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Max Mueller Bhavan | India

Future Libraries

Series: Future Libraries © raumlaborberlin on behalf of Kulturprojekte Berlin

Libraries lead us through a flood of analogue and digital information, can be a platform for exchange, space for encounters or social anchors in the city. With our series “Future Libraries” we shed light on challenges, trends and examples of success around the future of the library.

The Future of the Library © raumlaborberlin on behalf of Kulturprojekte Berlin

Up-to-date library work
 Libraries are about People, not Media

Libraries create a future. Their own is uncertain. Start of the “Future Libraries” series on the libraries of tomorrow.
The Future of the Library © raumlaborberlin on behalf of Kulturprojekte Berlin

Renaissance of libraries
 New heyday

Hardly anyone still prophesies the end of the libraries. Instead, the discussion is about how to support them for the benefit of all. A thoroughly optimistic summary of our series “The Future of Libraries”.

 

The Community Library Project © TCLP

Community library
 A New Kind of Love

Delhi-based author Mridula Koshy and her partner Michael Creighton started the Community Library Project, that is helping hundreds of children become readers and, more importantly, thinkers. Read more about this library along with a very personal story of the founder.
The Future of the Library © raumlaborberlin on behalf of Kulturprojekte Berlin

Evolving library architecture
 “No future as book warehouses”

Libraries increasingly define themselves as educational and meeting centres. One important element is architecture – which sometimes calls for climbing in hiking boots!
The Future of the Library © raumlaborberlin on behalf of Kulturprojekte Berlin

Media competence versus manipulation
 What can libraries do against fake news?

Libraries are ill-equipped to fight fake news, critics say. Maybe they were celebrated too soon as bastions against misinformation. But as part of a network they can certainly act against manipulated reports.
The Future of the Library © raumlaborberlin on behalf of Kulturprojekte Berlin

Modern Work in Librarys
 „We need to diversify“

When modern libraries are discussed, the staff is often envisioned as experts in digitization, integration, inclusion. „But it’s unfair to ask someone to learn everything“, says Nate Hill, Metropolitan New York Library Council.

 

The Future of the Library © raumlaborberlin on behalf of Kulturprojekte Berlin

Libraries as Learning Locations
 “Knowledge for everyone, for free. Period”

Public and accessible meeting space becomes increasingly rare and high quality education remains out-of-reach for many people. Nico Koenig and Grif Peterson from “Peer 2 Peer University”  talk about the potential of libraries as a shared space for community building and lifelong learning.
The Future of the Library © raumlaborberlin on behalf of Kulturprojekte Berlin

Media competence versus manipulation
 What can libraries do against fake news?

Libraries are ill-equipped to fight fake news, critics say. Maybe they were celebrated too soon as bastions against misinformation. But as part of a network they can certainly act against manipulated reports.
The Future of the Library © raumlaborberlin on behalf of Kulturprojekte Berlin

Libraries and Social Media
“Make libraries great again”

Ville Vaarne, communications manager of the Finnish Library Association, has received over 200,000 hits with a Youtube video about US President Trump. For Vaarne the proof that social media is a must for libraries.
The Future of the Library © raumlaborberlin on behalf of Kulturprojekte Berlin

Libraries and Civil Society
 Just saving the world, by the way

“Nobody expects libraries to save the world, but we are in a perfect position to do just that,”say Rebecca T. Miller and Rebekkah Smith Aldrich. In this interview, the two US library experts explain why the belief that digitisation makes libraries irrelevant is a myth.
The Future of the Library © raumlaborberlin on behalf of Kulturprojekte Berlin

Libraries between tradition and progress
 Preserve and move forward

Libraries have always offered their users a share in cultural memory and knowledge of the times. This has not been changed by digitization. But the manner of knowledge transfer has.

Authors

Mridula Koshy © © Mridula Koshy Mridula Koshy © Mridula Koshy
Mridula Koshy
is a writer and library movement activist. She is a community organiser at The Community Library Project (TCLP), which advocates for free, publicly owned libraries that are open to all.

Leonard Novy © Photo: Otto Kern Leonard Novy Photo: Otto Kern
Leonard Novy
is a journalist and political scientist, co-director of the Institute for Media and Communications Policy – a Cologne-based think tank providing research and advice on media policy, digitalization, journalism and political communication – and co-editor of the multi-author blog CARTA. 

Samira Lazarovic © Photo: private Samira Lazarovic Photo: private
Samira Lazarovic
is a freelance journalist and author specializing in culture and literature as well as business and the stock market. She has also been working in project management at n-tv.de for three years.

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