Month: October 2022

Human-centered design involves rethinking spaces and practices at a fundamental level so that patron needs and passions are at the heart of decisions and designs (Peet, 2016). Likely, decision makers should be working with patrons actively while working through these designs or redesigns. Like many schools, our school promotes student-centered design at every level, so human-centered design fits right in. Though human-centered design seems intuitive and natural, our library (and I would guess many other libraries) was staff-oriented. Having fiction organized by author’s last name makes it easier to shelve the books, but is it easier to browse? Many such structures and practices make our work more efficient, but the question should be: do they make a patron’s experience better?

For each issue that requires a re-design or new project that needs to be planned, library staff members will likely need several hours per week for several weeks to invest in the planning stages (Peet, 2016). The process of re-thinking the organization’s practices from a new perspective is time-intensive for staff, but it seems that the results are well worth the trouble. My own library has been relatively traditional in the past; as we have begun rethinking our practices and services to reflect students’ needs and passions, as well as offering more opportunities for engagement, I have definitely seen quite a payoff in the form of more visitors and more joyous activity in our spaces. We still have a long way to go, and I look forward to seeing what our students are doing in five years.

Self-service options are one example of user-centered changes that have appeared in libraries across the country. We have a self-service option at my school library that has become a popular option in the  last year. We do not offer anything like the “open library” situations mentioned in Jan Holmquist’s article, though I’m certainly intrigued by the idea (2016). In fact, if too many library staff members are out sick, we tend to run into an issue and have to close or ask someone from a different department to step in just to keep the space open for student use. After a quick Google search, I didn’t see any info about similar approaches in school libraries, though I would be very curious to know if other schools have attempted open library approaches. I can imagine that our administration would be concerned about student safety and behavior issues, as would I. But I would be curious to know whether other school libraries have experimented with radical trust in this way and what their experiences were.

“ Carnegie libraries exemplify what sociologist Ray Oldenburg calls a “third place”—neither work nor home, a universally accessible space where citizens are free to congregate and fraternize without feeling like loiterers.” (Agresta, 2014)

I love the concept of the “third space” described in Michael Agresta’s article, “What Will Become of the Library?” (2014). He essentially describes it as a place where you’re not a visitor, a place where you belong. In my school library, we have been developing more of a third space environment for our students, although I didn’t realize that’s what it was called. We’re open for three hours after the school day is over, and many kids hang out in our space during part or all of that time. We’ve easily tripled the number of students who hang out after school, and the kids seem highly engaged with us as a space. Some of our kids come to do homework, but many kids come to have fun and be with friends; those kids actually end up learning about manners, managing free time effectively, and being good community members. Though it can be work intensive for us, I’ve seen the kids develop their social skills and explore all kinds of activities that we put out.

“If the people want emerging technologies more than they want books, libraries have to respond to that, even if it means closing up shop and moving entirely online.” (Agresta, 2014)

As a teacher librarian, I need to think about the needs and passions of my students, in the same way that public librarians need to consider the needs and wants of their communities. I think there can be fears that books are going away, which probably speaks to a general fear about literacy or the state of the world. I hear people express concerns about kids only wanting technology and not appreciating analog experiences. I think our kids will have opportunities to use technologies we can’t even fathom, and we should prepare them for those opportunities. I also think the kids love analog experiences, including books!

“During the development of the DTL tool kit, CPL’s investigation into attracting teens resulted in a pop-up “Expression Lab” that incorporated both digital and analog media, from music-mixing stations to a manual typewriter and paints. During the pilot phase, the team was surprised to discover that digital media didn’t capture the teenagers’ attention as they’d imagined they would. Instead, the kids were fascinated by the typewriter and wanted to paint murals.” (Peet, 2016).

Libraries, especially school libraries, can be centers of immersive learning, which can include books and other resources. Books serve my kiddos well on their journeys to becoming literate adults, which is part of our mission as a school, and I know my readers do love to read physical books. Personally, I am not worried about books “going away,” at least not for now. And I’m definitely not worried about storytelling and information “going away”; people love them and use them too much. Access and formats will likely change, but I can’t imagine a world in which people don’t seek out good stories. I do wonder what kinds of story experiences or reading experiences might be around in, say, 100 or 500 years. Has anyone read about libraries of the future in science fiction novels? I would love to read about them, if anyone can suggest titles in the comments!

“Connections, relationships, and services—using technology but not driven by it—are the big themes that libraries are turning up as they look to their futures, and human-centered design may help uncover some answers.” (Peet, 2016)

 

Resources

Agresta, M. (2014, April 22). What Will Become of the Library? https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/04/the-future-of-the-library-how-theyll-evolve-for-the-digital-age.html

Holmquist, J. (2016, April 6). Open libraries: Self-service libraries – The Danish way. https://janholmquist.net/2016/04/06/open-libraries-self-service-libraries-the-danish-way/

Peet, L. (2016, September 13). The Future of futures: Designing the future. https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/the-future-of-futures-designing-the-future

I chose Susan Cain’s book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking because I am an introvert myself and have been wondering about how introverts might engage (or not) with participatory spaces in our library. I think more traditional libraries have been seen as spaces for introverts, and it’s possible that changes to libraries brought through innovation may make patrons wonder whether a library is still a space for introverts. Cain explores what it means to be an introvert, the ways in which extroversion seems to be prioritized in American culture, and the benefits of making space for introverts and their skills in all settings. A few sections of the book felt especially applicable to library work, and even more so to school libraries.

As part of the foundation of this book, Cain explores various definitions of introversion. While she never seems to have one sentence that clearly defines it, it is clear that being an introvert means having a well-developed interior life, and that spending time alone helps a person “recharge” (Cain, 2012, pp. 11-12). She also explores the differences in how introverts and extroverts work, which adds to her definition, and she takes time to differentiate between introversion and shyness.

Introversion is not only related to people and interactions, but also to novel situations and stimuli in general (Cain, 2012, pp. 99-104). In one longitudinal study, the researcher found that babies who reacted strongly to novel situations tended to become introverted children and adults who continued to react strongly to novel situations, although they did so internally (Kagan & Snidman, 2004, as cited in Cain, 2012). Clearly, introversion is not as simple as preferring alone time.

“…what we’re really observing is a child’s sensitivity to novelty in general.” (Cain, 2012, p. 102)

On a personal note, I am an introvert and found it challenging to bring balance to my life in my previous career as a teacher. I found that teaching was far too extroverted for me, particularly with the schedule at my school at the time. I was unable to recharge my batteries during the school day. This was a major factor in my decision to move to librarianship after only 10 years in the classroom (I had planned to make the transition further on in my career). While I desperately miss having my own classroom and working closely with my kids on a daily basis, I definitely feel I’ve found a healthier balance for myself in the library.

Of course, as an adult, I have the luxury of being able to change environments to suit my personality. Cain includes an entire chapter about working with introverted children, in which she discusses the fact that classroom sizes and school structures generally have been designed with childcare, budgets, and efficiency in mind, not with children’s best interest in mind (2012, p. 253).

We often marvel at how introverted, geeky kids “blossom” into secure and happy adults. We liken it to a metamorphosis. However, maybe it’s not the children who change but their environments. As adults, they get to select the careers, spouses, and social circles that suit them…kids stop learning when they feel emotionally threatened. (Cain, 2012, pp. 253-254)

As a school librarian, I felt especially interested in this chapter. It seems that school environments are often stressful for introverted children (and I would add introverted adults, though this is not addressed in the book), which comes as no surprise to me as an introvert and former teacher.

“But make sure that you’re not imposing your own longings, and remember that there are many paths to a satisfying life,” (Cain, 2012, p. 259)

Cain also provides advice to teachers and parents, much of which can be applied to a school library as well (2012, pp. 255-259). Above all, Cain seems to return over and over again to the point that introverts do not need to be fixed in order to thrive; they need to be encouraged to be themselves. She suggests that teachers need to be intentional and, “Mix it up,” when it comes to teaching methods and activities, ensuring a balance between approaches that appeal to introverts or to extroverts (p. 255). Approaches include things like group work, movement, lecturing, individual projects, etc. This could easily be applied to a library’s programming, for which we could intentionally plan to rotate through alternating introvert or extrovert-centric approaches. Giving opportunities for introverts (who tend to have deep, long-term passions) to explore their deeper interests is another piece of Cain’s advice. This is another piece of advice we could implement through programming, by eliciting suggestions of topics and activities from our students and rotating through their ideas. In general, the idea is to give all types of students opportunities to connect.

One way to further engage and harness the power of our school’s introverted students would be to have the kiddos help design some of our spaces and programming. This fits with another piece of advice from Cain, who suggests that providing specific jobs or roles to introverts during group work or collaboration (2012, pp. 255-256). We will be redesigning some of the spaces in our library within the next year or two, and while discussing ideas with campus adults, phrases like “collaborative spaces” have been thrown around a lot during conversations. We’ve already made a lot of changes to our library, resulting in more engagement, and frankly more noise and activity. This has been our goal, but the higher level of stimulation could potentially drive away introverted students, who likely found our previously-underused library to be a sanctuary in quieter times. Perhaps it will be important to invite more voices and personalities to planning conversations. Inviting teens to help design a library’s spaces worked wonderfully for The Mix, which we read about previously, resulting in spaces and activities that get a lot of use (Costanza, 2015). I can imagine the benefits of incorporating such a process at our library; perhaps we can specifically challenge the kids to design spaces or activities for both extroverts and introverts in our library. I wonder what our kids would come up with to make it a more welcoming space for all.

 

Resources

Cain, S. (2012). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. Crown Publishers.

Costanza, K. (2015, August 28). In San Francisco, teens design a living room for high-tech learning at the public library. YOUmedia. https://youmedia.org/news/in-san-francisco-teens-design-a-living-room-for-high-tech-learning-at-the-public-library/

Duffy, L. (2012). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking [Image of book cover]. Crown Publishers. https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Power-Introverts-World-Talking/dp/0307352153

Kagan, J. & Snidman, N. (2004). The long shadow of temperament. Harvard University Press.