OBA and Almere Public libraries study visit We were a small group of librarians that wanted to study two of the forward looking libraries in Netherlands. OBA in Amsterdam and Almere Library, both public libraries. OBA Public Library 1919 the first public library, community service, in Amsterdam was established. The new library was finished in 2007 and opened 7/7. 73m was invested then and now it is open 10AM-10PM It is one of 26 libraries, 330 FTE staff, serving the Amsterdam community of 800 000 inhabitants with a total of 178 nationalities. Total yearly cost is 30m. 12m is the central library part. The budget is centralised. The library staff, librarians and service officers, have different backgrounds, 30-40% are non-dutch. About 2m loans of books in total with about 850 000 in the main library alone. Music and dvd:s are adding to that but in shrinking proportions. For example, DVDs has in a few years gone down from over 200 000 loans a year to 115 000. Non-fiction books also suffers a slight downfall the last 10 years. A note is that only 1/3 comes to the library to borrow books. In Netherlands as an adult you have to pay to be a member, then having access to the services. 35 a year. Less if you are between 19 and 23 years and you do not pay at all as a child (<19 years). As a member you can use the library computers and wifi for free. 1/5 th of the grown up population are members and this figure is falling. This is explained by the fact that there is information at the internet, reducing the libraries information service status.
600 000 books and 900 periodicals are at the members disposal. Non-traditional services as a radio studio, theatre/forum facility and exhibition area complements. Martin Berendse, the chief librarian since a couple of years gives credit to his predecessors for the progress the Amsterdam public library has achieved. He is certain there will be more demand for the libraries because of the work initiated. The Amsterdam library works in an environment where 51% are non-indigenous and as many as 34% non-europeans. 29% of the population do have a higher education level. Unemployment is a challenge. One goal is that there should be one library per 30 000 inhabitants. More small ones than a few big ones. The branches do cover 60% of the total (loans/visits). After the building of the new central library the focus is now on the branches. Branch libraries could very well be combined with other spaces like a Community centres, schools and so on. But the library should be profiled, no stepping down in quality of services. The Bijlmer branch with a 70% non-dutch-born population is especially strong in working with community groups and staging program activities. The Imagine IC Heritage is especially worth mentioning. It is the heritage of the immigrants home countries that is represented. http://www.imagineic.nl/english Some of the forward looking activity concern cooperation with the community. As well as with individuals and groups as with corporations like the large Albert Heijn grocery chain. With the Albert Heijn corporation the library has initiated language programs with homework classes for the grocery chain staff.
The cooperation strategy is labelled CoOBA. According to the director OBA librarians are transforming form actors to co-operators, or curators if you like. IHLIA LGBT (HBQT) heritage collection forms a part of the OBA services which is a perfect example of how to work with community inclusion. http://www.ihlia.nl/?lang=en Digital literacy program activities form strong part of the educational programs. Improve digital skills among young people is a definite! Cooperation with adult education programs is part of the work in digital literacy. Immigrant women do visit the library, for some the only public spot they attend. One particular service that makes OBA proud is the Radio Broadcasting studio in which pupils from all over Amsterdam are invited to create a show. Impressive! Martin Berendse states that the resources of the OBA are the basis, the platform for the communication between the people of the community. Organizing the cooperation, having people sharing their skills is the work of the librarian staff. Curators indeed. Then you have to meet the community eye to eye, tell them about your resources and inspire. It seems to be a new tendency among local politicians to see libraries as a social-economic asset instead of cultural. A social-cultural hub. We have a library, we are not a library, Berendse said. At the library learning and cultural activities are ongoing and the librarians use the collections as a means of supporting these activities. Understanding this gives a different perspective on a librarians work. Martin Berendse ends his dialogue with us by pointing out that the new directions of the library surely will mean an end to budget cuts.
Almere Public Library - De nieuwe bibliotheek Almere has 200 000 inhabitants and at the library there are 90 FTE occupied by 140 staff. Visits are increasing up till this year, now a slight downfall ((3%), around 100 000 a month is still very impressive for a town of that size. They have 1m loans in a year. Loans and members are decreasing. Digital visits are up. The construction of the library started in 2005. It is famous for taking a full and consistent approach in the showing off the physical library in the best possible retail approach. Awards: - In November 2010 the professional jury awarded Meyer en Van Schooten, the architects, the Architectuurprijs Almere (Architecture Award Almere) for their design of de nieuwe bibliotheek. - In November 2010 Concrete Architectural Associates, the interior decorators, won the Lensvelt de Architect Interior award (LAi 2010) for their interior design of de nieuwe bibliotheek; - In December 2010 de nieuwe bibliotheek was chosen as the best library in the Netherlands by Bibliotheekblad (a professional magazine). Almere has also experimented with different services on the net like https://www.seats2meet.com/ to connect people with different skills in need of each other. E-books, as in all Dutch libraries, are served through a national service. http://www.bibliotheek.nl/e-books.html Look here http://www.readersfirst.org/program for a discussion on such an arrangement.
According to our host the Almere library has shifted focus from supply to demand. Most community members don t know what they want visiting public libraries, she said. Up to 70-75 percent of the customers do not visit the library with a specific title in mind. As a comment this is very much the difference between public and research libraries. Research libraries concentrates on building the best possible access to research material. A public library like Almere tries to understand the community inhabitants needs and address the services accordingly. The architects and the library staff have worked hard to get it right in the physical library transforming a large space in to a sense of place. They want to become a point where the library nurture, educate and bring people together. It should be a warm and inviting place. At the same time part so f the library, like the reading room should communicate seriousity and business. Walking around in the library we feel that the attempt of making an attractive library with inspiring presentations of the media is successful. The arrangement of the shelves, the graphic communication works. We can see what all the buzz around this library is about. And we like it. We question though the arrangement of the collection and partly the supporting graphics. A collection of shelves is designated mainly for men and another mainly for women. The first presented by high voltage symbols in blue, the second with yellow flowers.
One change from the original set of furniture is the exclusion of cosy sofas for teenagers. They were once set on fire. No cosier sofas after that incident. A much bigger change is the change of focus. The retail orientation is still there and it helps people inside. But now is the time to finds new ways of work. A proactive attitude is required. This resembles the staff strategy in OBA (and other libraries around the world). Digital innovation is key and the library will try out different actions to find the right ways in improving the community in digital literacy. Also including edutainment. One far out experiment was arranging a drone race. Inside the library! https://youtu.be/3ivwhxp262y Publicity is easy :-) The video is done in cooperation with a close by educational institution. These institution pupils are part of library services in programs, labs and so on. Program events, like digital labs, are more and more important. Some programs are for free. High class authors may cost 10. Worth mentioning is the theatre forum facility which is functioning as an arthouse cinema three-four times a week. Our host finishes the tour by stating that a library has to stay develop itself constantly, stay new and inspiring!