Creation of Social Spaces: Future Success Mantra for Libraries
Creation of Social
Spaces:
Future Success Mantra for Libraries
Jitender Sharma
Librarian
Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida
A-32A, Sector 62
Noida – 201309
Introduction
Mark Twain once wrote on evolution that “Evolution is the law
of policies: Darwin said it, Socrates endorsed it, and Cuvier proved it and
established it for all time in his paper on 'The Survival of the Fittest.'
These are illustrious names, this is a mighty doctrine: nothing can ever remove
it from its firm base, nothing dissolves it, but evolution.”
Charles Darwin also wrote “It is
not the strongest of the species that survives or the most intelligent, but the
one most responsive to change.”
Hence, only change is constant in
this fast changing world. Those who adapt themselves to changes and evolve
themselves with changing circumstances survive and thrive, those who don’t
disappear. The same principle can be applied to and is valid for libraries as
well. World over information generation, storage and dissemination methods and
tools are changing. Users reading habits are changing. Generations’ impact is
easily available among earlier users and today’s users. Libraries can’t remain
aloof of or shut their eyes to these changes. They have to adapt themselves to
the changing times and environment. Libraries need to reinvent themselves to
attract users and remain relevant in these uncertain changing times.
Just
about a decade ago, with emergence of digital technology and e-books, it was
predicted that libraries in physical form will not survive for long. More than
a decade has past but libraries not only survived but also have successfully
adopted digital technologies and serve their users today both in traditional as
well as online ways.
This
was technology attack on libraries and was easier to handle by learning and
adopting the technology. There is however a bigger challenge facing the
libraries now and that has come from the user’s side, the core entity for which
library exists. Today’s user seems to be in a hurry. He is not emotionally or
loyally attached to library or any other information provider for the
information requirement. He has abundance of resources and mediums to get
information. He wants instant results.
Also, he doesn’t believe in or like to follow strict procedural and
disciplinary self study modes of library. He is one among socially hyper-active
species. He wants to connect with people. He believes sharing his perceptions
and wants to learn from other experiences. He is totally a different breed from
what libraries have seen for decades together.
Libraries
urgently need to find ways to successfully and timely quench the information
thirst of this new breed user apart from its traditional users in order to
prevent him drifting away from the library forever. A rework by libraries upon
themselves in terms of ambience, collection, facilities and add-ons may work
and make library users feel a fascination for repeatedly coming back and using
the library and its services. Libraries need to provide some extra apart from
their normal bounty of books and information to its users in order to remain
fighting-fit for the decades to come. In other words, they need to adopt new
ways and means to connect and reconnect to the users.
What is Social
Space?
According to Wikipedia, a
social space is physical or virtual space such as a social center, online
social media, or other gathering place where people gather and interact. Some
social spaces such as town squares or parks are public places; others such as
websites, shopping malls etc. are privately regulated.1
In context of libraries, a social
space can be a physical space inside or outside the library or it can be a
virtual space like social media applications. Apart from bricks and mortar
structures, community place and space, a presence in cyberspace, and a place of
self learning and fulfilling hobbies make a library complete.
Creation of social spaces offers
the users to meet informally, hold discussions, organize social events or
specialized shows, arranging exhibitions, space for food joints and so on.
These spaces help in engaging users in more effective and meaningful manner.
Need
of Social Spaces in Libraries
Creation of social spaces in libraries provides a library holistic
environment that encourages emotional, social and intellectual development of
users. It goes much beyond the traditional image of library i.e. a huge
collection of books with reading and issue/return facility. Properly designed
social spaces can increase users’ motivation and may even have an impact not
only on their learning abilities but may also help them to be more responsive
social citizens.
According to a recent report
released by Internet and Mobile Association of India
(IAMAI), the Internet user base in the country grew 42 per cent to 213 million,
from 150 million in 2012. It estimates that India will
have 243 million Internet users by June 2014. According to IAMAI expectations,
the number of mobile Internet users would have touched 185 million by June
2014. The growth of Internet users has also led to a substantial growth of
other digital industries such as e-commerce and digital advertising.2
It is evident from above statistical
data of the report that more and more people in India are using mobiles and
Internet to get and exchange information. Libraries users also form part of
this crowd. Libraries need to awake themselves to this realty and redesign
their services and offerings to suit this tech-savvy population so that they
stick with library. Libraries have to reorient and devise innovative services
that not only serve the information requirement of its fast changing users but
at the same time attract them back to library premises not out of any
compulsion or pressure but for enriching and enlightenment of mind and body and
soul. Presence of social spaces in libraries can be one such attraction.
An article in Business Today, 16
February 2014 issue has described how online retailers like Flipkart from India
and Amazon are fiercely fighting it out to get more and more share on online
business in India. According to the author of the articles, the online business
has a potential of growing at the rate of 60 per cent per year in India for
next one decade. Over one lakh transactions are done at Flipkart on daily
basis.3
Libraries need to understand
their competition. This competition is not from other libraries alone but from
such mega online retailers like Amazon or Flipkart as well. These portals allow
the users to scan through lakhs of books and other materials at a greater
convenience without even need of paying a single paisa. Materials can be ordered
and purchased online and delivered at door step. With ever shrinking budget and
no parity in information technology tools and techniques, poor libraries are in
constant fear of losing their users to these online retailers. Similarly the
threat also comes from food joints like Starbucks, Café Coffee Day, and
McDonald etc. Just over a cup of coffee, users can stay and hold meetings and
discussions there for hours together. They even provide Wi-Fi connectivity and
good ambience. Why a user would like to visit a library following strict norms
and rigid frameworks instead of these joints?
Just few days back, on social
media platform linkedin, there was news about new
Library of Birmingham that has completely transformed itself and has become a
major tourist attraction due to this transformation. It houses many facilities
and services like digital theater, amphitheater for children, gardens and
balconies to view the city, local history center, archive of films and TV
programmes, photographs gallery, Shakespeare museum and so on. It also houses a
Library Cafeteria and many tea corners, a Library shop, a Music library with a
live piano for users, number of large discussion rooms and meeting halls,
escalator ramp and transparent highly attractive lift. Over 7000 visitors visit
this library every day. This is a live example how a library can attract users
towards itself even in this technology dominated era.
Learning
is now becoming more and more social and new generation users prefer areas that
are conducive to study in groups. Students’ are asked to make presentations in
groups as part of their study and they need to discuss among themselves to
prepare those presentations. An academic library can easily offer such social
spaces and specialized services. Libraries may develop flexible learning spaces
to suit the needs of users. Libraries need to be more agile. They need to provide social space for group discussions
or for collaborative works. They need some counter mechanisms that may help in preventing user base
drifting away from library.
Need of Attitudinal Change among Librarians
Digital
revolution started towards the end of twentieth century flourished with each
passing day. Technology and technological gadgets have become affordable to
each and everyone. Even a rickshaw puller carries a mobile device today and
many a times even a smart mobile. Today’s users remain online most of the time.
As a consequence, libraries need to adapt in their collection, services and
delivery mechanisms so as to remain an integral and essential information
provider of this online community. Libraries need to incorporate new philosophy
and create new spaces to meet the ever changing information needs of their
users. This requires complete attitudinal changes among librarians who have
always seen themselves as custodian and caretaker of their holdings instead of serving
users optimally.
More
than a decade ago during an interaction with a group of librarians, the then
librarian of IIM Ahmedabad library had said “If a book is stolen from our
library, we do not get worried unnecessarily but get more copies of the same as
we consider it a worthy book that users want to read”. Such a big attitudinal
change from a custodian of books to optimum user friendliness is what
librarians need to undergo if librarians have to remain relevant in this
changing world.
Librarians need to understand
that effective and relevant library services are driven by user needs, not by building
huge collections or technological advances alone. Technology may change again
tomorrow but librarians need to keep focus on their core mission and values
i.e. literacy, reading and learning. They need to understand changing user
needs and external environmental pressures and evolve strategies in tune with
mission of their libraries.
In
order to remain meaningful in such changing times, libraries need to diversify
the purpose for which a library is established and functions. It is the time
when libraries reinvent them as social spaces, which may bring more and more
people to it on regular basis. Attitude of library staff matters most in
creating social spaces in library. They have to understand information-seeker’s
mind set and develop their services in tune with the same. It requires a bit
extra effort and taking initiatives to open up a dialogue with users. Rest
follows.
No longer can a library be considered as a static collection
of books and only books. Nor the librarian can remain a person staring at users
to maintain silence. Today’s libraries need to be well-equipped with not
only printed documents but with electronic resources for the benefit of
their users. Librarians have to necessarily possess specialized and
professional education in their discipline along with IT skills and other
competencies required for the job. Libraries and librarians will have to shake
off their stereotype image and attitude and embrace new
technologies and approaches to support learning through new ways and means in
the 21st Century. In fact, librarians need to go beyond that and develop social
spaces both physical and online or virtual spaces in tune with changing
requirements of users and their learning habits. Libraries have to align their
services toward contents digitization, making use of social media and even
providing services on user’s mobiles. Such personalized services coupled with
providing social spaces in libraries for informal interactions over a cup of
tea/coffee may help libraries to overcome challenges posed by online retailers
and food joints who intend to snatch away libraries’ clients.
Librarian
can play even a much greater role especially with students’ users in terms of
shaping the directions of their discussions and act as a mentor or guide and
guiding them to best resources or way to tackle group problems. Such little
initiatives will have magical effects and users will come back again and again
to library without any external force or pressure. Librarian needs to develop
and act as a helping hand for his users.
How to Develop Social Spaces in Libraries?
First of all, librarians have to understand the scope,
limitations and constraints of a library before thinking about creating social
spaces in library. Concept of social spaces will vary a lot with the type of
library where it is planned. For instance, a Defence sector library may not
create social space for general public; however, it may create an environment
that is conducive for defence personnel needs. Similarly, an academic college
library may not entertain or extend its scope to general public as it has
specialized user groups of students and faculty. It may however again create
social spaces so as to engage the student and teaching community more and more
to library and its activities. Public library will be open for all users and
hence social space scope and requirements will also vary with each type of
library.
National Mission on Libraries was launched on 3
February 2014 by the President of India. Inaugurating the project, President
mentioned that libraries being social institutions and repositories of
knowledge and information must help the society by helping the individual to
understand himself or herself and the world of which he or she is a part. A
public library is often called "the people's university" because it
is available to all sections of society. Thus, through democratization of
access to knowledge, libraries contribute in promoting inclusive and sustained
development of the people". Public libraries therefore necessarily will be
creating social spaces for all types of people irrespective of their gender,
caste, race or religion. Such
initiatives encourage more and more libraries to build and develop social
spaces so as to give access to more and more users and expanding their
activities beyond books.
Most
of library colleagues in Delhi-NCR must have visited British Council and
American Centre library in Delhi and must have witnessed large queue of users
outside them to go and study there. These libraries’ set-up, ambience, informal
and formal sitting arrangements and cafeteria facilities inside the library
itself are some examples of social spaces that need to be created in each library
so as to attract users in large numbers. Both these libraries have extensive
outreach programmes and they keep holding different events, films screening and
many more such functions that attract users in large numbers. A user is willing
to pay for such services and ambience. This is what is required from all
libraries.
Libraries
need to convert themselves to multipurpose entities without losing their core
focus of information and knowledge provider. They can arrange social functions,
cultural, sports and educational events or competitions for different age
groups. Other events like new books launch, or calling celebrity authors live, or
through webcasting etc. will attract large number of users to the library. Idea
behind this is making direct connections with users and bringing them to
library doorstep.
JNU library that organizes social and academic
events on continual basis, calls experts from all parts of the world for
benefits of students, library and academic community and opens up library 24
hours x 365 days is another example of developing social spaces in library.
Among management institutions in Delhi-NCR, Jaipuria
Institute of Management, Noida offers similar facilities to its users. This
library provides its space to all its users for group interaction, holding
literary or cultural events. Library staff extends all possible help including
infrastructural support encouraging more and more students to spend their time
in library. It routinely organizes book reviews, story-telling, e-quiz program
etc. It also gives ‘Best User’ and ‘Library Friend’ award and certificate to
its users on monthly basis depending upon users’ visits, use of library
resources and their help in organizing different activities in library.
Social
media tools like Facebook, Twitter etc. can be used by librarians for
continuous library alerts and news updates. It is estimated in 4 February 2014
Times of India report that Facebook has over 12 billion users. Librarians can
reach to a larger users segment using this online social space medium. Same is
the case with Twitter and other Chat applications. A regular interaction and
engagement with users and potential users is required.
Libraries
need to manage their physical space also differently. As learning habits are
more social now and users especially students in an academic library prefer
group learning, hence libraries need to convert their physical spaces to areas
that are conducive to study in groups and further offer them for holding social
events, group activities and specialist services.
Librarians need the ability to use technology to support study in a variety of modes. They should be in a position to offer its users training in effective utilization of digital resources, for searching academic contents, retrieving library resources and making use of Internet and social media for getting desired information.
Librarians need the ability to use technology to support study in a variety of modes. They should be in a position to offer its users training in effective utilization of digital resources, for searching academic contents, retrieving library resources and making use of Internet and social media for getting desired information.
There
is need of mindset transformation on part of librarians. They need to perceive
library as learning and social space rather than just a building. They must
create friendly learning spaces, providing access and
guidance, reaching out to more and more users in need of support. Libraries can
even play greater role in providing access to cultural heritage to the masses.
Users learning
habits are changing. New generation user is the one who is always connected,
multimedia savvy, and capable of multitasking. He is impatient, creative, expressive and
social. He doesn’t believe in structured format or environment. If this is the
user scenario today, then one can easily imagine how the future user would be
and what will be his needs. Changes in libraries in future can be due to various
reasons including academic culture, demographics, distance education, funding,
globalization, infrastructure/facilities, libraries, political climate,
publishing industry, societal values, students/learning, and technology.
Libraries need to equip themselves to handle these changes.
Technology
is developed to an extent that users can “talk” through assignments with their
handheld devices, which issue alerts when passing a bookstore with material
they need to cite along with basic details of the material and its
availability, price etc. Companies make use of big data to know customers
personal interests, reading habits, shopping history and so on. It is often
questioned if libraries would have any relevance in such a scenario. On
contrary, it is also true that users would still need a place to study,
reflect, and escape from the noisy environment surrounded them. Moreover,
bookstore will charge for any service beyond providing basic information. A
library can fill these gaps by providing both social spaces and the desired
reading material. Hence, people will not stop using physical libraries; they
will just need them in new ways. In
other words: we see a transformation from a more or less passive collection of
books and other media to an active space for experience and inspiration and a local
meeting point.
Hence,
libraries will go under transformation much beyond the predicted “bricks to
clicks” to from “collection to connection” or even from ‘collection to
creation’ as proposed by the American Library Association in its new strategic
vision.
The
Four-SpaceModel4
Jochumsen,
Skot-Hansen and Rasmussen in their four-space model reflected about the
library’s role as cultural centre, knowledge centre, social centre and
information centre.
According
to them a new library model is needed that takes into account the challenges
the societal development poses in relation to the library, and which at the
same time highlights the potentials of the library of the future.
Four-Space Model of Public Library
by Jochumsen, Skot-Hansen and Rasmussen
According to this model the library’s overall objective is to
support the following four goals:
• Experience
• Involvement
• Empowerment
• Innovation
In this model
first two goals concern individual’s perception in his quest for meaning and
identity in a complex society, the other two are societal goals: Empowerment
concern development of strong and independent citizens who are able to solve
everyday problems, while innovation has to do with finding new answers to
practical problems or developing completely new concepts, methods or artistic
expressions.
Here the library can make a contribution by making space for
learning, experience, engaging meetings and possibilities for expressing
oneself in a creative way. These things cannot be considered in isolation and
individually, but must be seen as overlapping functions that interact in the
library space both physically and virtually.
This model also contains a vision for the library consisting
of four different overlapping spaces:
• Inspiration
space
• Learning space
• Meeting space
• Performative
space.
The
four overlapping spaces are not just physical spaces but are seen as possibilities
that can be fulfilled both in the physical library and in cyberspace. These
four spaces will support each other, and thereby support the library’s
objectives. Librarians’ task is to make all four spaces interact by
incorporating them in the library’s architecture, design, services, programs
and choice of partnerships.
The Great Good Place
In his famous
book “The Great Good Place”5,
Ray Oldenburg defines the significance of the third place in a healthy
society. Neither work nor home, the third place is a neutral community space,
where people come together voluntarily and informally in ways that level social
inequities and promote community engagement and social connection. There can’t
be a better place than libraries to fill the space of the third place.
Libraries are
purpose-driven organizations. They are socially responsible and responsive.
With no profit motive, they have the ability to identify and respond to
community needs as neutral community space unlike home and workplace. Indian
libraries and librarians also need to identify the potential hidden in them to
respond to community needs by being socially responsible and responsible
citizens and help community development by opening their libraries for the
betterment of society.
Conclusion
Change is
constant and necessary. One who doesn’t change with changing times will perish
with time and the one who changes as per changing needs will cherish. Our
libraries and librarians need to understand this simple mantra of life if they
wish to survive and thrive in these changing times. Libraries are meant for
users. Hence there is necessity to understand users, their needs and their
reading habits. For libraries to be successful not only in current scenario but
future as well, they need to pursue new models of users’ engagement in which
they provide platforms for social engagement, move away from fixed and rigid conventional
frameworks and designs to comfortable, open-ended venues for people and participatory
activities. Like social media where people have built up their own community
spaces, libraries too can fulfill such aspirations of their users.
Libraries are places
where critical thinking is encouraged to thrive. Hence, it is an urgent need
that librarians create new social spaces in libraries so as to stimulate
intellectual discussions, innovative ideas through group interactions and much more.
References
2.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-to-have-243-million-internet-users-by-june-2014-report/
448786-11.html [Accessed
on 13 September 2014]
3.
Business Today, Vol. 23 Issue 3, 16 February 2014
4. Jochumsen, Henrik; Skot-Hansen,
Dorte and Rasmussen, Casper Hvengaard. “The four spaces
– A new model for the public
library”.
http://centralbibliotek.dk/sites/default/files/a_new_model_of_the_public_library_final_artikel_dorte_skot-hansen.pdf [Accessed on 4 Feburary 2014]
posted by Jitender Sharma @ 8:31 PM
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