This month I’ll finish my spring 2024 Michigan Library Association Think Space recap (continuing from part one in July), focusing on presentations on experimentation, future-proof space, and powerful partnerships. I thank Jennifer Dean (UM-Flint) and Lisa Waskin (Superior District Library) for major contributions to this month’s piece. 

1. Architecture librarian Cathryn Copper from the University of Toronto opened by noting the power of curiosity in startup culture and suggesting that libraries need curiosity to spark new ideas and off-center thinking. Libraries can benefit from paying attention to other spaces and sectors where new things are happening (including SXSW). Startups and libraries deal with common issues, though how they handle each can vary. Both operate in uncertain environments (with startups focused on what is not being done yet). Each may have a different level of risk tolerance (higher for startups, and typically lower for libraries), and both can thrive with experimentation. Copper urged session attendees to consider what elements of our current context give us freedom to experiment, and cited Jeff Bezos’ idea that increasing the number of experiments helps increase the number of innovations we can make. 

Next, Copper turned to the idea that good ideas are designed to solve problems. She raised design thinking as a way to tap into creative potential, noting that insight, observation, and empathy are key. Copper also touched on human-centered design, in which the user is the expert about what they need, and user experience design, which requires constant feedback and multiple iterations to get to the root of a problem in order to solve it. She stressed the importance of making decisions based on data rather than intuition.   

Copper offered case studies from organizations that transformed through experimentation: Rovio, who experienced many failures before a side project, Angry Birds, became a massive hit game; Pittsburgh’s PGH Lab which connects startups with government, offers coaching and marketing, and encourages short experimentation cycles; and the Labrary concept at Harvard (connected to the Library Test Kitchen) in a vacant storefront that offered unprogrammed space that led to new and previously unimagined programs. Copper emphasized that two-thirds of startups fail, and that if they are successful, their success may be a long way from where they started. She urged participants to fail fast and learn faster, suggesting that failure can be a goal.  

Copper introduced the IDEEA (ideate, design, experiment, engage, and assess) Anti-Method as a practice framework for library experimentation and innovation, using three activities: 

• • Asking “how might we” to frame a problem we want to solve for a user and considering what data we need to answer the question; 

• • Writing the future story of the experiment, drawing a picture that shows how we solved the user problem and documenting challenges and breakthroughs; 

• • And working to establish a culture of experimentation including:  

• • • a process to find general agreement and green light ideas that anyone can propose, perhaps using a committee to oversee the process and offer feedback and guidance; 

• • • a communication strategy based on shared values, transparency, and sharing data and findings on success and failure; 

• • • tools such as a repository of tips and plans, professional development, and incentives and rewards (not limited to monetary ones); 

• • • and ways to unlock team potential, such as “pink zones” that reduce red tape, flex time, and dedicated time for professional development. 

IDEEA’s steps don’t have to be linear, and can lead to different results if we use it more than once for the same experiment. It’s important to think about needed resources, whom to involve, how to get feedback, and how to get the word out about the experimentation we do. Getting feedback on a prototype gives us real information to make decisions, especially in a risk-averse environment. If that feedback tells us an experiment is not worth continuing, we should be willing to stop investing in it.   

Copper closed by encouraging participants to experiment, and consider how small experiments can lead to large transformation.  

2. Dennis Jensen and Chloë Aalsburg from engineering and architecture design firm C2AE spoke on strategies for a future-proof space. They led off by asking how emerging technologies will impact library service delivery and spaces, what other societal trends are significant (e.g., increased collaborative work may impact library space design), and how much space a new library needs (and what factors such as age demographics influence that decision). Jensen and Aalsburg emphasized that while it can be expensive, flexible and adaptable library building design is very beneficial given that trends last two to three years.  

Next, they defined future-proofing in terms of aiming for resistance to obsolescence, recognizing that not all changes can be anticipated. They charted a history of library design from book-focused in terms of transactions, delivery, and shelving, to person- and community-focused, pointing toward the Service Design Network’s idea that service design creates services that are user-friendly, competitive, and relevant. Jensen and Aalsburg again raised questions about the right ratio of collection versus programming spaces given how material management and access and technology are changing. 

Features of future-proofed libraries include: 

• • Inclusivity, as libraries can be co-located with other civic services, have a community focus with collaborative spaces, use accessible design principles (e.g., considering neurodiversity, age, and culture), and support human needs for food, shelter, cooling, and more; 

• • Adaptability, with rooms along one side of the library building and an open floor plan, multi-function and reconfigurable spaces (i.e., redoing a space if you can’t do a full renovation), modular and mobile furniture, shelving on casters, and light fixtures that are independent of shelving; 

• • Gathering areas designed for different types of users and that promote intergenerational interactions, encourage connection, and have comfortable furniture and even fireplaces;  

• • Advancing technology from checkout digital devices to digital content, virtual reality, 3D printers, and emerging trends such as eSports, all of which require increased power infrastructure (as well as the Library of Things’ need for adequate storage space); 

• • Sustainability that harmonizes a building with its local climate and environment, including increased air exchange/airflow, lower carbon emissions, LED lighting, LEED, and adaptive reuse;  

• • Biophilic design that incorporates elements of nature into the built environment shown to enhance user and staff wellbeing, with an indoor-outdoor flow, views of nature, and natural materials such as wood, stone, and plants;  

• • And a framework approach with a 30’ x 30’ structural grid featuring a raised floor, possibilities for expansion and growth, and more flexible interior walls and mechanical, electrical, and building systems that allow easier more cost-effective interior alterations.

Jensen and Aalsburg reviewed a list of primary program spaces including a welcome station, café, community gallery, multi-purpose spaces as well as spaces for specific needs such as study, cell phone use, and quiet. They offered user age and a library’s strategic goals as two things that influence space. They also considered destination spaces such as a kitchen, garage, garden, or a pop-up space that could be used to prototype a new service.  

Jensen and Aalsburg noted how important it is for libraries to share the community feedback and trends with architects and be community-focused when approaching design projects. They have observed a shift away from institutional styles of architecture toward styles that reflect local character, which they see as reflecting how important libraries are to their communities. Building redesigns happen about every 20 years, which makes adaptability and balancing design between customized and specific use even more important. Before closing with a link to their 2023 podcast on library space utilization assesments, they also covered project championing before a design phase from needs to “what if” thinking, prioritizing empathy and real-world design, and developing a clear plan. They pointed out how important community involvement and engagement are to build advocacy, fundraising, and backing for a building project.  

3. Kelvin Watson from Las Vegas-Clark County Library District (LVCCLD) concluded Think Space with his session on powerful partnerships and the library as a community connector. Watson opened by talking about his background and route from book sales with Ingram and Borders Group to becoming a librarian, noting that a library is like a business and can think like a business. Setting some context with information about the library he leads, Watson urged participants to have a true and active strategic plan. He spoke about several recent challenges of inclusion, including growing diversity (e.g., in terms of age and levels of mobility), growing poverty, and the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Watson then pivoted to the reinvention of the public library as a global force of change. He spoke about achieving a culture of “Inclusion x Innovation x Involvement” through four strategic directions: 

• • Limitless learning; 

• • Business and career success; 

• • Connecting to government and social services; 

• • And community and culture. 

He spoke of multiple forces that have influenced library practice in recent years: 

• • Social factors including age demographics and building cultures of inclusion, equity, diversity, and access; 

• • Learning, from different modalities and approaches to tackling the digital divide and special needs, and focusing on the customer experience and more;  

• • Economic factors including pandemic instability, unemployment, affordable housing, and several facets of the modern labor market; 

• • Technology and the demand for mobile apps, digital content, virtual services, all in a time of exponential change; 

• • Competition libraries have in terms of search, online services, home shopping and delivery, and social media; 

• • And the unexpected pandemic that turned our world upside down. 

Next, Watson turned to considering pre- and post-pandemic feedback on his library’s 2020 strategic directions, through the lenses of tweaks, trash, and transformation. Through their process, LVCCLD has leaned into a new set of pillars: powerful people, powerful places, powerful partnerships, and powerful platforms, considering how they can leverage each strategically.   

Watson returned to the culture frame of Inclusion x Innovation x Involvement, explaining its emphasis on having aware, visible, valued, engaged, and empowered staff who drive an “all in, all win” culture that includes equity, inclusion, diversity, and access and welcoming for all. He suggested that a library can transform from within to transform services, and should make decisions based on community and customer perspectives, interests, and experiences. Watson spoke about balancing district-wide customer experience standards and the idea that relevance is local and library branches can have different “flavors.”  

Moving to partnerships, Watson cited LVCCLD’s recent work with: 

• • The National Football League and Barbershop Books on children’s literacy in conjunction with Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas earlier this year;  

• • A book vending machine project at a Boulevard Mall, serving the Las Vegas Hispanic community; 

• • Sunrise Children’s Hospital to introduce the library to new mothers and caregivers; 

• • A Hip Hop Architecture Camp based on creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking that combines elements of hip hop music, urban planning, and social justice; 

• • VegasTickets.com, a locally-owned ticket broker that is funding a new early learning program; 

• • Three Square Foodbank, offering three programs housed in LVCCLD branch libraries that address food insecurity for children and senior citizens;  

• • Hope for Prisoners, in which the library partners to assist in long-term support to help formerly incarcerated persons re-enter society;  

• • The Vegas Golden Knights NHL hockey team to promote library card signup;  

• • The Regional Transportation Commission, with whom LVCCLD worked to create the ALA award-winning Anytime, Anywhere Library in 2021 providing access to download eBooks, movies, and magazines on over 400 city buses with onboard WiFi;  

• • Cox Communications, on an ALA award-winning cell phone lending and free local WiFi program; 

• • And the NBA Summer League, which provides major exposure to LVCCLD’s summer reading program and other major initiatives.  

Hopefully you’ve found something useful in my Think Space summaries from July and August. Thanks again to Jennifer and Lisa for allowing me to include their observations, and thank you for reading. Let me know if there are topics you’d like me to cover in future MCLS newsletters at garrisons@mcls.org.