Category: Uncategorized

One of the things that stands out to me in our readings about hyperlinked environments is that while the physical space of a library is important, being intentional—and expansive—about creating a welcoming environment is paramount. DOKK1 in Aarhus is an example of cutting-edge library architecture, but its beauty lies not just in its stunning views or sleek shelving but also in the way the space was designed to fully serve the people who use it.

Cardboard Knights at DOKK1: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aakb/28134774212/in/album-72157668074145883

DOKK1 “is based on a vision that is strongly inspired by the [four-space] model,” which describes “four different spaces, or universes, that the library can include” and examines “how the library can be developed from a passive collection of books and other media into an active meeting place to create connections between people, experiences, learning and inspiration” (Skot-Hansen, 2017).

Diagram depicting the four-space model (Skot-Hansen, 2017).

This thoughtful approach to creating hyperlinked, community-focused environments is just as applicable to my neighborhood library as it is to an award-winning feat of design. Smaller public libraries may be working with less money and smaller spaces, but they can still prioritize using the space they have in ways that will best work for their patrons. Given my interest in the intersection of libraries and democracy, I was thrilled to find a recent discussion by Rasmussen and Larsen (2026) about “the democratic role of libraries” (p. 127) based on the four-space model. In their version of the diagram, “Rights, Citizenship, Public Sphere, and Influence … represent the key dimensions of democracy,” while “Access, Education, Dialog, and Participation … broadly illustrate how public libraries can support these chosen dimensions of democracy” (p. 127).

I love the idea that by fostering environments in which folks can learn and have important conversations, libraries are helping to cultivate a healthy democracy. Participatory service is a big part of this, as “participation represents a shift from providing services to their communities to working with them. From a democratic perspective, this approach can be seen as a revitalization of ancient direct democracy, where citizen par­ticipation was the foundation of democratic governance” (Rasmussen & Larsen, 2026, p. 127). Maybe this looks like community conversations about local events or issues, or maybe it could look like people learning from each other in more informal environments.

I’ve been amazed at the connections people have made in my monthly book club at the library—connections to each other, but also connections between their own lives and the books we read. A few months ago, we read The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. It’s a novel that takes place in McCarthy-era D.C., and one of the characters ends up working for Margaret Chase Smith—the first woman to serve as both a congressperson and a senator. In the book, the senator from Maine is preparing to deliver her “Declaration of Conscience” in opposition to McCarthyism.

One of my regulars appeared at that book club with handouts. She told us all that “Maggie” Chase Smith was a dear friend of her family’s growing up, and one year as a birthday present Maggie had given her a handwritten copy of the Declaration of Conscience. As a child, she was unimpressed with the gift, but now she was sharing with us how special it was. She then handed out copies of the speech to all of us to reflect upon later. When I think about this story, I see how libraries are perfect places for forging connections, having deep conversations, and cultivating “democratic potentials” (Rasmussen & Larsen, 2026).

References

Grant, R. (November 2021). How Memphis created the nation’s most innovative public library. Smithsonian Magazine.

Rasmussen, C. H., & Larsen, H. (2026). Four democratic potentials in public libraries: A model. The Library Quarterly, 96(2), 123–139. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1154264155/fulltextPDF/BF8F14C994044258PQ/1?accountid=10361&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals

Richardson, H. C. (2026, June 1). Margaret Chase Smith’s “Declaration of Conscience,” Narrated by Governor Janet Mills [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F13vuHGf44U&list=PL2dS6uX1RkUzLppeUrqtvApwnR6whO7I_&index=46

Skot-Hansen, D. (2017) Library development: From collection to connection. Impact of Humanities Research: 24 Case Studies. University of Copenhagen Faculty of Humanities. https://287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/4-Spaces-Model-from-Univ-Copoenhagen.pdf

There was a lot of meaty material in our Hyperlinked Communities module about building connections through conversation and engagement. I’ve found  myself very interested in the role that libraries play in upholding democracies—a fitting subject as we approach the 4th of July and the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. The resources in this module drove home for me one of the ways that libraries do this: by facilitating discourse among people in a community. In her 2001 book Libraries and democracy: The cornerstones of liberty, Nancy Kranich wrote that

An informed public constitutes the very foundation of a democracy; after all, democracies are about discourse—discourse among the people. If a free society is to survive, … It must allow unfettered dialogue and guarantee freedom of expression. Libraries deepen the foundation of democracy in our communities. (p. v)

This kind of “unfettered dialogue” is also promoted by Casey and Savastinuk (2007) in their Library 2.0 approach to participatory library services:

As librarians, we know that a give-and-take conversation is critical to being understood. We work with the reference interview every day; the give and take of a dialogue can make conversations clearer and more easily understood. (p. 84)

In 2025, my library hosted a book club in conjunction with the local police department that was facilitated by a library staff member and the relatively new chief of police. The book club, which included a discussion of the novel Widows of Malabar Hill featuring a character based on the first woman to become a lawyer in India in the 1920s, was an effort to strengthen ties between the community and the police after a tumultuous few years. It was attended by about 60 people and brought a diverse group together to have a dialogue about relevant, and somewhat controversial, issues but through the lens of historical fiction. It was a wild success, in my opinion. I would love to see more events like this at my library.

So I was thrilled to read Dixon’s “Convening community conversations” article about different ways that libraries are facilitating these conversations, sometimes around shared local history or by way of a film screening. Patrons participate in these dialogues with each other, but they also steer future library services. As Dixon notes, “group discussions can flourish when the patrons develop programs with local staff and feel empowered, coming up with ideas that matter to them” (p. 44).

This is democracy in action. As Ciara Eastell put it in her 2019 TEDx talk,

it’s the combination of the different activities and different people that give the library its life, its energy, its vitality…. libraries are the very definition of heterotopias, places of transformation, places of multiplicitous possibility, places that are inherently inclusive.

References

Casey, M. E., & Savastinuk, L. C. (2007). Library 2.0: A guide to participatory library service. Information Today. Inc. https://287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Library2.0Text.pdf

Dixon, J. A. (2017, October 15). Convening community conversations. Library Journal, 41–44. https://287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CONVENING_COMMUNITY_CONVERSATI.pdf

TEDx Talks. (2019, June 13). Ciara Eastell: How libraries change lives [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvt-lHZBUwU&t=3s

Kranich, N. C, ed. (2001). Libraries and democracy: The cornerstones of liberty. American Library Association. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sjsu/detail.action?docID=3001592

Participatory service is vital because so many elements of library design and service depend upon the patrons being served. It’s a good thing that librarians are committed to lifelong learning so they can approach their work with the “constant and purposeful change” discussed by Casey and Savastinuk in Library 2.0 (2007). Every community (and therefore its library patrons) has different needs! These needs are met in large and small ways—from creating breathtaking architecture that reflects a city’s design aesthetic to deciding where certain collections go so patrons can best find them. I am interested in how librarians can best leverage participatory service to foster social ties and nurture libraries as a vibrant third places in their particular communities.

The “Preferred Third Place”

How can a community’s library become “the preferred Third Place,” as Leferink (2018) put it, “where people let down their guard, relax, be themselves, develop new friendships, and deepen existing ones”? From our readings, it appears clear that one way is via participatory service. In “Age of Participation” from Wholehearted Librarianship, Professor Stephens says that “the era of participatory culture demands that cultural and information professionals play an active, visible role in our communities” (Stephens, 2016, p. 80). This was clear in the videos we watched in Module 4: from the “social librarian” at Dokk1 in Aarhus, Denmark, who engages the marginalized people served by Værestedet through the Dokk1 Writing program, to the gorgeous Oodi library in Helsinki that offers dedicated spaces for video gaming and cooking, to the YOUmedia labs at Chicago Public Library where youth get to be with their friends AND learn something.

While not all of our libraries will look like the Helsinki Central Library Oodi, we can tailor our offerings to the needs of our patrons. Abrams (2025) discusses the University of Amsterdam Library, which opened in September, 2025, and

shows what is possible when an institution takes this mission seriously. The building embodies a careful balance of past and future. … Crucially, the library’s planners sought input from students. They wanted not just a gleaming architectural statement but a place that worked for their daily lives: quiet study nooks, group work areas, and, importantly, stacks of actual books. Their preferences shaped the final design. The result is a building that feels human-scaled and welcoming rather than sterile or intimidating.

Abrams claims that this input from students contributed to its success as a third place and argues that “in an age of polarization and digital isolation, [third places] are more important than ever.”

Personal Connection and Empathy

Libraries already provide so many wonderful resources that people want and need, but analyzing how patrons use these resources and the ways that we can improve our offerings is a continual job. Additionally, fostering the role of libraries as third places means leaning into the personal connections people form there. As Leferink (2018) says, third places are “about sociability, not isolation.” I was reminded of this last week at the meeting of my monthly book club. I usually have about eight regulars, plus an occasional newbie. Several last-minute cancellations and two no-shows meant that I had two people attend that night. TWO! I lamented to other staff and hoped for a fruitful conversation anyway. I had some time beforehand to chat with my most faithful regular, a recent widow who explained to me that she saw a particularly isolating summer ahead as other groups were taking breaks and her friends were traveling with their families. I assured her that book club was still on for the summer months—no matter how many people showed up.

I was struck by Professor Stephens’s statement that “across our communities and across cultures, understanding, empathy, and kindness matter in everything we do. Technology extends human reach but participation requires engaged participants who feel welcome, comfortable, and valued” (Stephens, 2016, p. 81). I look forward to further exploring how to make my library patrons feel this way—now and into the future.

Jonathan Edward Durham, author and one of the funniest people on my IG feed, sums it up.

References

Abrams, S. (15 September, 2025) https://www.aei.org/society-and-culture/the-library-as-a-third-place-amsterdams-new-model-for-civic-life/

Casey, M. E., & Savastinuk, L. C. (2007). Library 2.0: A guide to participatory library service. Information Today.

Leferink, S. (2018, January 24). To keep people happy … keep some books. OCLC Next. https://blog.oclc.org/next/to-keep-people-happy-keep-some-books/

Stephens, M. (2016). The heart of librarianship: Attentive, positive, and purposeful change. ALA Editions.

I’ve had this experience frequently where I’m reading something that connects directly to something else I’ve recently read or heard about or thought about. I’ve decided to call this phenomenon “literary synchronicity,” and I think the story I told in my first post about the editor of The Encyclopedia of Community surreptitiously taking my picture at a protest after I had recently cited her book for INFO 200 falls into this category. Now I find myself with another instance of literary synchronicity on my hands, this time related to INFO 287.

Our current module includes a reading from Wholehearted Librarianship in which Professor Stephens discusses the book Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence:

I haven’t read this book yet, but it has been sitting on a shelf above my desk for about two years, ever since I rescued it while weeding books that had been de-selected from my library’s collection. It even made an appearance in the banner of my main SJSU iSchool blog.

I think this probably means it’s time for me to crack it open and read it! Especially since I’ve expressed that the module on storytelling is the one I’m looking forward to the most. One day I’ll start to keep track of all of these connections, but I figured I’d at least I’d share this one here!

Hi everyone!

My name is Laura and I live on the East Coast, where I am a library assistant at my local public library. This is my third semester as an LIS student. As an introvert, my intention has been to ultimately wind up in a cataloging/technical services position—but I have found connecting with patrons at the circulation desk much more fulfilling than I originally imagined! I extended myself beyond my comfort zone last year when I started up a new monthly book club, which has been a lovely way to get better acquainted with some of the patrons I serve. (Also, I love occasionally challenging them with genres they don’t usually read—there sure were some strong opinions about Marie-Helene Bertino’s Beautyland, which is one of my personal favorites!)

In a previous life, I studied geography and the ways that people interact with places. This was when I first learned about “third places,” a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg. Libraries are quintessential third places—welcoming to all, free of charge, and a place to meet up with others in the community. It seems that the universe wants me to examine libraries as third places—after reading the chapter on information communities in the Encyclopedia of Community last semester for INFO 200, the editor of that book (unbeknownst to me) snapped a picture of me at my local No Kings rally and later included it in her blog entry about her experience there. Turns out Karen Christensen, in addition to editing the Encyclopedia of Community, also worked closely with Ray Oldenburg and will soon be publishing the follow-up to his book about third places entitled The Great Good Place. Small world! On a trip to Ireland a few weeks later, I happened upon a delightful exhibit about third places by The Rat Project that featured a zine that cited Oldenburg’s book. Noted, universe! Got it.

A zine featured in The Rat Project exhibit in the Test Space of the Limerick City Gallery of Art.

INFO 287, The Hyperlinked Library, feels like a fabulous chance to explore libraries as arenas of community-building, collaboration, and conversation. I am particularly drawn to the ways in which stories and storytelling can bring people together and facilitate knowledge sharing, so I’m especially excited about that module. From the introductory INFO 287 materials, I get the sense that this course will be really grounding for the rest of my LIS coursework. I am an avid believer in centering library work in compassion and human connection, so I think I’ve come to the right place! I’m really looking forward to connecting with and learning from all of you.