I’ve been thinking a lot about the future recently and what it will be like. Perhaps it’s because for the last year with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lot of change and adaptation to new things and at the same time a lot of the days have had a certain sameness to them with lockdowns and stay-at-home orders meaning we can’t do a lot of the things we might like to (though here at VPL we do have lots of online programs to keep people entertained and informed!). And while some people’s lives are busier than ever, many of us have just had a lot more time than usual to think about what the future holds for ourselves and for all of humanity.

With the future on my mind, earlier this year I stumbled across a mention of World Futures Day — which futurists of the world can’t entirely seem to decide between calling World Futures Day and World Future Day — and it prompted me to read and think about our ever-changing world even more, as well as to make a list of suggested books to read for World Futures Day. (These futurists also haven’t entirely landed on a consistent day of the year for World Futures Day, but it’s always celebrated in early March and most people seemed to agree on March 1 for this year. Seriously though, futurists? Get your act together and pick a fixed day of the year!)

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