We know it’s hard to meet new people after college. Can you honestly think of a better place to meet someone than a library? Locking eyes over the Vonnegut section? Or maybe your hands brush while reaching for the last copy of Infinite Jest? Well, genre X is helping you out and shaking up traditional speed dating in an afterhours event open to all men and women in their 20s and 30s on Saturday, February 11th from 8:00-11:00 PM.

Help yourself to a drink on the house before diving into the mix. You’ll mingle with everybody during three series of short mini-dates, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. Flirt with potential dates and stir up some new friendships. Cool off between heats with a trip to the cash bar. After you’ve made the rounds, let us know who has piqued your curiosity, and we’ll let you know if they feel the same way.

Read more at Genre-X

Thanks, Donna!

A new library at the edge of a public plaza – complete with tube stop – that hosts a farmers market and other community events.

Here’s a review of the building from the Guardian. It has some typical libraries = book talk but also some higher level sentiments:

And not, according to its architect, Piers Gough, for whom “books haven’t gone away. Libraries still hold these magic realms of invention, realms of ideas. They’re places where you’re not told what to think; they’re also places where you can stay and stop and spend as long as you like.”

More from the BBC: ‘Super library’ in Southwark opens its doors

The Danish Career Library also makes people available for checkout, but the focus is learning about careers.

Palles Gavebod is a Denmark-wide library website for kids. High visual appeal and seemingly relevant content.

A wide spanning effort like this makes so much more sense than every little (or big) library trying to make pages that are appealing to young patrons.

The site even connects kids to their local library.

The Library House in Copenhagen – a small public library – took a cue from the Malmö Public Library and is experimenting with participatory design. Their project is call the Wish Library. Here’s a translated page about the Wish Library.

They’re currently focused on young adults, asking them directly what they want to do in the library. The first wish granted? A place to paint fingernails.

This is a very direct form of participatory design and it has the benefit of being transparent. Library users are aware – and surely they’re appreciative – that their opinions are being solicited. Taking steps like this can help libraries get comfortable with the process of participatory design, priming them or less direct and perhaps more sophisticated way to have users help answer bigger questions about the library.

Stine Hoffmeyer gave me some more information about the project:

How it all began
For quite a long time we talked about how we really wished for something new to happen. Something visionary that could involve our users – but still hold on to our family-profile.

The 29th of June this year I went to visit the main library (“Stadsbiblioteket”) in Malmö, Sweden. During the past few years they have worked with some great new visions to simply become “The Darling Library in The World.” This working title really spoke to my heart, but was definitely way too big to match a small library like us.

Somewhere in the library a group of tweens had been asked to come up with a lot of wishes for the librarians, because they were planning to build a special department for tweens only. These wishes were written on post-its and were hanged on the wall for a nice colorful collage. This creative experiment gave rise to ‘The Wish Library’!

I came back to my colleagues the following day and told them about this post-it-wall, and they all thought it sounded like a fantastic thing to do. One thing led to another and suddenly the idea was born: Lets make “a wish library” where the users can come to us with all their wishes and we will make them come true and create their favorite library!

The concept
It’s up to the staff to decide which of the wishes we can fulfill, but we discuss all of them no matter how difficult and unrealistic they might seem.

‘The Wish Library’ is addressed to all users regardless of age. They can either send us their wishes online or write them on a post-it and hang it on a noticeboard. A couple of times every month we gather some of the wishes and discuss them on a staff meeting. As mentioned, all wishes are taken seriously, but not everything is possible to fulfill. Some of the wishes are things that we already have, and we see this as a hint to make it more visible to the users.?

‘The Wish Library’ is a permanent project – an expand of our library user profile. It officially opened in October with a red carpet, free popcorn and balloons all over the library. We had a great deal of wishes the first week and we still receive new wishes every day. At the moment we count about 200 wishes and we are all very busy trying to fulfill as many as possible.

The wishes are anything from coffee to certain books or events. But they are also about opening hours or the practical arrangement of the library. Most of them are about cozy things like hot chocolate and extra couches.

About one time every month we post a list and hang it on the notice board for the users to see what happened to their wishes – to give them an insight in the process. Some users even wish to be directly involved in the process and we are always very open to suggestions! The list is also published online.

The future
We like to think of ‘The Wish Library’ as a brand. The logo is designed by danish graphic designer Marie Louise Heger.

We don’t expect for the ‘The Wish Library’ to cost us a lot of extra money or working hours, although it obviously will cost us extra work in the beginning. It should only be viewed as a reallocation of our resources. Before ‘The Wish Library’ the staff decided on what to buy and create for the library – now the users do it instead!

So far ‘The Wish Library’ has only received a real positive response from both users and colleagues and we’re all looking forward to fulfilling more wishes in the future!

I don’t know anything about the services of the library or what goes on there. Let’s hope they’re as striking as the building!

Clicking though the city’s photos I noticed that the mayor handed out library branded chocolate at the grand opening.

I only mention this because the chocolate bars are the square shaped Ritter Sport, one of my favorites. The shape of the bars match the cube design of the building.

Previously Libraries in Which I’d Live
Lukenwalde Edition
Glaspaleis Edition

[pictures via Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart's photostream]

Exams are stressful and the Library wants to help! This December, take a short break and relax while you recharge your batteries. You don’t even need to leave the Library! All of the following are available and FREE for students:

• Take a 30-minute yoga break
• Meet a dietitian to get valuable nutrition tips for studying
• Re-energize with a relaxation meditation
• Have a confidential chat with a wellness professional about your worries and stresses
• Indulge in a sundae bar!

Events will be offered December 6th through December 12th. Watch for a full schedule coming soon to the Library website.

Brought to you by The Wellness Centre, Athletics, Central Student Association and The Library…for your Comfort & Joy.

This is also a great example of cross departmental/agency collaboration. That being said, who knows if the students will listen to the dietitian if there’s free ice cream.

[via @etches]

Here are some full color views of this amazing and unique library space.

 
One service desk. No chair for the librarians. Love it. If I remember correctly, this is one of MCL’s branches doing a good job with reference beyond the desk.

 
MCL has a great collection called “Lucky Day.” The items are popular books exempt from the usual reserves queue. This is a fun idea that puts a positive spin on someone’s experience when they connect with a book they want. Offering a variable ratio schedule of returns, I bet it could be an effective way to get people into the building. Get lucky at the library.

 
It would have been my lucky day if I hadn’t already bought this book.

 
The library is in the midst of a bunch of neighborhood shops, restaurants and bars – a central location for the neighborhood. The “LIBRARY” sign looks great, appears to use the sign fixture for whatever was in that space before and is contextually appropriate. Nice job MCL!

The design firm’s site states that they chose a Fibonacci spiral because, like libraries, it spans the arts and sciences.

I like it most on that tote!

Brand New reports: “An interesting aspect of this visual evolution is that it correlates with the perception of the practice of library sciences: Where the cliché is an old lady with thick glasses resolving dusty books and organizing indecipherable index cards, the reality is that library organization has become an increasingly complex and technologically innovative practice. In this regard, the overly governmental and academic look of the old identity is the kind of identity an institution in the twenty-first century wants to ditch.”

The libraries I saw have overcome their addiction to circulating content. Now they’re all about doing, making, publishing, working, and experiences revolving around content. People are still getting print books and CDs for the library, sure, but other stuff seems more important. Here’s a little report.

Finland has two official languages. Finnish and Swedish.

Library 10

The first place I visited was the Helsinki CIty Library’s central location: Library 10. Even though it is the central library it is considered a music library and there aren’t many books. Right now about 70% of the space is devoted to people and 30% to materials. Their next design will expand the space for people to 80%.

Instead of books people check out guitars.

Or record music and edit music videos.

There’s a radio station and the library broadcasts a small segment locally every day, and nationally once per week.

The library is certainly nice looking but it isn’t flashy. That’s a pretty accurate description of Helsinki in general so it fits.

The chairs of this area are often moved out and a stage is set up. They host cultural events and record many of them. They’re interested in the library as publisher of content. One great fact about the events held at the library. Over 80% of them are organized by library users. Librarians just facilitate hosting the events.

Modularity is a big part of the library. All of the big furniture is on wheels and can be easily moved. They’re not limited by outlet placement because there are outlets everywhere in the ceiling. While most of the staff furniture stays put, people rearrange the public’s furniture daily. It is straightened up every morning and staff look for patterns to help plan future layouts.

It is impossible for library patrons and staff to sit on opposite side of a desk. They work together answering questions. Staff were resistent at first but quickly came to fully embrace the arrangement and wondered why they didn’t make the switch 10 years earlier.

Speaking of work, chief librarian Kari Lämsä says he prefers the concept of Library as Working Room rather than the more common Library as Living Room because living rooms are too passive.

There are all sorts of other interesting things about the library. They have a group of people working on cool web stuff. I wrote about their country-wide library searching iPhone app in January.

They have a mobile events van that takes gaming equipment to other libraries. It also travels to music events in the Summer, changing out the content to be event specific. Library 10 tries put the same kind of people on both sides of the desk. Staff aren’t your typical library workers. A bunch of them are 20-something guys.

Meetingpoint

This Helsinki CIty Library location is across the street from Library 10 in a building full of stores and cafes. There are no materials to browse or check out. People bring in their computers to the Laptop Doctor for repair and for lessons. Most of the interactions are one-on-one but there’s a Laptop Club during which many people gather for instruction.

Other services include Citizen Media Computers with multimedia and publishing tools, a new and popular VHS to DVD setup and a few computers dedicated to finding a job.

Their next project is the Urban Office Workspace for people in the city that need a temporary place to conduct business. Two successful business have already been started at Meetingpoint.

A place like Meetingpoint couldn’t work without an enthusiastic staff. Everything I observed indicated that they’re super stoked on doing what they do.

Nokia World Headquarters

A group of us heard a bit about how Nokia learns from their R&D prototypes and incorporates ideas into their final products. We also got a tour of the Nokia Lounge which is a showcase of their products. They seem most excited about their phones for the developing world and they billed all of their smartphones as being extremely affordable. It almost seemed like they’ve given up on doing anything to combat iPhone-mania.

This was the neatest thing I saw. Wireless charging.

And, just for fun, here’s the first library sign using the Cyrillic alphabet I’ve ever photgraphed!

More Stuff

Library 10 on the HCL webpage

Kari Lämsä’s presentation about Library 10

A presentation with some info on Meetingpoint

The libraries I saw have overcome their addiction to circulating content. Now they’re all about doing, making, publishing, working, and experiences revolving around content. People are still getting print books and CDs for the library, sure, but other stuff seems more important. Here’s a little report.

Finland has two official languages. Finnish and Swedish.

Library 10

The first place I visited was the Helsinki CIty Library’s central location: Library 10. Even though it is the central library it is considered a music library and there aren’t many books. Right now about 70% of the space is devoted to people and 30% to materials. Their next design will expand the space for people to 80%.

Instead of books people check out guitars.

Or record music and edit music videos.

There’s a radio station and the library broadcasts a small segment locally every day, and nationally once per week.

The library is certainly nice looking but it isn’t flashy. That’s a pretty accurate description of Helsinki in general so it fits.

The chairs of this area are often moved out and a stage is set up. They host cultural events and record many of them. They’re interested in the library as publisher of content. One great fact about the events held at the library. Over 80% of them are organized by library users. Librarians just facilitate hosting the events.

Modularity is a big part of the library. All of the big furniture is on wheels and can be easily moved. They’re not limited by outlet placement because there are outlets everywhere in the ceiling. While most of the staff furniture stays put, people rearrange the public’s furniture daily. It is straightened up every morning and staff look for patterns to help plan future layouts.

It is impossible for library patrons and staff to sit on opposite side of a desk. They work together answering questions. Staff were resistent at first but quickly came to fully embrace the arrangement and wondered why they didn’t make the switch 10 years earlier.

Speaking of work, chief librarian Kari Lämsä says he prefers the concept of Library as Working Room rather than the more common Library as Living Room because living rooms are too passive.

There are all sorts of other interesting things about the library. They have a group of people working on cool web stuff. I wrote about their country-wide library searching iPhone app in January.

They have a mobile events van that takes gaming equipment to other libraries. It also travels to music events in the Summer, changing out the content to be event specific. Library 10 tries put the same kind of people on both sides of the desk. Staff aren’t your typical library workers. A bunch of them are 20-something guys.

Meetingpoint

This Helsinki CIty Library location is across the street from Library 10 in a building full of stores and cafes. There are no materials to browse or check out. People bring in their computers to the Laptop Doctor for repair and for lessons. Most of the interactions are one-on-one but there’s a Laptop Club during which many people gather for instruction.

Other services include Citizen Media Computers with multimedia and publishing tools, a new and popular VHS to DVD setup and a few computers dedicated to finding a job.

Their next project is the Urban Office Workspace for people in the city that need a temporary place to conduct business. Two successful business have already been started at Meetingpoint.

A place like Meetingpoint couldn’t work without an enthusiastic staff. Everything I observed indicated that they’re super stoked on doing what they do.

Nokia World Headquarters

A group of us heard a bit about how Nokia learns from their R&D prototypes and incorporates ideas into their final products. We also got a tour of the Nokia Lounge which is a showcase of their products. They seem most excited about their phones for the developing world and they billed all of their smartphones as being extremely affordable. It almost seemed like they’ve given up on doing anything to combat iPhone-mania.

This was the neatest thing I saw. Wireless charging.

And, just for fun, here’s the first library sign using the Cyrillic alphabet I’ve ever photgraphed!

More Stuff

Library 10 on the HCL webpage

Kari Lämsä’s presentation about Library 10

A presentation with some info on Meetingpoint