Can Academic Libraries Lead the Quantum Revolution?

Decades ago, computing was a highly complex and expensive activity, primarily restricted to research universities, government labs, and the research and development labs of large corporations, where users were often charged by the task or by the minute. This, of course, changed with the information and computing revolution, and, later, the widespread adoption of the internet, which transformed not only libraries and academia but also the world economy.

For many, their first experience with access to high-performance computing and high-speed internet was at a local library—for me, it happened in first grade, at my school library, where I played Oregon Trail on a tan cube Mac that looked a lot like a toaster. For others, it was a public library or an academic library that provided the first contact, the first access point, the first training. Libraries were among the few places that could afford to provide access before the technology had scaled.

Just as libraries once opened the door to high-performance computing and the internet, they can help make quantum computing accessible as the technology matures.

Quantum computing—which uses the principles of quantum mechanics to process information in ways that allow certain problems to be solved exponentially faster than with classical computing—may still be years from scaled commercial use, but the pace of progress has pushed it to a clear inflection point of quantum advantage. Access remains expensive and confined mainly to elite research centers, university labs, and major corporations, leaving it almost invisible to the public. The difference from the early days of computing or the internet, however, is that cloud-based platforms make it possible for researchers to experiment with real quantum applications, now. The revolution is no longer theoretical. I believe libraries should be at its center.

So, What Is Quantum Computing?

Quantum computing is not just faster computing; it is a new way of structuring information. Instead of bits that are either “0” or “1,” quantum computers use “qubits” that can exist in multiple states at once, interacting through superposition and entanglement. The result is exponential. Problems that would take current classical supercomputers centuries can be solved in minutes on a quantum machine. Classical computing is like searching through library shelves one book at a time. Quantum computing is like opening every book on every shelf at once and seeing all the possible answers together concurrently.

Google’s Willow chip recently proved this by completing in five minutes a calculation that would take the world’s most powerful supercomputer longer than the age of the known universe. While the technology remains largely experimental, this exercise demonstrates how rapidly theory is being applied in practice. This shift is already reshaping cryptography, drug discovery, logistics, and artificial intelligence.

For libraries, the implications are wide-ranging. Quantum will forever impact and change access, data management, preservation, search, security, operations, and scholarship itself. Libraries that begin planning now can position themselves as central players in the quantum research ecosystem, even if it takes years to be implemented.

Quantum Computing-as-a-Library Service

When it comes to quantum, libraries should do what we always do: provide access. Currently, IBM, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Bracket all sell cloud access to quantum computing resources by the hour, by the task, or in credits. In the current environment, where quantum is limited to research computing, individual departments might strike separate deals with these platforms. But libraries, which have experience negotiating licensing, managing access, and ensuring equity for their community, could instead diffuse quantum across the university by buying a block of credits, or create a framework for allocation, setting a price point for each project and assigning funding accordingly, much like an internal grant application process or early approaches to APCs. I call this Quantum-Computing-as-a-Library-Service (QCAALS).

Many of the platforms selling cloud access to quantum resources already offer higher education researchers the opportunity to apply for free credits. Libraries could educate faculty on these opportunities and extend them through QCAALS, which would give physics faculty, computer scientists, doctoral students, social scientists, and even humanists the chance to experiment and activate their research. Centralizing quantum access through the library would also prevent duplication of effort, reduce costs, and ensure that access to the resource was fairly distributed. QCAALS would also provide libraries a chance to educate users and to introduce quantum computing to the academy at scale. At my library, we are in the process of implementing QCAALS, which we expect to have live within a month. As far as I know, we are the only academic library in the world providing this type of support.

Quantum Literacy

Access is not enough. Just as information literacy and data literacy are now standard offerings, and AI literacy is becoming one, libraries must also build quantum literacy. This does not mean training every undergraduate as a quantum physicist, but ensuring that students, faculty, and staff have a baseline understanding of what quantum is, how it works, and why it matters. A library could host Quantum 101 workshops, integrate quantum topics into information literacy sessions focused on privacy and data ethics, offer data and statistical support workshops/library guides, and partner with computer science or physics departments to create hands-on experiences for non-STEM learners.

Quantum Community

The physical and digital library can also provide space for interdisciplinary work. In makerspaces and digital labs, students from physics, engineering, computer science, and the humanities could collaborate on experiments. While actual quantum infrastructure is sensitive and highly expensive, a library providing access through QCAALS could host a hackathon that explores quantum approaches to real library challenges, such as metadata enrichment or interlibrary loan. Alternatively, a seminar could bring engineers and librarians together to think about quantum-ready metadata and data management frameworks.

Quantum also creates an opening for libraries to connect more deeply with disciplines—engineering, computer science, physics, and research computing—that have sometimes been at the edge of library services. By negotiating access to platforms, curating datasets, and hosting interdisciplinary programs and access points, libraries could become essential partners of these disciplines. Such collaborations would also ripple outward, supporting applied research, grant development, and the kind of cross-disciplinary projects that universities are eager to encourage but often struggle to coordinate. Libraries are uniquely situated to advance these efforts.

Quantum Data

Libraries also play a crucial role in data stewardship and management. Quantum will not only generate new data but also produce new types of data. Curating what I am calling “born quantum” datasets, preparing repositories, and experimenting with enriched metadata would be a natural extension of current library functions. Just as libraries embraced collections as data, they can now lead in building quantum collections that process and enrich cultural and research datasets at new scales. In quantum contexts, open science and findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable (FAIR) principles will be pushed to their limits. The expense and complexity of preserving these standards at scale will exceed the capacity of individual libraries, meaning libraries need to collaborate.

Quantum Partnerships

Another opportunity lies in grants and partnerships. Governments are investing billions in quantum research, and faculty who pursue these funds will need partners who can provide infrastructure, identify opportunities, and bridge interdisciplinary gaps. Libraries can serve as collaborators and co-authors of proposals. Being written into the grants ensures that libraries are part of the quantum ecosystem. In addition, many of these partnerships are public-private, with private industry partnering with the federal government and local research institutions. Library staff need the expertise found in private industry, and libraries can help build an open system of quantum innovation.

Quantum Workforce

These changes raise the question: what will be required of the library workforce? We need to develop the concept of a quantum librarian, a professional who understands quantum fundamentals and can curate datasets, manage QCAALS credits, run literacy workshops, and support interdisciplinary research. By training existing staff through short courses, professional development, and experimentation models, we can create resilience and capacity ahead of demand. Currently, I have multiple librarians working with me on our quantum projects, including our innovation librarian, who has a history of working with quantum credits for digital projects.

Quantum Security

Libraries will also need to pay attention to cybersecurity. From financial systems to user data protection, current cryptography and security will not withstand quantum analysis and could be cracked in seconds. Libraries, which handle sensitive research and user data daily, need to prepare. Different companies are beginning to pilot post-quantum cryptography and quantum-safe protocols; libraries should be among the early adopters. Waiting until the disruption arrives risks compromising trust.

Quantum Scholarship

The merging of quantum computing with artificial intelligence (AI) makes the need to advance quantum-focused scholarship even more pressing. AI is already being built into search, metadata generation, and recommendation systems. Quantum can accelerate AI training, reduce resource demands, and allow algorithms to work with datasets that overwhelm classical systems. It’s going to be chaos, but this shift also offers real opportunities to profoundly transform search and discovery. Quantum-enhanced algorithms, combined with AI, will be able to scan and make sense of millions of records simultaneously, revealing connections across disciplines and making it possible to link datasets, policy reports, and archival collections through patterns that classical computing is not powerful enough to handle. The same techniques can enrich metadata, automate connections, and support new kinds of interdisciplinary research.

Quantum Operations and Risks

Outside of services, collections, and programs, quantum technology will also shape and impact operations and supply chains, potentially improving interlibrary loan and streamlining library systems through advanced algorithms.

But quantum comes with significant risks. Combining AI and quantum raises new questions around bias, transparency, workforce impacts, and privacy. The cost of large-scale implementation is currently prohibitive, including for QCAALS, which will need to be supported through a pilot or minimum viable product (MVP) approach until further validated. We need to proceed carefully, which is why we need to start now—so we are prepared for the cresting wave.

Next Steps for Libraries and Quantum Computing

Preparing for the shift to quantum requires not just new programs, access points, and collections, but also foresight and careful planning. Libraries should be using scenario planning to envision multiple futures, to test how quantum might unfold in their institutions, across the profession, and within their consortia, and to build resilience in the face of uncertainty.

While every institution’s path looks different, some clear action steps are already within reach:

Simple Actions

• Host introductory quantum literacy workshops for staff and users.
• Train staff in quantum fundamentals.
• Work closely with IT and research computing to better understand quantum’s potential impacts.

Intermediate Actions

• Pilot QCAALS credits for faculty and students.
• Partner on interdisciplinary grants and research projects with faculty, local government, and industry.
• Begin to create potential frameworks for quantum scholarship and the integration of AI.

Complex/Strategic Actions

• Explore the potential impacts of post-quantum cryptography to safeguard user and research data.
• Use scenario planning to build resilience and flexibility within the organization.
• Explore the potential of quantum search and data management.

Libraries gave communities early access to the internet. They supported the rise of digital humanities. They adapted to the demands of data science and are now confronting AI head-on. Each time, those who moved early became more central to their institutions and more trusted by their communities.

Quantum computing is the next chapter. Libraries can step forward now by providing access, building literacy, and supporting research, or they can wait and be left on the margins.

A classical computer is like flipping a coin and seeing heads or tails. A quantum computer is like holding both possibilities at once until the choice is revealed. Libraries can be the place where people learn to make sense of this shift, and where the future of computing becomes a reality. Let’s flip that coin.

References

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