What direction should libraries take? Brian Gambles pleads for a deeper understanding of what cities and their citizens need as a way of better driving the direction for change:

• people need guidance and inspiration in learning rather than objective information
• the city needs their citizens to become more literate, better skilled
• to adopt healthier lifestyles, be more oriented towards social cohesion cross the cultural spectrum
• open to the digital era, etc.

Only 15% of visitors in the Birmingham Library come for book related "transactions", but a way higher percentage of the library organization was directed towards these "transactions" This lead Brian to create a visionary path for change : the organization needed to move from transactions to transformations; the ambition of the library should be to improve the life of its visitors, to change their destiny, to inspire them for the future.

This requires the library to invite its visitors to make the journey from information to learning in order to achieve personal knowledge as an outcome.

- The Birmingham City Library is a recently built architectural landmark in the industrial city of Birmingham where arts and culture prosper. The design brief for the architects included three visionary guidelines (a) the building needed to be welcoming and accessible, (b) the building needed to be part of the public domain and integrate into the city center location, (c) invite visitors to step into a journey of learning and exploring.

It's realization puts the Birmingham City Library in the top segment of future proof libraries in the world.

Brian Gambles now travels across the globe to invite library professionals to embrace and create the future of libraries. As Socrates already said: we need to stop fighting the past and focus on the future.

CV

Brian Gambles was educated in Liverpool and at Oxford University. He joined Birmingham Library Services in 1987 after spending several years in university libraries. From 2005 he directed the project to create and deliver the Library of Birmingham, one of Europe’s foremost cultural developments, from which post he retires in February 2015. The LoB has proved to be a ground-breaking model for physical and digital delivery of library and archive collections and services, for community engagement, and for the strategic positioning of culture and learning within a major city. The Library was opened in September 2013 by Malala Yousafzhai, to worldwide media acclaim and instant popularity, with almost 3 million visitors in the first year.

Brian has a long-standing interest in new models of library and archive service for changing times and changing communities: partnership, resource discovery, experiential learning and commercial acumen underpin these models. With a national profile in public libraries, he has authored several articles and has delivered many conference presentations and workshops in the UK, Europe, Australasia, China and the USA, on the future of libraries and their impact on learning, skills and economic regeneration.

Brian has an extensive track record over 25 years of developing and securing funding for innovative projects featuring partnership with the academic sector, community engagement and resource discovery through digital technology.

As Executive Director of the Library of Birmingham Development Trust, Brian has developed and implemented a strategy for volunteer and donor engagement. He is now a freelance advisor on transformation, leadership and change management within the cultural sector.

Brian was awarded the MBE for Services to Libraries in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2014.

Brian Gambles komt naar Informatie aan Zee op uitnodiging van Tracs.