12. Communities Craft Future Library Stories
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Jeffrey M. Hoover
Abstract
Librarians and library planners can work directly with communities to craft narratives that will describe their future libraries. The outcomes of this collaborative process become the criteria by which library building design options are evaluated. The process of developing the criteria and deriving designs builds community cohesion and community consensus behind library projects and ultimately creates better libraries. Outlined in this paper are basic organisational structures for interacting with communities via activities and tools that are digital and tangible, as well as graphical and narrative. The approach is illustrated with case studies describing the process and the completed buildings, or building designs for unbuilt projects, that have employed a range of community engagement techniques. Case studies include the 43,000 square foot (3995 square metres) newly constructed 2017 AIA/ALA award winning Varina Area Library in Henrico County, Virginia, as well as in-progress library projects: Seekonk Library, Seekonk Massachusetts; Forrer Learning Commons, Bridgewater College, Virginia; Wayland Free Public Library, Wayland, Massachusetts; and the Fairfield Area Library, Henrico County, Virginia. The following techniques were employed and evaluated: - Encouraging participation with online community surveys, employing preliminary feedback loops - Hosting hands‐on community drawing exercises illustrating “How I use the Library” as a basis for communicating and documenting the diversity of use patterns in current facilities - Telling “A Day in the Life” stories about future library activities and resources - Establishing future library facility goals on a space‐by‐space basis to supplement big picture aspirations, using community focus groups - Incorporating community evaluations of facility design solutions as they evolve - Graphically indicating how various elements of the community demographic will extract value from a future library based on use patterns anticipated and illustrated by individuals from the community Employing these processes, a community can write the story about its future library, assess the graphics to illustrate the story, and document understandings and anticipation of future use.
Abstract
Librarians and library planners can work directly with communities to craft narratives that will describe their future libraries. The outcomes of this collaborative process become the criteria by which library building design options are evaluated. The process of developing the criteria and deriving designs builds community cohesion and community consensus behind library projects and ultimately creates better libraries. Outlined in this paper are basic organisational structures for interacting with communities via activities and tools that are digital and tangible, as well as graphical and narrative. The approach is illustrated with case studies describing the process and the completed buildings, or building designs for unbuilt projects, that have employed a range of community engagement techniques. Case studies include the 43,000 square foot (3995 square metres) newly constructed 2017 AIA/ALA award winning Varina Area Library in Henrico County, Virginia, as well as in-progress library projects: Seekonk Library, Seekonk Massachusetts; Forrer Learning Commons, Bridgewater College, Virginia; Wayland Free Public Library, Wayland, Massachusetts; and the Fairfield Area Library, Henrico County, Virginia. The following techniques were employed and evaluated: - Encouraging participation with online community surveys, employing preliminary feedback loops - Hosting hands‐on community drawing exercises illustrating “How I use the Library” as a basis for communicating and documenting the diversity of use patterns in current facilities - Telling “A Day in the Life” stories about future library activities and resources - Establishing future library facility goals on a space‐by‐space basis to supplement big picture aspirations, using community focus groups - Incorporating community evaluations of facility design solutions as they evolve - Graphically indicating how various elements of the community demographic will extract value from a future library based on use patterns anticipated and illustrated by individuals from the community Employing these processes, a community can write the story about its future library, assess the graphics to illustrate the story, and document understandings and anticipation of future use.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- About IFLA IX
- Introduction 1
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Part 1: Collaborating with Stakeholders
- 1. Collaborating for a Successful Master Plan – Art or Science? 7
- 2. Collaborative Design: A Persona Exercise Approach 25
- 3. Student Engagement and Collaboration: Creative Evidence-Based Approaches 35
- 4. Collaborating for Success: People, Places, Form and Function 48
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Part 2: Collaborating for Cultural Change
- 5. Madison Central Library: The Art-Infused Library 79
- 6. Dokk1 – Re-inventing Space Praxis: a Mash-up Library, a Democratic Space, a City Lounge or a Space for Diversity? 91
- 7. Building Tomorrow’s Library Today: How the Six Spheres Vision Kept us on Track 104
- 8. Cooking and Multiculturalism, Living Lab and Fab Lab: Collaborative Strategies in the Province of Barcelona Municipal Library Network 117
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Part 3: Cooperative Collections
- 9. The Library Service Centre: A Collaborative Partnership for Legacy Collections and Programme Innovation 133
- 10. The Cooperative Storage Library Switzerland: A Successful Multi-Cantonal Cooperation 143
- 11. Garching – the Bavarian Storage Library: Past, Present and Future Developments 155
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Part 4: Crafting the Project Story
- 12. Communities Craft Future Library Stories 173
- 13. Stakeholder Engagement Processes and Strategies 187
- 14. A Dream Come True of Citizens – the New Helsinki Central Library 203
- 15. New Models for Library Advancement 214
- 16. Re-imagining the University Library – a Transformative Opportunity 221
- Contributors 231
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- About IFLA IX
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1: Collaborating with Stakeholders
- 1. Collaborating for a Successful Master Plan – Art or Science? 7
- 2. Collaborative Design: A Persona Exercise Approach 25
- 3. Student Engagement and Collaboration: Creative Evidence-Based Approaches 35
- 4. Collaborating for Success: People, Places, Form and Function 48
-
Part 2: Collaborating for Cultural Change
- 5. Madison Central Library: The Art-Infused Library 79
- 6. Dokk1 – Re-inventing Space Praxis: a Mash-up Library, a Democratic Space, a City Lounge or a Space for Diversity? 91
- 7. Building Tomorrow’s Library Today: How the Six Spheres Vision Kept us on Track 104
- 8. Cooking and Multiculturalism, Living Lab and Fab Lab: Collaborative Strategies in the Province of Barcelona Municipal Library Network 117
-
Part 3: Cooperative Collections
- 9. The Library Service Centre: A Collaborative Partnership for Legacy Collections and Programme Innovation 133
- 10. The Cooperative Storage Library Switzerland: A Successful Multi-Cantonal Cooperation 143
- 11. Garching – the Bavarian Storage Library: Past, Present and Future Developments 155
-
Part 4: Crafting the Project Story
- 12. Communities Craft Future Library Stories 173
- 13. Stakeholder Engagement Processes and Strategies 187
- 14. A Dream Come True of Citizens – the New Helsinki Central Library 203
- 15. New Models for Library Advancement 214
- 16. Re-imagining the University Library – a Transformative Opportunity 221
- Contributors 231
