public libraries and innovative thinking in the 21st century · public libraries and innovative...
TRANSCRIPT
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND INNOVATIVE THINKING IN THE
21ST CENTURY
Christelle Lubbe
Chief Librarian: Bellville Public Library
City of Cape Town
IT STARTS WITH AN IDEA….
The days are long gone when a librarycan, passively, assume that it will berecognized as an asset without having todefend that proposition and prove itsworth. - Kimberley Mathews
LIBRARIES
What historical collections should be kept?
What new services should be offered?
What new technologies should be incorporated?
What should be offer for a rapidly changing and diverse community?
What partnerships should be nurtured?
What collaborations should be pursued to the benefit of the library?
Preserving
the past
Anticipating
the future
It is about your own unique environment and starting point.
It must be useful, add value and create customer value for your community.
What is innovative in one library might be last year’s news at another.
“Fresh practice not best practice”
INNOVATION?
Our personal sense of what is valuable doesn’t matter unless it matches that of
our customers.
- Eleanor Jo Rodger
Service to diverse communities.
Information literate society.
Urban regeneration and library’s relation to place
De-valuing of the library’s benefit to community
Physical buildings and infrastructure.
Computers that replace librarians.
Transition to digital content.
Or can it be opportunities?
CHALLENGES?
OPPORTUNITIES: 2030 AGENDA
OPPORTUNITIES: INTEGRATION
INNOVATIONS EXPECTED BEFORE 2030
• Urbanisation: 70% of population will live in urban settings. Where will the library fit in?
• Technology: Move away from pure access for all; we should become enablers and educators. Bridging the gap between the trained and untrained.
Community: What experiences do they expect? Have real conversations with community. Participate, reflect and connect.
Staff: Trained, professional and knowledgeable staff with diverse skills.
INNOVATIONS EXPECTED BEFORE 2030
• Reading: Establish a reading nation – start at home.
• Partnerships and stakeholders: choose carefully.
• Facilitator: The library should become the facilitator and the patron the do-er.
• Policies: Become actively involved in decisions that ensure library development and interactions .
continue…
WHAT DOES AN INNOVATION LOOKS LIKE?
Presenting unique and new programmes in the
library
WHAT DOES AN INNOVATION LOOKS LIKE?
Offering services in a different way
Creative interaction with space
WHAT DOES AN INNOVATION LOOKS LIKE?
Display Differently
WHAT DOES AN INNOVATION LOOKS LIKE?
Integrate technology in all services
WHAT DOES AN INNOVATION LOOKS LIKE?
• learns and re-learns;
• invests in people not just books;
• develops library staff to have more diverse skills;
• masters new ways to find information;
• Embraces and uses constantly changing technology;
• implements sound business management skills;
THE 21ST CENTURY LIBRARIAN
A professional who:
• understands and is part of the changing community;
• is adapting existing services for customer satisfaction;
• is skilled in crowd-sourcing, marketing and social
media;
• Is proficient at problem solving and communication
• creates strategic collaborations;
• changes the public’s perception of “library”.
THE 21ST CENTURY LIBRARIAN
A professional who:
continued…
* Allow exploration and brainstorming
* Innovation should be part of your strategic plan.
* Gather ideas from everywhere; “steal” from others.
* Don’t teach innovation, teach techniques that sparkown creation and confidence in learning.
* Mistakes are an opportunity to learn.
* Evaluate and adapt innovations regularly.
LEADING THE WAY
QUESTIONS TO ASK OURSELVES
Why do public libraries not partnering more often with NGOS that are doing library
business?
Why do we feel “entitled” – believe that libraries will always be stocked and looked
after?
Do our community really need us? What do we do to keep them coming back?
Do we blindly follow trends?
How do we become connected and relevant if we don’t see our role in integration with
others?
If the youth are living in the “cloud”, why are we still “living” in the library?
How can we create innovative network opportunities to learn from each other?
THE AFRICA I WANT…
Africa’s innovation is growing in leaps and bounds, to the point it’s setting
its own trends, which while unique to the continent, are getting the
attention of the rest of the world. -- Afritorial.com
