The Oslo Deichmanske Library is Norway’s largest and oldest public library and consists of 16 branches across the City of Oslo. The library has the entire population of Oslo as its users and the new main library in Bjørvika will open to the public in 2019. The Deichmanske Library wants to take a new and fresh look at the types of services that the new main library should offer. To this end, it carried out a DIP project, aimed at identifying user needs and developing new library services.
Challenge
The new Deichmanske Library is to be the most important arena in the city for literature, as well as a place for knowledge sharing, competence building and cultural experiences. With so many different types of users and needs, developing services that are appropriate for all users in an increasingly more digital world was particularly challenging.
Photo: Ukjent
Process
The library hired service designers from Livework Nordic to identify user needs. These designers conducted 16 qualitative in-depth interviews with a total of 29 persons of different backgrounds. The goal was to establish key insights from users, non-users, employees and experts.
The results showed that:
1. A variety of spaces with inviting and distinctive characteristics are pleasant to spend time in.
2. Courses on specific topics, reading groups and story-time (reading aloud) are popular services.
3. The book as a physical object holds a special status in an increasingly more digitised world. 4. The library is the perfect meeting place to cultivate special interests and offer low-threshold services.
Livework arranged a brainstorming session in which 80 library employees shared their thoughts in response to the results of the user studies. This resulted in more than 200 ideas for innovative services.
Photo: Ukjent
Result
These ideas in turn resulted in five different concepts for how the Deichmanske Library can:
- Become an active participant in the cityscape.
- Put the spotlight on knowledgeable individuals.
- Continuously adapt to people, themes and the times.
- Establish a meeting place.
- Facilitate interaction between the physical and digital.
These five concepts formed the foundation for a number of services to be offered by the new main library. The user insights and service vision provide guidelines for decisions and priorities in the new building in Bjørvika. For example, there will be arenas where people can meet to create and share and the expertise of the staff will be highlighted.
Photo: Ukjent
