Prototyping the Future of the Library
Speculating on what the future of libraries might be is exciting for some, challenging for others, and downright scary for some of us. We all react differently to change and the fact that our "library iceberg is melting". Most of us can speculate about non-radical change -- what will be here in a year or two but looking ahead farther than that is a challenge.Many of us need a way to get a handle on what might be coming in 5 years to 10 years or more. We need a way to experiment with possible futures and explore "what ifs" with the communities we serve.
The Transformation Lab at the Aarhus Public Library has started just this type of exploration and produced new visions for the physical library of the future including the Literature Lab, Music Lab, Exhibition Lab, etc. They worked with flexible spaces and used wall, floors and ceilings. The results of the project will be presented at the 17th International Halmstad Conference: Elevations - The Networking Library, June 10 - 12, 2007 in Aarhus, Denmark.
Fortunately for those of us that can't attend this conference in Denmark, we can view the video to learn about their discoveries:
Related Posts on Library Change, Innovation and Futures
- Getting Beyond "Yes, but" When We Talk about Change
- The Fate of Great Ideas (at first) - a cartoon
- Consumer Trends for Libraries to Consider When Designing Services and Web Sites
- Applying Design Thinking to Business Problems
- What Can We Learn from Cognitive Science about Successful Organizational Change?
Links to This Post
- Library of the future/future of libraries? - Fast Forward
- Why to go the library? - IdeaFestival
Tags: change | future | libraries | library
