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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 21st-century learning. Student feedback consistently points to space quality as our greatest weakness.

We face challenges in maximising breadth and depth of collections, managing on-site and off-site 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.

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.

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.

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.