Presentation (with audio) to the Society of Chief Librarians on libraries of the future, June 2013
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•520 views
This document summarizes a presentation given by Ben Lee to the Society of Chief Librarians Annual Seminar about envisioning future libraries. It notes that the best libraries are already driving change by having a strong sense of social purpose and desire to adapt and innovate. However, the appetite to adapt and address declining usage does not extend far enough across the entire library sector. It questions what characteristics will define those libraries that succeed in the future, such as obsessively solving problems and proving their social impact. The presentation calls for more libraries to experiment and succeed in order to prove that escaping declining usage is possible.
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (7)
Similar to Presentation (with audio) to the Society of Chief Librarians on libraries of the future, June 2013
Similar to Presentation (with audio) to the Society of Chief Librarians on libraries of the future, June 2013 (20)
More from Ben Lee
More from Ben Lee (8)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Presentation (with audio) to the Society of Chief Librarians on libraries of the future, June 2013
- 1. Arts Council England’s “Envisioning libraries of the future” Ben Lee Presentation to the Society of Chief Librarians Annual seminar, University of Warwick 21 June 2013
- 2. Envisioning libraries of the future “Those library professionals with the clearest sense of what they and their library services are there to achieve, are the ones driving change now. Our best libraries and the individuals who run them, with their sense of social purpose and desire to adapt and innovate, provide a glimpse now of what libraries of the future could and should be.” Envisioning the libraries of the future, Shared Intelligence and Ipsos MORI, May 2013 http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/media/uploads/pdf/Envisioning_the_library_of_the_future_phases_1_and_2_full_report.pdf
- 3. “While there are individuals involved in running public libraries who are already creating libraries of the future now, the appetite to adapt, reverse falling use, and grasp opportunities, does not seem to extend far enough across the sector.” Envisioning libraries of the future
- 7. CIPFA annual data 2005-2012, all England (actuals)
- 8. CIPFA annual data 2005-2012, all England (actuals)
- 9. CIPFA annual data 2005-2012, all England (actuals) England-wide issues, visits and web
- 10. Annual visits CIPFA annual data 2005-2012, Visits for library purposes (actuals)
- 14. From “…every door in Warrington”
- 15. To …every door in White City
- 16. Supporting start-ups and adult learners (Image: Lynton Pepper at We Own Cameras)
- 17. Teaching teens real technology skills (Image: www.makerspace.org.uk)
- 21. Proving it
- 25. So.Much.Data.
- 26. The excitement of new ideas (Image: Channel 4)
- 27. When things go wrong, fix them (NASA JSC Images, Apollo13 Mission)
- 28. The big questions from Envisioning What will be in the DNA of those who make it? …Those who put everything into increasing social impact …Into obsessively finding problems to solve ..And into proving it It only takes a few libraries to succeed to prove its possible – only takes one person to escape, to show there’s an escape route So bigger task - enabling more than just those libraries succeeding now, to make it through
Editor's Notes
- My own personal reflections on Arts Council England’s envisioning libraries of the future project – which as you know, I was closely involved with during 2012.
- Start with what I see as the most important messages.Public Libraries have always and will always be evolving…So as with many things, the things we will see more clearly tomorrow, are already around us today. Which is why we say -
- But the general tide...
- A lot libraries are caught between knowing they need to adapt, but in the end failing to find a clear vision that would retain and bring back customersWoolworths – everything but nothing the public related to any longer
- The flip side is - ClasOhlson, PoundlandPlateaued or slow decline - Apple, Tate Modern, Manchester City Centre..other things which had been written-off as anachronistic – Skoda, allotmentsThe success of the best of our libraries proves, that the institution is valid and more relevant than ever, and can succeed.But right now, those brilliant efforts of a few are swamped by the general tide…And now this is exacerbated by cuts.
- What the cuts have done is almost to polarise these directions of travel. So in boroughs where libraries have built up their political support by demonstrating their relevance and impact, managers have been given permission to push the boundaries even further. And in boroughs where libraries were already on the back foot, the cuts have almost seemed a cue for sceptical politicians to move in for the kill.
- But this is not just about cuts.This pattern predates 2007, 14 September 2007 – the day people began queuing outside Northern Rock
- Although the fall in children’s book borrowing IS a post 2007 pattern.
- But the real problem is NOT book borrowing. Book issues are only part of the story - one slice of the offer.The underlying pattern is that nationally, physical and online visits overall have been falling for a decade.But some libraries are bucking this trend.
- There are some where visits are going up or holding steady…. Here’s a few examples, there are others.All finding ways to attract new members, and keep existing members coming back.But the problem is that there are not enough libraries like these to outweigh the overall trend, the underlying pattern.
- So we all have our own views of where this will lead in the coming decade.
- But come 2023, it’s hard to imagine the libraries thriving then, will be anything other than those who had a clear plan for survival..
- If when that time comes, if we look at what is in the DNA of those that survived – will there be a pattern? This reconstruction of the double helix model of DNA (deoxyribose nucleic acid) contains some of the original metal plates used by Francis Crick and James Watson in 1953 to determine the molecular structure of DNAat the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge.And for all that happened in the last tumultuous century - this for me, is one of the most powerful objects which can explains the impact of knowledge on society and humanity.So in the tear 2023 - if we look at the DNA of the libraries that exist then - I think it will be:An ability to learn how to show social impact..And had become fanatical about impact, and measuring it
- Very similar to the DNA of the UK’s first public libraries There were always radicals, fanatics, and mavericks pushing the boundariesWarringtonMechanics' Institute in Cheshire, England in 1858. Keen to increase borrowing from its library the institute determined in the summer of that year to raise money for the purchase of a one-horse van, theWarrington Perambulating Library,which it planned to fill with books and send each week "to every door in Warrington and the vicinity".Local residentsorganised a flower show and bazaar to raise funds. An October 1858 account in the Warrington Guardian reported that:Not only have many of our wealthy townsmen given their pounds, but women – some of them poor widows – have given their mites. Two hundred working men's wives and daughters, at their homes, have stitched, darned or knitted articles for the Bazaar.
- The Doorstep Library in Hammersmith and Fulham. With its mission to visit every child in the poorest streets of the borough.Each doorstep library consists of a team of six oreight Home-Reading Volunteers led by a Team-Leader. Theywork in pairs and visit the same 5 - 7 families every week during term-times. The visits take place on a set day after school hours, between 4.30pm and 6pm. The Home-Reading Volunteers bring two mini plastic stools for the children to sit on and a rucksack full of books to read and from which the children, parents, or volunteers can select the books to be borrowed for the coming week. In the presence of a parent, each visit consists of a reading session with each child and a chat with the parent(s). Visits usually last 15-30 minutes. The Doorstep Library in Hammersmith is currently recruiting – closing date is today.
- Library Lab was a meanwhile project in Willesden Green Library shortly before the library closed for a major refurb this year.It offered free workshops, lectures, and space for people to work, aimed at accelerating local entrepreneurship in the Brent community.The ideas was to make it completely free to work at the Library Lab - no charge for using the internet or renting space, and there was even a free creche, and free training events – all designed to give an extra helping hand to locals trying to get small businesses and solo enterprises up and running.Not in London’s East End, or Manchester’s Media City, not people with MBAs and the ability to raise lots of start-up funds. Was among the pound shops of Willesden… People trying to get a small business of the ground, instead of fruitless job-hunting. Photo: Lynton Pepper at We Own Cameras
- The library staff teamed up with Makerspace, a local club for people who want to make things with technology. The skills which club members get excited by create an alternative view of ‘using technology’ which is not about computer games or knowing how to use social media.It’s about bringing the cutting of digital science and engineering into the lives of ordinary adults and young people..Makerspace members brought along their own 3D printers and ‘RasberryPis’ for people to try out. They also brought along other Makerspace members to help library users learn about these new technologies through hands-on experience. Local technology firm vector 76 – who are a small but globally renowned 3D programming company – explain to young participants how getting into technology had lead them to exciting jet-set careers quite different from what many expect in Gateshead. Ordinary kids in Gateshead… new opportunities… raising aspirations…Image www.makerspace.org.uk
- All of these examples are about increasing social impact And increasing opportunities.They are all about outreach and imaginative, proactive services, which go out to attract new users not content to sit tight waiting to hear what people want.
- Often targeted at those who have most to gain, or have fallen farthest behind.And they recognise that among the social determinants which mean people in poor areas die ten years earlier than those in wealthy areas.. are knowledge, reading, and access to information.And every one of those ideas just mentioned, as well as most the ideas in the innovation review which was also part of “Envisioning” are aimed at reducing this gap.
- But going back to the libraries which are beating the odds today, and the DNA of the librarians whose libraries will survive the next decadeIt’s about a constant flow of new small ideas which solve big problems – not just laborious andsporadic giant new projects or months of lengthy reports up and down the chain of command – simply to get permission to make some minor tweak to rhyme time, or set up a social media account..About wanting to solve problems every day.And those ideas and solving those problems probably won’t just come from heads of library services. Because too much of their time is spent managing and fire-fighting.In libraries that survive senior people like yourselves will have explained to their staff they rely on them to be the ones who are constantly trying to solve problems
- And they will be the ones who proved it.Whether its data you create from your internal systems
- Or - Facebook Likes.
- And it will be information about issues politicians and funders care about. Bit of a diversion from libraries.. Take a look at what other not-for-profit and social-good organisations do.The Dogs Trust’s income depends on people who want to see more dogs being taken in, more being re-homed and as few as possible being put-down. Regardless of all the many other great things they do, those few things are what they depend on for their income and survival.So that’s the data the Dogs Trust tell people about.
- The BBC know the public expect more from the BBC News than they do from commercial broadcasters in terms of contributing to the public good, our national life and national culture.So they tell stories like this about how their School News Day project has grown ten-fold in the past 5 years.It’s only one part of their business, but messages like this reinforce (or maybe now – we should say it rebuild) their deal with the public who pay their licence fees.
- Libraries can do this. In fact they have such huge potential to demonstrate their impact with data.They have so much data. More than most. Few physical services have such comprehensive data on their users. Only supermarkets have more through rewards cards.What people borrow when. When you bleep a book or bleep people into rhymes times or internet sessions or homework clubs have all that data too.. And this data is in real-time – you can see it weekly or daily if you want. You can monitor weekly changes in the impact you are making. Others would give anything to have that degree of real-time information feedback.Some ppl I am working with ARE getting obsessed with checking the data weekly, to see whether actions are doing what they wanted… And it can be addictive.. But I believe libraries which survive will have this obsession.
- Trying new ideas can also become obsessive, in a good way..Thinking up new ideas is easy – like Heston’s ideas for sweeties that look like sand, or meat that tastes like fruit or whatever.But putting it into operation in ways which actually work - is the hard bit.
- And those that get good at this know that once they implement something new or untested, they have to monitor what’s going on.And when things aren’t going to plan, even if they are badly off plan, they put their brains together to fix it.
- So there you go. The lessons I take from the envisioning project are that the libraries which will be around in tens years from now…Will be those who put everything they have, into increasing social impact.Who obsessively find problems to solve.And measure it.Another lesson - it only takes a few libraries to succeed to prove its possible – it only takes one person to escape, to show there’s an escape route – but in fact dozens (out of hundreds) have bucked the trend so it IS possible.But, the bigger task is to enable more than just those libraries who are succeeding now, to make it through the next decade.It will be about problem-solving, having clear methods and hypothesis, and testing and measure everything you’re doing..Fixing what’s not having the impact you hoped for.And explaining the impact you have achieved in the terms funders care about
- .And it will be about being experimental, maverick and fanatical.Thank you.