When choosing the direction for the final project, I was particularly drawn to exploring strategic design and systems thinking.
I was, and still am, concerned about the challenges that lie ahead. Challenges like climate catastrophe, growing inequality, increasing regional disparities, or loneliness.
These are problems that the public sector alone cannot solve, and the private sector is not always motivated to do so. Therefore, I believe(d) we need to create opportunities for communities and individuals to improve their situation and address the challenges at hand.
I was intrigued by the infamous public libraries that are springing up in Scandinavia. I was interested in understanding the Scandinavian libraries' approach to promoting a just society and opening up the debate on local or national politics to all.
Project objective
With public libraries as the subject and Estonia as the context, I asked two main questions in my research:
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What are the expectations of a modern public library service?
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How can public libraries meet expectations now and adapt to future needs?
Ultimately, the main goal of the research was to find a design approach for public libraries to become inspiring service providers that "support lifelong learning and ensure access to information, knowledge and culture"
I spoke at Service Design conference (in Estonian) ↗
The concept for public libraries
After desktop research and expert interviews, I developed a model for thinking about the future of public libraries.
I wanted to foster discussion about the role of libraries, their goals, and how services are delivered among different stakeholders and decision makers who have different experiences with libraries.
Inspired by Ezio Manzini, Dan Hill and the Helsinki Design Lab's co-producing approach, I have defined "the future" in my work as the current needs of the community. This means that I accept that people know best what services they need and how.
By combining a variety of elements, I ended up with a model that clearly and succinctly focuses on the many aspects of the public library.
On one side, we have the outcomes that answer what we want to accomplish with new types of public libraries. On the other side of the equation, each public library can think about how to achieve those goals in their community by understanding the resources available, the current conditions, and the external stakeholders that influence services.
Putting the model into practice
Now that I had a model for public library services, I was eager to learn what people's expectations for outcomes.
I decided to hold workshops with different stakeholders. The main goal of my workshops was to understand the different perspectives about the possible outcomes of public libraries. If we agree on the outcomes or goals that public libraries should achieve, we can design library services accordingly.
The structure of the workshop
Aside from the warm-up exercise, my workshop consisted of three activities that served as input for different parts of my model concept.
The first activity was "Expected Outcomes" I formulated the question to the participants, "What outcomes would you like to see public libraries achieve in 2035?
I chose the year 2035 because it is far away, but not as abstract as when you think of a future library. I also used the year 2035 in the very last exercise.
The second activity in my workshop is the playground mapping exercise. It comes from Nordkapp's Actionable Futures toolkit. Public library redesign is a complex project. Therefore, it is important to understand the different aspects of the environment. This exercise helps to understand what ideas, initiatives, technologies and who dominates now and in the future.
The final exercise is to develop a vision statement. The goal was for each participant to think about an optimal future and what it might look like. Forcing them to fill in the blanks makes the description of the future tangible and concrete. And then collectively create a statement as a result of the workshop.
The goal of the future scenario workshops was to hear different perspectives on the current state of public libraries and expectations for the future of public libraries. I conducted three two-hour workshops with 5-7 participants each.
There was a lot of excitement among the participants about the future of public libraries. Even if they had not thought about libraries before, after a bit of a warm-up, we were able to discuss exciting concepts and visions for libraries.
I also learned a lot about facilitating online workshops. I also learned a lot about facilitating online workshops. Because my participants were unfamiliar with Miro, there was a slight hesitation and shyness to participate and use it. I responded by taking on the role of a secretary, making post-it notes for the participants, helping to move the post-its around, and trying to be helpful. The goal was to discuss, and I understood that Miro should not get in the way of that.
Future of public libraries
I do not believe in a one-size-fits-all solution for public libraries. There can not be one perfect library.
Instead, my vision for tomorrow's libraries is based on five guiding values. These values are the result of workshops and my desktop research on how to maximize the benefits of public libraries.
I have learned that the library of tomorrow will be
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accelerate positive change within the community,
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introduce the new possibilities of the world,
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help people become creators of culture and knowledge, and
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be a link between government and citizens.
The guiding values that must be reflected in the library are:
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community-led
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person-centred and aspirational
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creation-first
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conversational programming
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dialogue-based learning
Reflection
This project grew out of my belief that public libraries can be an essential factor in creating a more equitable society. Yet, they continue to be undervalued and therefore underfunded unless we are able to clarify the role and value of public libraries.
I am not claiming that public libraries hold all the solutions, but I argue that public libraries can help solve important problems, enable creativity, and transform the lives of community members when used properly.
I spoke about the journey at another conference ↗
At the very least, I was able to find a critical intervention point to begin the process toward a preferred future. Even if the path I suggested is not the right one.
The challenge for me was to move from the mindset of the researcher to the mindset of the implementer. The systemic nature of the topic at hand required a lot of research, so it was difficult for me to imagine new services or solutions for public libraries.
Therefore, there is much for other designers and researchers to explore regarding the same topic. A few interesting topics to continue the transformation process:
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How can the public library network be managed and funded, given that more services are not just about culture?
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How can the physical space of public libraries be transformed to be welcoming and flexible for different occasions?
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What kind of digital services do people expect from public libraries?
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How can the design capabilities of public libraries as organisations be developed and improved?
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Partner: National Library of Estonia ↗
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Mentor: Jana Kukk, PhD
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Supervisors: Tanel Kärp, MA and Nesli Hazal Akbulut, MA