Libraries Rising at the Designing Libraries Conference

The inaugural Designing Libraries International Conference took place at Swiss Cottage Library, bringing together library and design professionals from across the sector to share ideas on what makes a great library space, and how libraries can continue to grow with their communities.

The day featured a wide range of inspiring talks, from co-created children’s spaces to inclusive design, social value, and the role of libraries in communities.

Our Chief Executive, Tabitha, joined a panel discussion on emerging trends in the sector alongside Isobel Hunter MBE (Libraries Connected), Tina Morton (The National Archives), Emma Thompson (Manchester Metropolitan University Library & Cultural Services) and Benjamin Meunier (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), chaired by Sharon Memis FRSA (IFLA).

Tabitha shared Libraries Rising’s belief that libraries should be designed with the people who use them, not just for them. She highlighted co-creation as a key design trend in the sector, especially working in partnership with children, young people and families to shape services, spaces and programmes that truly reflect their needs.

Tabitha used SparkSpace our online learning module and toolkit as an example of a free resource to help library staff and volunteers put this approach into practice.

What is SparkSpace?

SparkSpace is our free online learning platform, co-created with young people, to support library professionals and volunteers to better engage, include and empower children and young people. It brings together practical learning, tools and ideas that library teams can use in their day-to-day work, whether they work directly with young people or support services across their organisation.

SparkSpace was developed with 45 young people from across the UK, including those with lived experience of exclusion, such as care-experienced young people, racially minoritised groups, disabled young people, and LGBTQIA+ young people. SparkSpace reflects their experiences and what they value from library services, making the training practical, relevant, and immediately useful for library teams. Working together through workshops and “hackathon” style sessions, the group explored what makes library spaces feel welcoming or unwelcoming, and used those insights to shape practical training and resources for library staff and volunteers to support co-creation with children, young people and families.

The impact of co-creation

Tabitha also shared evidence showing the impact of involving young people in shaping services:

Our evidence shows that 92% of young people feel more welcome at the library when they’ve had a say in its development.

She highlighted the importance of this at a time when many young people feel unheard in wider society, noting that only 1 in 5 young people believe adults in power are genuinely listening to them.

To close her session, Tabitha shared a quote from one of the young people involved in SparkSpace:

I’m really passionate about creating inclusive spaces for young people, especially those living with disabilities. I’ve always loved libraries but they could be more accessible. It’s wonderful to see that library staff are doing more and are just as passionate as me about making change!

If you are interested in finding out more about the Designing Libraries conference, you can read a brilliant write-up from Jan Kattein here.

Jan inspired everyone on the day by talking about the co-created children’s and young people’s spaces at Swiss Cottage Library, where the event was held.