public infrastructure that provides opportunities and environments for everyone to discover new possibilities, expand their horizons, and build their own narratives.
Cdot is a working community striving for a systemic transition toward a society for all. Founded in 2014 to promote social innovation and social economy across Asia, Cdot has created spaces for learning, exchange, and collaboration beyond borders. Today, it continues to expand the skills and practices of connection and cooperation, experimenting with new ways to catalyze inclusive and regenerative transitions. Through community building, research, forums, conferences, education, and workshops, Cdot explores how collective change can take root and grow.