First Annual Sponsors’ Event

Sponsors & sector leaders joined the Designing Libraries team in Warwick on September 28th to consider the priorities & future direction of the website

02 Oct 2023

Introduction

Exterior photograph of Warwick's historic building Old Shire Hall

A total of 12 delegates met in the county town’s historic Judges’ House, adjacent to the old - now disused - courts pictured above.

CILIP Chief Officer and DL Director Nick Poole introduced the event. He said: “Designing Libraries stands on the threshold of a new era”. Nick explained that a new Community Interest Company had been formed which, along with other developments, presented “new beginnings and bright possibilities”.

Progress update

Designing Libraries (DL) Director Ayub Khan gave an update on progress made towards redeveloping the website. He reported that a new Content Management System (CMS) had been installed and the mammoth task of transferring all DL content had been completed. In summary, the four-strong DL team had so far:

  • Put in a successful bid to ACE for funding
  • Commissioned web developers
  • Developed a Business Plan
  • Set up a new Advisory Board
  • Reconnected with past sponsors and advertisers
  • Explored potential new sponsorship
  • Worked on setting up a new Community Interest Company or CIC
  • Made promotional presentations at various conferences and events
  • Updated, refreshed and added new content
  • Used social media to promote the site

Ayub ended his update by saying that recent visitor activity had been encouraging and the website currently had 200 visits per day and 1,782 X/Twitter followers.

Technical matters

Nick Cave, the Designing Libraries (DL) team’s techno-wizard, talked about the importance of adapting DL’s original format for mobile devices. The developers had removed banners - which didn’t work well on mobile phones - but said partner and sponsor logos would appear on every page of the redeveloped website.

He said Designing Libraries was performing well in terms of Search Engine Optimisation and encouraged sponsors to send through video and animated content - which was relatively easy to upload on the new content management system.

Presentation

Designing Libraries Director and Chief Adviser, Karen Latimer, made a presentation focused on key questions for library planners, and recent trends - including indoor/outdoor library spaces, the importance of all things ‘public realm’ and the wellbeing agenda, and making library spaces more comfortable with features like green walls.

Karen’s top questions for library planners were:

  1. How do/will visitors use the space?
  2. What does/should a modern library look and feel like?
  3. How to engage with stakeholders throughout the process?
  4. What can be learned from other building types?
  5. Can new libraries help reinvigorate High Streets?
  6. What should planners look for when they visit other libraries?
  7. What information/data do architects need from clients?

Discussion

There were wide-ranging discussions on the future development of the Designing Libraries website. Topics and suggestions included: 

  • a Designing Libraries section on what libraries do
  • tailoring content to different user groups
  • looking at dual-use buildings
  • a focus on sustainable buildings
  • recycling existing library furniture
  • defining Designing Libraries terms and making categories clearer
  • an online user survey
  • an advocacy element - “nothing levels up like a library”
  • clarity around target audiences
  • targeting local planners, councillors and the Local Government Association
  • potential to explore Section 106 and other sources of funding for social capital projects
  • crowd funding for new local libraries
  • developing a detailed pitch for 2024 conference funding from Arts Council England
  • annual events - and biennial or triennial Designing Libraries awards
  • developing a guide for architects on ‘greening’ library buildings

Arts Council England

Luke Burton, Libraries Director for Arts Council England (ACE), spoke briefly about the Libraries Improvement Fund and its potential to provide relevant Designing Libraries case studies - and ACE sponsorship towards the cost of a national Designing Libraries Conference in 2024.

Optional Tour

After lunch delegates were offered a tour of the Judges’ House and adjacent court rooms, along with the old holding cells and dungeon, where they are pictured above.

Arts Council England's Luke Burton and Designing Libraries Chief Adviser Karen Latimer role-playing in one of the old disused courts in Old Shire Hall as policeman and judge

Closing remarks

Nick Poole said the event had shown how far Designing Libraries had come and asked what delegates thought it should do next. He thanked everyone for their input and support. He ended by saying that CILIP was “deeply committed to supporting Designing Libraries” and there was “no limit on where we can take this”. A separate meeting of the new Designing Libraries Advisory Group followed.