The Tech We Want Library, what’s that about?
The Tech We Want Library Installation (formerly The Library of the Future) is a collection of books, essays, and ideas that shape how we imagine a kinder tech future.
It’s a lo-fi moment in a hi-fi world.
A place to slow down. To read. To sit with ideas before you have to have an opinion.
Engage with the material at your own pace. Attend a workshop on community oriented tech, or black innovation.
Just you and a book that might change the way you see things.
What We Highlight:
Book shelves
Tech Critique, Futurism / Systems Design, Speculative Fiction, Economics / Finance, Business / Entrepreneurship, Community / Society, Self-Improvement / Psychology, Philosophy / History, Movement Building / Civil Rights / Activism
Highilights from the library @ SXSW 2026
We live in a world of disappearing archives and rented data.
Algorithms decide what you see. Platforms decide how long you see it. And when the terms and conditions change, your library can vanish overnight.
Books are different. You can own them. Dog-ear the pages. Scribble in the margins. Pass them to a friend.
Collective Sensemaking Board in The Library. THE LIGHT HOUSE, Austin TX 2025
We also believe in creating different speeds of engagement.
Not everyone connects through conversation. Sometimes you need to be alone with an idea before you can talk about it. The Library is for those moments.
How we built the Library
The Library installation has a lot of moving parts! Here are some steps that guide our creation process
Context, finances
and budget
- Decide whether this a standalone pop-up or part of an existing event
- Secure budget for books, supplies, printing, furniture, venue, and programming
- Look for sponsors that align with the values and content
Crowd source recommendations
- Ask our colleagues, collaborators, and friends what they’re reading
- Cluster content by topics
- Partner with a local bookstore to source the books
Design and Production
- Bring in collaborators to design programming and workshops
- Design and print interactive boards
- Host the event, and give away the books!
The Tech We Want is a responsible innovation network for tech visionaries, operators, and champions building an alternative tech economy rooted in shared power and prosperity.
Our work centers on three things:
Trust
Technology can’t serve people it refuses to be accountable to. We build trust by showing up in community, not behind closed doors.
Agency
Everyone deserves the right to define their relationship to technology. To use it on their own terms, or to refuse it altogether.
Collective Intelligence
No single founder, funder, or algorithm will fix this. We need all of us. We need the wisdom of organizers, artists, builders, and believers.
The Library is one way we put these values into practice.
The Tech We Want Library was designed and realised by Julia Solano and Maxine Yeo for TTWW with support from Caspian Agency.
Bring The Library to your community!
Follow @thetechwewant on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Substack for updates.
The Library is presented by The Tech We Want, a project of Omidyar Network