Online presentation at TK Forum 2021, Bangkok, Thailand

1. A room is not just a room:
The library as place and why it matters
Christian Lauersen
Director of Libraries and Citizen Services,
Roskilde Municipality
Mail: cula@roskilde.dk
Twitter: @clauersen
TK Forum 2021

2. What makes a
great place?

3. What we are going to talk about today:
1) Why public places matter
2) Placemaking: A way to work with public places
3) The Library as place and social infrastructure and how we talk about it
[I will not be talking about library decor or design]

4. Some concepts we are gonna talk about
•Places: A building or area. Public
•Individuals: You and me
•Communities: A group of individuals
•Libraries: Public, academic, special

5. Places and people: The 1995 Chicago heat wave

6. Social infrastructure are..
..spaces and organizations that shape the way people interact. When
it's robust, we are much more likely to engage one another and build
relationships. When it's degraded and neglected, we're much more
likely to hunker down and be on our own
Eric Klinenberg

7. The impact of libraries as places goes beyond walls and shelves
Working with places is working with people

8. Weak social infrastructure and loneliness
– the invisible disease of 21st societies

9. Denmark (5.5 million inhabitants)
Yearly casualties among citizens who are lonely:
770 extra deads
19.000 extra somatic admissions
3.800 extra psychiatric admissions
11 billion Thai Bath for care and treatments
Source: ”The burden of disease
in Denmark” by the National Board of Health
Weak social infrastructure and loneliness
– the invisible disease of 21st societies

10. The Library as social infrastructure:
Not only shared books but also shared places

11. First life, then spaces, then buildings
- Jan Gehl
Placemaking:
An approach to creating public places

12. Placemaking
Creating public spaces that promotes people’s health,
happiness and well being
[translated to library context]
Creating public spaces that promotes peoples and
communities ability to learn, connect and belong

13. Placemaking principles
• The Community knows best
• Places, not designs
• Make and act on observation
• Requires a vision
• Placemaking is an ongoing process

15. Placemaking case story:
The rebuilding of Roskilde Library: An investment in social
Infrastructure places for connection and community

16. Roskilde Main Library, rebuilding and placemaking 2019 - 2020
New entrance: ”LIBRARY”
The smell of coffee and freshly
backed bread
Green open public area
with a stage
Transperancy
and light
Linkage to the city
Community
involvement

18. The Library Garden and Roskilde Library after the rebuilding

21. Public places and libraries are about people connecting with stuff:
The better the place, the stronger the connections

22. Libraries and image?
TRUST

23. We can count foot traffic but how do we actually talk about the value and impact
of public places and libraries?
You cannot see the role libraries play in fighting inequality, polarization
and loneliness from a spreadsheet

24. The meaning of the public library
to citizens and community (2021)
National survey from Roskilde Central Library and Seismonaut
about the value and impact of libraries
Two primary findings about the library as a place:
The public library promotes communities by being a
place where you can meet and experience togetherness with others
- and by being a joint property without a financial barrier to access and use
-
The public library is a haven in everyday life,
where users find space for immersion
and where you take time for yourself and each other

25. “There are many different people who are common
about the library. The books are shared. The place are
shared. It unites a community”
- Woman, 18 years old
The meaning of the public library
to citizens and community (2021)

26. “The library is a place where you can come alone and
feel that you are a part of something.
You are alone but in the company of others.
That means alot to me”
- Man, 39 years old
The meaning of the public library
to citizens and community (2021)

27. To sum it up
• A place is not just a place. It effects us on a practical and emotional
level and has the power to shape us, connect us and empower
communties
• Loneliness kills
• Don’t start with the building. Start with the community
• Public places as libraries are important parts of our social
infrastructure in civic life
• We need a new language to talk about the value and impact of public
places and libraries (rapport from Roskilde in translation)

28. Final notes

29. The librarian
Final notes #1: The most valuable asset of a library
as place is the employess and the community

30. Final notes #2: Be like the anthropologist

31. Final notes #3: Great places are
a pinata of inter-related factors

32. Final notes #4: Functionality, functionality, functionality

33. Final notes #5: Embrace failures

34. Final notes #6: Never ever change
the library name to something else

35. Final notes #7: Be proud

36. Thanks for listening
Christian Lauersen
Director for Libraries
and Citizen Services
Roskilde Municipality
Mail: cula@roskilde.dk
Twitter: @clauersen
The Library Lab: christianlauersen.net
Library Planet: libraryplanet.net
Instagram: @librarylovestories