Design Thinking Toolkit for Libraries
DESCRIPTION
The project goal was to help librarians adapt to ever-changing role of the library in a community. Chicago Public Library and Denmark’s Aarhus Public Libraries, together with IDEO, decided to find out what will be the best use and function of libraries in the future. They created the Design Thinking Toolkit for Libraries: reading and workshop materials that can be used by any front-line library employee to adapt to the changing perception of the library and its role in the community. Using the DTTFL, librarians engaged with visitors to test out new ideas drifting away from the picture of the typical quiet library: music- and art-making tools, a “tech lab” and a series of narrative storytelling workshops for kids that use play as a springboard for learning. In Chicago, these experiments spurred the implementation of new play spaces in the children’s library sections, and the creation of new roles for librarians that focus specifically on teens’ needs. The DTTFL resources are available at the project’s website.
JUSTIFICATION
The project touched an important issue in the era of the common access to culture and information: how to make a library a modern location where kids, teens and adults could find their own place. A typical example of Socially Responsible Design, centered on humans and their needs and employing Design Thinking methods to seek effective solutions to the problem.
REFERENCES
https://www.ideo.com/case-study/from-libraries-to-learning-labs
