User Engagement and Collaboration in the Next Generation Academic Libraries.

The dynamic progress in computing technology is driving the change towards a more centralised and connected society. The technology revolution has transformed cities into smart cities together with all the components. Various studies have shown an interdependence between the quality of life of citizens of smart cities and their level of education. It has been proved that Librarie's access can improve citizens' quality of life and has an essential part in people's education. Traditional libraries improve their services and adapt to the users' expectations using a push strategy, which focuses on predicting user expectations by improving library operations and information system functionality. However, the prediction is not always in line with reality when users are exposed to the most recent technology or forced to change by external forces such as COVID 19 outbreak. Intensive research on smart libraries and how automation can be implemented to support the activities of libraries is available from different backgrounds. The proposed research investigates how the next generation of academic libraries would improve user collaboration using a pull strategy method based on design thinking and a user-centered approach. The proposed research consists of field investigation on users' view in the University of West London library regarding user collaboration and using the survey findings to propose a solution. This paper includes a brief literature review on this topic with findings from previous studies and their limitations and proposed a methodology for collecting and analyzing the data. © Saadati et al. Published by BCS Learning and Development Ltd.