PublicSpaces / Conference

The library as a public space

March 11 15:00 - 16:00

Language: Dutch.

Watch now

The library as a public space

Besides being a physical public space, what does it mean to be an online public space as a public, university or royal library?

The topics of this roundtable session:

  • What initiatives already exist within your (library) organisations that are worth sharing within this group?
  • What obstacles do you encounter when offering a public space online for your users/guests/subscribers?
  • What solutions can you think of? In terms of tools, in terms of guidelines, standardisation and procurement, in terms of interaction, in terms of ease of use?
  • What are the needs of libraries (within the PublicSpaces issue)?
  • What would you like to discuss further yourself, what are you missing or what do you hope to find? Does 'Library as Public Space' cover the load of this conversation?

Moderator

Paulien Dresscher

Table guests

Recap

The library is pre-eminently a metaphor for a public space: it is a place for knowledge sharing and meeting, without underlying and veiled commercial interests.
This talk was a first step of a larger conversation about what the opportunities and challenges are for Dutch libraries in relation to an online public space. What is already happening, what is already in development, what can be capitalised on and where are the opportunities for cooperation?

Joined are: Ruud Yap, CTO at the OBA. The OBA already uses Publicroam, sees the library as an experimental space for 'public proof' applications and works with makerspaces on educational programmes. Ted Dinklo, the initiator of Publicroam will also be present. Publicroam is an initiative based on Eduroam, providing secure and automatic internet access. Ronald Huizer, Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB), has been involved in PublicSpaces for about 2 years. Libraries are part of the public space. Shaping public values is tricky, and they would like to take up this challenge together. Sander van Kempen, also KB, helps make the library system as a whole stronger by, for example, creating awareness around PublicSpaces (PS) but also Publicroam. Jantien Bosboom, working at Library LocHal Noord Brabant's Digilab. She ensures that people are introduced to new media and new technology and aspects such as data awareness and privacy. With Knowledge Cloud, she works with local communities both physically and online. Hay Kranen is a web developer and volunteer at Wikipedia and was in the past Wikipedian in Residence at the KB. He sees Wikipedia as a public space, perhaps the only real place with no ads and no trackers on the internet.

The aim of the talk was to explore the opportunities and challenges of libraries online and offline. Clearly, there are larger parties, such as the Amsterdam Public Library (OBA), the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB) and LocHal that already have all kinds of initiatives and projects in development, and it makes sense to share findings on this. Questions such as 'how do I find and engage my audience', or 'are there already initiatives in development to meet online outside the larger social media platforms', can be jointly answered.

A common checklist for libraries, where they can easily check whether the tools they use meet the values of PublicSpaces could also be valuable. Furthermore, it appears that many libraries are mainly locally rooted, and less connected to each other. In addition, libraries in the larger cities in particular have a richer network, as more is being developed in the digital field anyway. The knowledge from this network can also be shared by the larger parties with the smaller libraries, which have less finding power and knowledge.

Another topic that came up a few times was the need to develop alternatives, and the problems involved. It is clear that alternatives to existing commercial tools are needed, only the reality is that these, often Open Source, solutions are less user-friendly. There could also be a role here for libraries: informing the public about the advantages but also the disadvantages of these kinds of tools and also offering media literacy at this level.

Another important point that came up was media literacy in general. First, within their own organisations, but then also to the outside, the wider public. Here is a nice task for the libraries, they have a large reach anyway. On the one hand, you have to offer good alternatives yourself, but you can also lead people in making better choices: digital literacy is something libraries are working on. An idea has been floated to develop a Digital Start, a package for children (and their parents) using Boekstart as a starting point, whereby they can be introduced to the child's online existence. A topic such as Sharenting (parents sharing photos of their children online without permission) could also be discussed, through (digital) meetings where parents could participate.

It did become clear that besides working on awareness, the organisations themselves should also offer responsible alternatives, although this is not always possible. We are in a transition. We talk about privacy, for example, how this translates technically, but also that it is not about that 100% score. That is unachievable now, but you can ask yourself what are the ingredients of the services you use.

Main finding of this table: it is necessary to create a tipping point, where the larger parties can take the smaller ones with them to let knowledge spread like an oil slick. An example could be to draw up guidelines for a digitally wise procurement process: what to look out for. This way, you make an impact.

Another idea that came up was to develop a manifesto for the entire library sector. This could become part of the Library Covenant and the Network Agenda. This could then include topics at both national and local level. In practice, this could mean sharing experience but also tools. Important here is to develop things that are ingrained at the front end as being reusable and scalable, without this being part of the revenue model.

In short, it is time for a common digital agenda. 
Jointly tackling:
1. Increase awareness
2. Alternatives, where sharing experience and knowledge is crucial and common reach is used as a strength.