The Content Library Hack Every Learning Leader Needs

Jennifer Edwards

Friday, August 15th, 2025

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What if you didn’t have to pay millions for a content library your people actually use? And, what if it was already included in your learning platform?

A few weeks after launching Degreed Open Library, one of our clients, a leading global tech company, told us exactly what happens:  

“Usage is already higher than LinkedIn Learning.”

They didn’t promote it heavily. They didn’t roll out flashy campaigns. Instead of offering employees a sea of content to wade through, they launched a set of targeted, AI-curated learning pathways tied directly to the skills their people needed to succeed.

What is Degreed Open Library?

Degreed Open Library is an AI-curated, ready-to-deploy content library of structured learning pathways designed to help people build in-demand skills faster, with less friction, less noise, and more relevance.

With skill-based learning pathways, Degreed Open Library gives you a smarter way to activate your content. And because each pathway is bite-sized and easy to launch, learners stay engaged, without needing a roadmap or a long list of prerequisites.

The problem: Traditional content libraries are expensive and high maintenance

Large content libraries promise more–more variety, more access, more engagement. But what learners often experience is the opposite: more friction, more confusion, and less actual learning.

As L&D and IT teams juggle growing responsibilities, they need a smarter solution, one that gets people learning faster, with content that’s relevant and purposeful.

The solution: AI-curated learning pathways 

Degreed launched Open Library in April 2025 with 100 curated learning pathways focused on the most in-demand skills. In July, we expanded that offering with 100 more “Language Bundles” in Portuguese, Spanish, French, and German, removing barriers for learners in global teams.

And we’re just getting started.

Coming this October, Degreed will release 150 new pathways aligned to high-growth industries, including:

• Consumer Retail
• Healthcare
• Manufacturing
• Customer Experience
• Finance
• Media & Telecom
• Professional Services

That’s 350+ AI-curated pathways, included with every Degreed Learning instance—no extra license required.

These ready-to-go pathways are designed to give employees a strong starting point, covering the foundational skills your workforce needs now. But every business is different. That’s why we also offer AI-curated pathway services as an add-on: to help you create highly targeted learning aligned to your unique goals, roles, and workflows.

Our AI-curated pathway services can help you create role-specific learning experiences aligned to your workflows and strategic goals. We’ll handle the heavy lifting. You get a smarter, faster way to deliver value.

From confusion to clarity: the power of curation in your content library

Degreed Open Library isn’t just another content library. It’s built to reduce friction and guide learners to exactly what they need, when they need it.

Instead of endless search results or generic playlists, AI curates the best content into structured pathways made up of articles, podcasts, videos, and courses. These pathways are always up-to-date, aligned to in-demand skills, and relevant to real roles and workflows.

Here’s what that unlocks:

1. Faster time to value

Instead of spending months designing programs, you can deploy ready-to-go pathways in minutes. Employees start learning immediately, without needing a map.

2. Less friction, less time, more focus

Employees don’t want to browse an endless catalog, they want to build skills. When learning is buried in lengthy search results or buried under generic playlists, they tune out.

AI-curated pathways remove that friction. Learners get clear, role-aligned recommendations that feel immediately relevant. They know exactly why it matters, how it connects to their job, and what comes next. That clarity leads to higher engagement, faster completion, and better on-the-job application. 

Degreed Open Library offers bite-sized learning within each pathway making learning more achievable during natural downtimes like lunch breaks or between meetings. This flexibility boosts engagement, accelerates completions, and enables quicker on-the-job application.

3. Smarter content spend

With targeted, curated content that people actually use, organizations can reduce their reliance on expensive library subscriptions and stretch their L&D budget further.

In fact, some of our customers are already exploring ways to eliminate or reduce their content subscriptions. The excitement is palpable as they explore how to redistribute their L&D budgets to higher value technologies or programs.

“My team will explore the library of resources to assess if we can match the learning content we get from [a leading content provider]. If Open Library is good enough for our learning needs, we might consider unplugging [a leading content provider] or at least reducing our number of licenses.” 

Takeaway: Stop paying for content people don’t use

L&D and IT leaders don’t need more content. They need more impact.

Degreed Open Library helps you deliver that with:

• High-quality, relevant content curated from trusted sources
• AI-powered pathways built for your business and your people
• Clearer learning journeys, higher engagement, and measurable results