Library Assessment Conference

Terry Brandsma, Sam Harlow, Armondo Collins & I attended the recent Library Assessment Conference in Houston TX.  There were many good posters and presentations and the slides are all on the conference website.

The opening keynote from Paul Jarvis Heath was very good and a recording isn't on the website but his slides are on his speakerdeck page. (see Dec 5).  He talked about design thinking and how it can be applied to libraries.  A few key points:

• People don't always say what they need
• Designers use ethnography
• Suggests "co-design" workshops to get patrons' values and desires
• Take your time designing space and move purposely
• Consider everything as an experiment rather than permanent
• Don't ask if they like x or y but what do they need in useful spaces