Wrapping up Living Libraries

Written By Sarah Pyke
Illustration by anne malewski | cargocollective.com/marblesatsea

Illustration by anne malewski | cargocollective.com/marblesatsea

As we bring the Living Libraries project to a close, just a little reminder of what we’ve been up to over the last year:

  • We created around 50 hours of interviews with 47 public library professionals and users, which will be archived by National Life Stories at the British Library in early 2021. (For more on our new archive, Living Libraries: Public libraries in the words of those who use, work in and run them, see here.)

  • We used these interviews to intervene in current public libraries policy, making the case for libraries in four distinct ways: their role in health and social care; their function as vital community spaces - virtually and otherwise; their ability to provide trusted information and necessary digital services to those who otherwise might be unable to access them; and the contributions that public libraries can make to a sustainable future, in the context of climate crisis. We made eight recommendations for the future of public libraries - or read the full brief, Living Libraries: Making the case for public libraries in the words of those who use, work in and run them: A policy intervention using original oral histories here.

  • We worked with Seadog Theatre, who created these soundscapes from our interviews, on libraries of the past and of the future.

  • ...and Seadog Theatre also coped admirably with pandemic-related disruption to our existing plans for participatory installations in libraries (surfaces! touching! breathing!). Instead, they collaborated with designer Matt Stevens and game platform Sinespace on an innovative new virtual space, the Living Library. Structured like a videogame, you can explore a virtual library space and contribute your own ideas for the future of public libraries.

  • We ran a series of Twitter events, using #livinglibrarieschat to share our memories of libraries, our experiences of libraries during lockdown, and some hopes for libraries in the future.

  • We recorded a Bit Lit with the wonderful Dr Andy Kesson - watch it here, or check out the other A Bit Lit videos.

  • We celebrated Libraries Week 2020 with a takeover of Soho Radio’s Culture Channel, broadcasting three hour-long programmes on Monday 5th, Wednesday 7th and Friday 9th October 2020. For library chat, interviews with library professionals, extracts from our oral histories, soundscapes and some on-location reporting from Upper Norwood Library, you can catch up on our SoundCloud.

Readers of this blog might like to investigate two recent reports on public libraries in relation to the pandemic. 

Libraries Connected have published Libraries in Lockdown: Connecting Communities in Crisis, which shows how libraries and their staff kept communities connected and supported the most vulnerable.

The Carnegie Trust UK put out a report titled Making a Difference: Libraries, Lockdown and Looking Ahead, which includes survey results from the public, from library staff and Heads of Service.

And in next steps, we hope to take aspects of our work further, notably our findings around libraries, the environment and climate crisis. Shelley will be chairing a session on sustainability in libraries on 19 November 2020, as part of CILIP’s Conference 2020 Reimagined:

As ever, we’re incredibly grateful for all the interest and support. Thanks again to our five partner libraries, Colliers Wood Library, Falmouth Library, Peterborough Central Library, Newcastle City Library, and Storyhouse in Chester, to Arts Council England, CILIP, the APPG for Libraries, and Libraries Connected.

And thanks to you for reading. Join your local library (online), or use click and collect if you can - and visit when it’s appropriate to do so. Keep safe and healthy, and all the best from the Living Libraries team.

Sarah Pyke
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Living Libraries on Soho Radio for Libraries Week