Smart Work 2025: Experimental Library Operating Model: Developing Customer Participation at Hämeenlinna City Library
The Smart Work page presents everyday innovations and success stories developed by the employees of the City of Hämeenlinna.
In the spring of 2024, Hämeenlinna City Library began developing customer participation as part of Merja Kauppinen’s Master’s thesis in Community Pedagogy. The theme of participation was explored together with library staff and customers.
The project was driven by a need to develop library customer participation with a future-oriented approach. We wanted to explore how customers are involved in planning library services, what types of participatory activities currently exist, and what new forms of activity could be introduced.
A Timeout discussion held with the staff revealed that customers rarely participate in service planning. Participation could be improved by involving customers in event planning with a low threshold, increasing multilingual communication, and focusing on encountering diversity and outreach library work.
A “Library of the Future” workshop was organized for customers, where they envisioned their dream library through foresight exercises, crafts, and building with Legos. For the participants, the library of the future is a cozy oasis featuring community activities and opportunities to participate, meet others, and engage in hobbies. Participants hoped for sensory-accessible spaces, pop-up tours to introduce services, and more interaction between staff and customers.
Based on the results, the “Experimental Library” development model was created, featuring concrete ideas for action to help the library involve customers in co-developing library services. The model was implemented in the autumn of 2024. So far, the library has organized English-language introductory tours open to everyone. A campaign is being planned to highlight the library’s versatile spaces for different user groups and quiet service hours. Idea and feedback walls will also be introduced at library branches.
The development work has continued naturally, as a university intern studying service design recently started at Hämeenlinna City Library to build upon the previous work.
Developers
Merja Kauppinen, Library Assistant
Erika Kallinen, Information Specialist
Ilkka Marjanen, Information Specialist
Emmi Kaukua, Library Assistant