DESIGNING LIBRARIES
© Yumeng Zhu
l co-location is another current trend. For example, seven of Warwickshire’s 18 static libraries share sites with other services including Town Councils, museums, art galleries, a children’s centre and nursery school, an assisted housing complex and the Registration service;
l increasingly libraries offer a wide range of ‘extended ser- vices’. In Warwickshire these include concessionary travel, Blue Badge and police enquiries, dementia and autism sup- port, battery recycling, bereavement and repair cafés, job clubs and digital skills training. Libraries host Council con- sultations, MP surgeries, Citizens’ Advice Bureau sessions, health and wellbeing promotions, and more;
l mainstream services remain a priority. However, there is ever-increasing focus on provision that targets the least-ad- vantaged communities and those most in need. Part of what the previous Government loosely called ‘levelling up’;
l libraries must respond to the climate change crisis and green agenda by taking environmental responsibility for their own operations – and encouraging individuals and communi- ties they serve to do the same;
l libraries are the original recyclers – a shared community resource allowing books to be repeatedly reused and enjoyed.
Summer 2025
Beijing City Library interior. © Yumeng Zhu
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Libraries must respond to the climate change crisis and green agenda by taking environmental responsibility for their own operations...
Current thinking is that the concept could be extended by working with partners to create a ‘library of things’. Items like lawn-mowers, sewing machines and other costly equipment could then be borrowed by library-members, just like books.
Finally, it must be said that new or old, libraries never stand still because the needs, preferences and priorities of the people and communities we serve are ever-changing. It’s essential to provide services that local people – of all ages and backgrounds – need, want and will use. That’s never going to be a static situation – change is the one constant.
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 11
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