Have you ever visited a library to use their Talkbox and Shello Machine? How about borrowing a pair of Dorothy Detector shoes to test your soil? Don’t worry if you answered “No.” to both of those questions! These are items and services imagined and prototyped during a Things From Futures Libraries workshop.
Never heard of such a workshop? Only a few who participated in SPLAT’s (Special Projects Library Action Team) test workshops over the last two years have! The Things From Futures Libraries toolkit was created and tested to help libraries host their own versions of this event. The toolkit guides you through a participatory design activity where everyone is invited to imagine and prototype services, programs, and borrowable items from a library in a future of their choice. Designed and tested by library staff, the toolkit includes slides, handouts, and talking points to help you and your participants imagine potential futures and how a library in that future could support their community.
Items from the “Re-Wilding Humanitarian Library” that exists in a future that is post-catastrophic due to climate change. “The Talkbox” shares information out and the “Shello” crab claws are a two-way radio that patrons use to communicate their requests to library staff.
From the “Re-Wilding Humanitarian Library,” the “Dorothy Detector Shoes” that detect soil quality, content, and viability to see what grows best in certain areas. No need to return this item; just click the heels together three times and they’ll find their way home to the library!
From participants:
“This was a fun collaborative experience. We were able to be creative and solve interesting problems.”
“The training was very good. It went through all phases of the process of building a library of the future. The pacing of the different steps was helpful to see how each step improved on the work done before.”
“I learned to feel more comfortable about the future of libraries through exploring the possibilities. It was incredibly fun and eased my discomfort in the future.”
Who is this activity for?
The event can be run as a staff in-service day, part of a strategic planning session with your board, an event with your community, or any other group you would like to imagine with.
Why should I do this event at my library?
If you work in a library, you encounter changes all the time! What if you felt better prepared to face these changes? Being futures literate empowers our imaginations and enhances our ability to prepare, recover, and innovate as changes occur.
Re-Wilding Humanitarian Library team at Idaho Library Association 2023. Pictured from left to right are Rachel Welker, Jen Tiedtke, Irene Benvenuti, and Tina Schilling.
Is this play or is it work?
Both! Play is a powerful tool that enhances our ability to learn and incorporate what we learn into daily life, while stretching and strengthening our futures thinking muscles. Research has shown major learning benefits associated with play, and we’ve found playfulness to be an important ingredient when facilitating strategic thinking about the future. Check out the National Institute for Play for more information on this topic.
The future has not happened yet, so you can let your imagination go wild! Download the Things From Future Libraries Toolkit to run your own event and learn more about the toolkit in a special Futures Thinking issue of SPLAT’s Curiosity Report. Discover other ways you can incorporate these ideas into your work with the Futures Thinking for Libraries Toolkit.
