Designing for Communities with Communities: A Public Library Codesign Project

Abstract

ABSTRACT Codesigning public library spaces is often limited to consulting with end-users rather than giving them a role as actual co-designers. This article advocates for more genuine codesign of public library spaces and critically examines the prevalent challenges in achieving true codesign in public library developments. The article introduces a two-year Australian Research Council Linkage research project, ‘Designing for Communities with Communities’. The project aims to provide public library staff with a set of codesign tools they can adapt for their own particular projects. Using comparative case studies, the project will also identify the challenges of integrating codesign into the development of public library spaces, and key factors in the effectiveness of projects that seek their communities’ inputs and engagement. This article introduces the theory of participatory and codesign, and sets out the basic conceptual framework for the project. It also reports on its initial stages, including preliminary interviews with key protagonists and preliminary user surveys about existing spaces. Moreover, the article discusses the design of the case studies’ community workshops, where most of the actual codesigning will take place, with an extensive discussion and analysis of the activities that could be included in these workshops.