Seattle Public Library as "Place":Community Building & Impact

Dr. Karen E. FisherAssociate Professor & Chair, MLIS Program

The Information SchoolUniversity of Washington

The Outcome Challenge

http://ibec.ischool.washington.edu

Outcome Toolkit

• Real methods for real situations

• Effectiveness

• Context-based, holistic

• Using what you have

Development & Test Sites• Queens Borough PL (New York)

• New Americans & Adult Learner programs

• Austin PL (Texas) & Flint PL (Michigan)• After-school community tech programs

• Peninsula Library System (California)• Community Info program for local non-profits

• King County Library System (Washington)• “Voices from the Rim” special, cultural program

~Tested with 10 libraries across U.S.

What’s Going On?

• Is the [X] working?

• Who is the [X] affecting and how?

• What are we accomplishing via [X] that’s unique in our community?

• How could the [X] be improved?

• Should the [X] be discontinued?

Outcomes ID’d via the Toolkit

• Attitude/perception changes• Increased access to info• Personal efficacy• Skill levels• Learning and knowledge gains• Progress toward a goal• Social capital, social networks• Status changes• Decreased transaction costs

Seattle Public Library as “Place”:Community Building

Library Quarterly

Special Issue: Library as Place

Fisher, K. E., Saxton, M. L., Edwards, P. M., & Mai, J-E. (2007). Seattle Public Library as place: Reconceptualizing space, community, and information at the central library. In G. J. Leckie & J. Buschman (Eds.). Library as Place: History, community and culture (pp. 135-160). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

New Seattle Public Library Central Building

• May 2004

• $152 million

• Rem Koolhaas, Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam

• New Oslo library

SPL Grand Opening

• 11-floors, 362,987 square feet

• "Books Spiral" displays entire non-fiction collection in continuous run over 4 floors

• 50 foot, towering glass "living room“

• Diamond-shaped exterior skin of glass and steel

• Mixing Chamber– 100+ public access computers – Reference collection– Librarians use GPS-enabled Vocera wireless

communication devices

Ray Oldenburg’s 3rd Place

Public places where we can be found when we are not at home or work

• Personal and social benefits• e.g., cafes and hair salons• 8 characteristics

What’s Yours?

Is the New

Central Library a

Third Place?

Research Question

What does the SPL Central Library mean as a

• Physical Place• Social Place, and• Informational Place

to its users and passers-by?

Methodology

• Oct 8 – Nov 7, 2004

• MLIS graduate student assistants

• 226 interviews• 151 users in varied library locations• 75 passers-by

• 30 open and closed questions

• Word association

• Starbucks coupon

The Interviewees

• 52% Male

• 18 to 82 in age

• 67% White, 12% Asian, 7.5% Black

• 3% English not spoken at home

SPL as Physical Place:Structure & Architecture

“I’m a warm and cozy person, so when I first saw it, it seemed cold. But now that we’re here, we’ve made it our own place.”

• Most “loved it”• Strong sense of ownership of new

space• Recognized as “their” library

Place, Cont’• Civic pride, iconic• Modernity, visionary• Openness

“One of the greatest additions to Seattle that I’ve seen in a long time. Sometimes, I purposely walk by just to pass it.”

“I like the transparency between the inside and the outside. Still feels like it’s part of the city even though it’s a huge building.”

“It’s a change from how people think of libraries.”

“You can go up 9 to 10 levels and look down over the rail. You know how you get that stomach feeling, when it lurches? I love that!”

SPL as Social Place“To come here is a social event for me, but it’s not like I come here to find dates. Not yet, at least.”

• 54% users come with other people• Varied reasons, for themselves and others

– “I have an invalid friend and I get CDs for her”– “My sister’s in jail because of her manic depression

condition. I want to help her get treatment and want to learn about what it’s like for her”

– “I used the computers to produce a newsletter for my volunteer position”

– “I look at Arab books for my woman”

• Social interaction, community building

Books are Our Friends…

• Meet them at the library, you can take them home

“Anything you want is in a book except human contact, and even then if you’re engrossed in the story that is a form of contact.”

Librarians as Social Type

• Nice, kind, friendly, helpful, educated, knowledgeable, quiet women, who wear glasses and provide people with advice and aid in searching

• “They know everything! If I say, “I read this book once and it had this girl in it,” they’re like “I know that book, it’s right over there.”

• “Too overzealous. Every time I go to have a smoke I have to hide books or they stash them in a back room for a couple of days.”

Free Speech

• “What libraries are for”

• “Relates to library policy of non-discrimination”

• “Literature of different opinions”

• “I think it’s terrific they don’t give out patrons’ records”

• “It’s good, [the library is] protected, records are destroyed”

Speaking Freely…

I yelled at a librarian the other day. I couldn’t get logged in and he said that the computer was reserved. I said I only wanted it for 5 minutes and he said “okay,” but by that time someone else had taken it and there were no others for me. So I yelled at him. I didn’t get kicked out, so I guess that‘s free speech.

SPL as Informational Place

• Gateway

• Catalyst

• No Boundaries

“I can get anything I want if I have the time”

“A place for seeking and understanding”

Book Spiral

“It threw me off at first, but it's really kind of nice that the books are continuous.”

“I didn't really understand what the numbers on the floor were about. I thought it had to do with which floor I was on.”

“Just another way of naming floors, except getting to them is ‘spirally’.”

How Would you Find a Bookwithout Asking a Librarianor Using a Computer?

• Wander• Look around • Walk up and down spiral

“I would start at the top and walk down through the spiral. Walk through the sections and figure them out.”

They Call it a Bargain…

“Everyone can have a membership.”

“A society without public libraries is going nowhere.”

“I spend more on lattes each week.”

SPL as 3rd Place?Areas of Agreement

Neutral ground: people come and go, no required host, all feel comfortable

Leveler: inclusive place, accessible to the general public, no membership criteria

Home away from home: provides psychological comfort and support

SPL as 3rd Place?Areas of Disagreement

Conversation is NOT main activity though occurs freely and facilitated by 3rd floor living room, etc

NOT always assured of finding an acquaintance, especially given size and complexity of building

NO “regulars” or “fellow customers” to specially welcome newcomers

SPL as 3rd Place?Areas of Disagreement

Physical structure is NOT low and unimpressive; visitor experiences building as well as its resources;

NOT a playground: setting is fun, but users are serious about work and learning

SPL: A Third Place in Spirit

Personal benefits: novelty, perspective, spiritual tonic, and friendship via its collection, staff, services and clientele.

Societal good: political role, habit of association, recreational spirit, and importance “in securing the public domain for the use and enjoyment of decent people.”

No negative 3rd place characteristics of segregation, isolation or hostility

Social Capital

• SPL facilitates human relationships via trust and understanding and hence nurtures community

• Supports bonding and bridging social capital– links together people of similar ilk– promotes diversity by assembling people of

different types

• Echoes Putnam & Feldstein’s observations of the Chicago Public Library’s Near North Branch

Future Research

• Deeper analysis of how people use the book spiral

• Interview SPL staff

• Applicability of 3rd place framework to branch libraries

New View

Social Capital People Factors

3rd Place People + Place

Info Grounds People + Place + Info

Challenge for libraries: make social interaction a by-product of info flow

Info GroundsPeople-Place-Information Trichotomy

Place• Focal Activities• Conviviality• Creature Comfort• Location & Permanence• Privacy• Ambient Noise

People• Membership Size• Membership Type• Familiarity• Actor Roles • Motivation

Information• Significance• Frequency Discussed• How Created/Shared• Topics

Theories ofInformation Behavior (2005)Fisher, Erdelez & McKechnie (Eds)

Current IBEC Projects

Info Grounds (Online-MoSoSo, places of worship, workplace, disaster sites)

Mobile technology for women shoppers

Lay Mediaries & online consumer health info seeking

Impact of community technology centers

Neighborhood orgs and use of Hartford PL

Interpersonal info-seeking: stay-at-home moms, and preteens

“211” and its impact on communities

Helping Maximize the Impact of Info in

Communities

ibec.ischool.washington.edu

fisher@u.washington.edu

HVALA!