Transcript The Library User’s Perspective of the Future Andreas

The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries:
An Outside Perspective
Andreas Mittrowann
Helsinki, September 16th, 2007
The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Our Identity
 The Bertelsmann Stiftung was
founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn
following the principle that ownership
of property entails an obligation to
civic engagement.
 Although nonpartisan, the
Bertelsmann Stiftung takes an active
stance on important issues.
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Our Activities
We concentrate on long-term, innovative cross-departmental projects
that serve as catalysts to propel our society toward a viable future.
Four programs:
Education, Economic and Social Affairs, Health, and
International Relations
Two cross-departmental projects:
Work/Life Balance, Demographic Change
Four departments/Centers of Excellence:
Center of Excellence for Communities and Regions, Culture, Philanthropy
and Foundation Development, Center of Excellence for Corporate Culture
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
International Network of Public Libraries
Basic conditions
 increasing competition
 social contribution
 finances
 part of the public sector
 change of working world
 quick learning
 division of labour
 constant innovation
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Objectives of the Network
 pool worldwide know-how
 search for "best practices"
 exchange of experience
 development of innovative model solutions
 transfer into practice
 product-oriented mode of work
 dissemination of results
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Australia
Members
Canada
Denmark
.. . .
. ..
........ .
.
Finland
France
Germany
Netherlands
.
New Zealand
.
.
..
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
USA
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Why did we choose public libraries from Nordic countries?
Excellent
public
management
Technological
innovation
Thinking in
target groups
Straight
forward
thinking leaders
High
library
standards
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
A SWOT-Analysis for Nordic public libraries
 SWOT = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
 Used as a tool in strategic processes
 Credited to Albert Humphrey, Stanford University, in the 1960s and 70s,
using data from the Fortune 500
 Questionnaire sent to all members of the former International Network of
Public Libraries, now called PLIN
 14 responses from all over ther world: 6 from Europe,
4 from Oceania, 4 from North America
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
The questionnaire
 Which keywords come to your mind when you think of public libraries in
Nordic countries?
 Which strengths do you see in Nordic public libraries?
 Which weaknesses do you see in Nordic public libraries?
 Which opportunities do you see for Nordic public libraries?
 Which threats do you see for Nordic public libraries?
 Now make a guess on the most mentioned
keywords!
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Keywords
strategic (1)
too self-satisfied (1)
democracy (1)
cooperation (1)
imagination (1)
creative (1)
service philosophy (1)
leadership (1)
high engagement in multicultural
society (1)
modern, progressive,
cutting edge (3)
hi tec & new technologies (3)
innovation (10)
well-resourced (2)
busy (1)
well-used (1)
architecture,
furnishing & buildings
(6)
Well trained and selfconscious
sharing (1)
staff (1)
responsive (1)
same but different (1)
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Strengths (1)
 Attitude and mission
- Strong political support, library legislation and therefore financial stability
- Long tradition of strong libraries
- Strong community support for libraries and models for community use
- Strong support of their unique language and literature
- Willingness to experiment
- Willingness to learn and to share learnings
- Nimbleness
- Innovation within budget constraints
 Cooperation and communication
- Cooperation is a habit
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Strengths (2)
 Resources and costs
- High calibre of directors and staff, solid professional base
- Beautiful buildings which serve as public places: everyone is welcome
- Good funding
- Technical innovation
- Technological savvy
- Architecture
- Facilities that portend the future
- High literacy
 Usage and services
- Heavy use
- Conscientious work on standards that other nations need to pay attention to
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Weaknesses (1)
 Attitude & Mission
- Too much self satisfaction - threats are not realised before it‘s too late
- Sometimes rather conservative attitude towards service development
- Not open to new ideas from abroad
- Are they focused suffiently strongly on the value of reading in itself?
- Tendency in some Nordic countries to provide what is good for people rather than
responding to what people want?
- Not a great deal of diversity (except in some places in Denmark)
 Resources & Costs
- Possibly their buildings are older in many cases?
- Very expensive in comparison with German libraries
- A certain coldness in the use of fabrics, timber and finishes
- Limited publication program which might lead to less stock breadth?
- Print collections to reflect immigrant populations
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Weaknesses (2)
 Communication & Cooperation
- They haven‘t told their story loudly enough to the outside world!
- Limited cooperation with other professionals
(web designers, journalists, marketing managers) and researchers
- Competition for funding, public and philanthropic
 Usage & Services
- Are they prepared for a downturn in use and budget reductions?
- Is there a complacency that the usual user base will survive and that libraries
can grow with them?
- Relatively low use in some Nordic countries
- Limited opening hours in evenings / weekends
- Bureaucracy
- The structure of the MARC-Format
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Opportunities (1)
 Attitude & Mission
- To keep doing what they are doing, and to be world leaders
- To be world leaders in building and technical innovation
- Increase role for citizens through new offers
- To (continue to) be seen as local IT centres of excellence
- The public service which acts as a bulwark for democracy
and freedom by enabling access to ALL knowledge without
fear or favour
 Resources & Costs
- Willingness to look at the „new“ library from a facilities viewpoint
(Århus, Stockholm)
- Funding through European sources?
- Positive attitude of politicians gives a good supportive
background
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Opportunities (2)
 Usage & Services
- Adapting and developing the libraries activities and services from the point of
view of the community member
- Develop more integrated services with other public sector
(and private) service providers
- Developing the libraries to be more self-instructional and still provide advanced
and specialized service if needed
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Opportunities (3)
 Communication & Cooperation (extract from feedback)
- Tradition of competition and learning from best practice [...]
- 5 more feedbacks on cooperation
- Further extend shared digital library initiatives
- Working together with other libraries in other countries
- Inform librarians in other countries about services
for immigrants and technological innovations,
encourage those to visit the area
- More information about what is happening (IFLA conference in Helsinki,
Copenhagen or Stockholm)
- The chance to become inreasingly involved as a partner in lifelong learning
- Collaboration on print publications to reflect immigrant populations
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Threats (1)
 Attitude & Mission
- To stay relevant and to keep public libraries as a valued
public institution
- Remain / return to „book only“-libraries because of copyright
problems with digital content
- Failure of the professional market place if it is confined
to librarians „in house“
- Social and political pressure that libraries are not important
and will not be used
- When you‘re among the worlds best it‘s always hard to keep up
the momentum for good ideas
- Closed system within Europe
- We devote so much energy to the exciting new roles that we forget the primay
role. Libraries by definition are always going to be about books. Lower financial
provision for books starts to cause public dissatisfaction.
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Threats (2)
 Resources & Costs
- Some libraries still serve very small municipalities and therefore
struggle to get sufficient resources to be innovative
- Loss of funding is always an issue for every library
- The financing of increased capital costs for more self-service
 Cooperation & Communication
- Lack of cooperation
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Summary and suggestions as a mindmap
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The Potential of Nordic Public Libraries: An Outside Perspective
Summary and suggestions
 Nordic Public Libraries: innovative, technologically savvy, progressive and
well funded! Their excellent buildings are acknowledged worldwide.
 Strengths can be found in ongoing political support and financial stability as well
as a professional and well educated staff with forward thinking leaders.
 Weaknesses: More focus on diversity and immigrants needed, still a lot of
potential for cooperation with partners. Check for readiness to import ideas from
abroad and ability to spread own successes in other countries.
 Opportunities: Many! Keep standards and build on them, integrating politicians
and citizens. Make services easier to use and develop new services together
with public and private partners. Cooperation as a megatrend.
 Threats: Keep eyes on copyright developments and on expectations of our
customers. Books may be not outdated as fast „as we may think“. Ignorance
against cooperation and shared services may lead to serious threats.
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Thank you very much for your attention.
Andreas Mittrowann
Since September 1, 2007:
ekz.bibliotheksservice GmbH
Phone: +49 7121 – 144 - 111
E-mail: [email protected]