Public Library Building and Development: Understanding Community Consultation and the Design Process

ABSTRACT

There is an increasing focus on the public library’s role as a place of and for the community that should have at its heart the needs of that community. In this respect, the development of new or renovated public libraries offers an opportunity for the design of these new buildings to reflect the needs and wants of the communities they serve. The aim of this project was to develop an in-depth understanding of the views and approaches of both librarians and architects involved in public library development projects in Australia. Using data gathered through semi-structured interviews this paper explores notions of community-focused design and co-design and the implications of involving the community in the process of library design for six public library development projects. Participants described a range of community engagement activities, relating benefits and challenges to the community consultation process. However, it was noted that there was also a curated nature to this input, and there was little evidence of community engagement extending beyond consultation to truly participatory design.

KEYWORDS:

• Australia
• co-design
• community
• consultation
• participatory design
• public libraries

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the participants in this research for their time and insights.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Future of the Professions Research Group at Charles Sturt University for partially funding this research.

Notes on contributors

S. Wakeling

Simon Wakeling is a lecturer in the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University. His research interests include the role and function of public libraries, and scholarly communication, particularly the open access publication and dissemination of research outputs.

M. T. Shephard

Monique Shephard is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Future of the Professions Research Group at Charles Sturt University. Her research interests include the role of public libraries in community wellbeing, with a focus on adolescents and young adult literature.

P. Hider

Philip Hider is a Professor of Library and Information Management and Head of the School of Information and Communication Studies at Charles Sturt University. He has been researching in the field of LIS for over 25 years.

H. R. Jamali

Hamid R. Jamali is an Associate Professor at the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University, Australia. He received his PhD in Information Science from University College London in 2008. His current research interests include scholarly communication, open science, and research evaluation.

M. Coe

Mary Coe is a PhD Candidate and Research Assistant in the School of Information and Communication Studies at Charles Sturt University. She is a metadata specialist and Editor of The Indexer: The International Journal of Indexing. Her current research is on information-seeking behaviour in books and other media.

J. Garner

Jane Garner is a lecturer at the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University. She publishes on topics relating to library services to disadvantaged groups, most specifically adult and child prisoner communities.