CLIENT: Lancashire County Council

PROJECT: Libraries of the Future

Library sign.jpg

What were MAKE asked to do?

Lancashire County Council asked MAKE how it could refresh its libraries, particularly looking at underutilised spaces within them and times of the day when they were underused. They also wanted to know how new user groups, and specifically children and young people, could be encouraged in to use the service more.

How did MAKE do it?

  • Using depth interviews, focus groups and mass participation events we engaged with librarians and library users about how they used the county’s libraries currently, what they loved about them and what was missing.

  • For non-users we spent considerable time getting underneath the skin of why they didn’t currently use them and segmented them into two groups: those who we believed would become library users if the service or the interior environment were different; and those who would never be tempted in.

  • We made a particular effort to understand how modernising libraries should not impinge upon what people already loved about them, but rather what could enhance and complimented them. People are very protective about their libraries!

What happened next?

MAKE’s research was the bedrock of a new libraries strategy and the Get it Loud in Libraries project. Get it Loud… utilised underused spaces in Lancashire’s many libraries (or opened them later into the evening – a key MAKE recommendation) to stage free gigs for young people. Stars such as Adele, Florence + The Machine, Clean Bandit, Noah And The Whale and Jessie J have all played evenings to young people at Lancashire’s libraries.

What unique value did MAKE bring to this project?

We worked with a really funky interior design and architecture practice to develop possible models for reconfiguring library spaces that could be tested with young people. We used physical models and combined this with our expertise in engaging with children and young people with disabilities, many of whom are able to express themselves better though tactility and sensory expression rather than traditional research techniques.