T19: Human Potential: The Future of Libraries
Session Description
Generously Sponsored by: Carr McLean
Public Libraries have an identity issue. We struggle between identifying ourselves as high end technology hubs, a branch of social services, or both. These identities do not fit within our history, funding models or professional designations. However, design thinking can help us discover what our possible future identity might look like. The process of design thinking takes us through the examination and understanding of who our customers actually are, what they are looking for from their lives and where the library can fit within that equation.
One potential outcome of the design thinking formula is an identity that focuses on facilitating human potential in the lives of our customers.
This discussion will look at what prototyping and testing this idea will look like at Sechelt Public Library in the next few years.
Speakers
Elle Audrey Archibald, Sechelt Public Library
Biography
Elle Archibald is the Chief Librarian of Sechelt Public Library. She has a background in the community-led model and uses that framework as a basis for her thinking. She was an originator of TEDxLibrariansTO: Librarians as Thought Leaders– the first TEDx event organized specifically for librarians and information professionals. Her professional background includes documentary making, new media, and instructional design. She has also presented library workshops focused on design thinking.