Library - a Place for Connected Learning and Coworking

Suvi Nenonen, Ruud van Wezel and Evita Berkouwer

ERES from European Real Estate Society (ERES)

Abstract: Throughout time, cities have been places where different types of social and cultural changes evolve. In terms of learning urban places for meeting, interacting and connected learning with people from diverse backgrounds, cultures and areas of expertise are highly significant in the knowledge economy of our 21st century. Additionally, the future of work and place is a shift towards an urban scale (Laing 2013). Coworking spaces are an example of the novel use of urban spaces that at best can support the revitalisation of city districts. Coworking spaces are places where self-employed persons engaged in creative and information-intensive fields can rent or use a shared workspace together with others who share the same values.The goal of this research is to understand how the library can response to the requirements of connected learning and coworking. The transformation of libraries from the brick-and-mortar public library to the digital library include also the enhancement of libraries as environments for coworking and informal social learning. Libraries can response to a nomadic way of working by supporting individual users with a choice of places and settings in which interactive and solo work can happen.This research presents the best practices of libraries as hubs that attract and support interest-driven and socially embedded learning and co-working experiences. It is providing perspectives to the actual definition of a library, which states that library is a collection of resources in a variety of formats that is (1) organized by information professionals or other experts who (2) provide convenient physical, digital, bibliographic, or intellectual access and (3) offer targeted services and programs (4) with the mission of educating, informing, or entertaining a variety of audiences (5) and the goal of stimulating individual learning and advancing society as a whole. We propose that the human resources of connected learners and co-workers might be one of the very important element of the library of future.The paper reports findings from observations as well as interviews with users and managers of different types of local, community-led libraries from Finland and The Netherlands. The findings reveal social, spatial and technological interventions that these spaces apply to nourish a culture of connected learning and coworking. The discussion suggests a set a framework to profile transformation of future libraries. The framework provides

Keywords: Coworking; Learning; Library; Profile; Urban Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: R3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-07-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul
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