Not the end of civilization

THERE’S a small choir of voices, like the chorus in a Greek tragedy, standing on the sidelines as commentators on the often to be regretted reductions in public library service hours and the closure (or transfer) of buildings. I have noted of late that the language of protest (rather than analysis) has become more extreme, with words such as ‘civilisation’ and ‘literacy’ and the end of both falling easily into the rhetoric of outrage. In editing the content of Designing Libraries, I see these reports and wonder why standing still and lamenting is thought to be more helpful than understanding the direction of change and working with it.

On the Designing Libraries website there are now more than 1,500 pages of content, not to mention hundreds of links to external resources, every one telling the story of how libraries are evolving, reinventing themselves, redesigning spaces and becoming more inclusive, achieving more social good, improving education and literacy across the world, becoming the centre of urban regeneration and the hallmark of civilised society from Finland to Canada, Brazil to Kenya, Qatar to Latvia – and from South Shields to Warrington!

When you mine into this rich resource, certain themes and trends start to unfold. Alan Clark, who first set up the Designing Libraries project at Aberystwyth University on behalf of DCMS, has been doing just that and has come up with a narrative that clearly shows there is a momentum to that direction of change. Below are the main trends collected from stories on the site over the past 18 months or so. The links are in Alan’s report.

Hubs and hubbub

It has been obvious for a long time that libraries, as politically neutral and trusted places, are an asset to local authorities who want to reconfigure customer-focused services cost-effectively and at the same time create footfall from diverse groups of users who will discover the value of their library service. For example, Chelmsford’s new Families Hub puts the library at the heart of a full range of family support services, and the Edmonton Centre in Enfield has been refurbished to provide library and customer access services across two floors.

But often “hub” serves to designate not only the convergence of council customer services and library services, but a range of other leisure and cultural offerings. “Crewe’s new Lifestyle Centre combines leisure facilities, modern family and social care provision, a library and community facilities all in one place. Wigan Life Centre is a multi-million pound leisure and public service complex bringing together council, health, leisure, housing, swimming pool and a new central library.”

Storyhouse, Chester and Hub Kerkrade in the Netherlands are two illustrations of integrated library and theatre spaces. That leads us on to the growing recognition of libraries as “third place” – the place where people want to be when not at home, at work or school. Thionville library and media centre in France, for example, the extraordinary Stovner library in Oslo, and The Word in South Shields are all redefining the library as a social space and a destination – even a tourist attraction – a hubbub of living, learning, meeting, talking, creating.

As one door closes…

The convergence of library, leisure, cultural, performance, learning, creative spaces – through effective partnerships with other agencies – is the leading trend. But there are other reasons to take heart that libraries are doing the right thing and going in the right direction. The library “space” is not just a library building. The modern library has to plan for a digital and virtual world of information and communication, inside and outside walls. What we might mean by this has ramifications for the future shape of all types of libraries, and I will be taking that up in a future column.

There is more evidence of library transformation that Alan’s article identifies: the sympathetic restoration and repurposing of heritage buildings; sustainability in new and refurbished buildings and the role libraries themselves play in advancing the green agenda; the inclusive design of spaces and services for everyone; the creation of exciting places for children and young people; and many examples of inspiring design thinking  – all opening doors to a wider world.