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Public Libraries in the Smart City

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  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. Dale Leorke

    1. Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

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  2. Danielle Wyatt

    1. University of Melbourne, Balaclava, Melbourne, Australia

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  • Contextualizes the library within the physical space of the city, and within the broader policy strategies and governmental narratives shaping contemporary urban development
  • Draws upon detailed ethnographic research with library staff and policymakers across contrasting urban and regional cities in Victoria, and across different municipalities in Melbourne and Singapore
  • Provides the first critical accounts of the relationship between libraries and urban planning policy
  • Re-orientates smart city scholarship from the bottom-up, illustrating how smart city agendas play out in an everyday space at the interface between government and community
  • Offers a very immediate view of the current state of libraries by drawing upon interviews with a range of library professionals and policymakers conducted between 2015-2017

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Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
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  2. Introduction: More Than Just a Library

    • Dale Leorke, Danielle Wyatt
    Pages 1-12

  3. Beacons of the Smart City

    • Dale Leorke, Danielle Wyatt
    Pages 13-55

  4. Mixed Metaphors: Between the Head and the Heart of the City

    • Dale Leorke, Danielle Wyatt
    Pages 57-94

  5. Metrics, Metrocentricity, and Governance Models: The Uneven Transformation of Libraries

    • Dale Leorke, Danielle Wyatt
    Pages 95-116

  6. Coda: Library Futures

    • Dale Leorke, Danielle Wyatt
    Pages 117-122

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 123-135
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Keywords

About this book

Far from heralding their demise, digital technologies have lead to a dramatic transformation of the public library. Around the world, libraries have reinvented themselves as networked hubs, community centres, innovation labs, and makerspaces. Coupling striking architectural design with attention to ambience and comfort, libraries have signaled their desire to be seen as both engines of innovation and creative production, and hearts of community life. 


This book argues that the library’s transformation is deeply connected to a broader project of urban redevelopment and the transition to a knowledge economy. In particular, libraries have become entangled in visions of the smart city, where densely networked, ubiquitous connectivity promises urban prosperity built on efficiency, innovation, and new avenues for civic participation.  


Drawing on theoretical analysis and interviews with library professionals, policymakers,and users, this book examines the inevitable tensions emerging when a public institution dedicated to universal access to knowledge and a shared public culture intersects with the technology-driven, entrepreneurialist ideals of the smart city.

Reviews

“Today, amidst the rise of smart cities and data-driven governance, our public libraries serve as crucial support infrastructures, promoting digital literacies, serving as civic data hubs, and anchoring urban development. At the same time, through their collections and services and public spaces, they represent a valuable counterpoint to “smartness”: a reminder that the things that matter in our cities and democracies don't always lend themselves to quantification, virtualization, and commercialization. Through broadly cross-disciplinary analysis, ethnographic research, and global case studies, Dale Leorke and Danielle Wyatt demonstrate how public libraries negotiate between competing values in a rapidly evolving world. They anchor debates around progress and development. And, as the authors compellingly argue, we urgently need new evaluative metrics, governance structures, and funding mechanisms that recognize and support this vital civic function.” (Shannon Mattern, Professor at theSchool of Media Studies, The New School, New York, USA)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    Dale Leorke

  • University of Melbourne, Balaclava, Melbourne, Australia

    Danielle Wyatt

About the authors

Dale Leorke is a postdoctoral researcher at Tampere University, Finland. His research examines the intersection of digital technologies and urban policy.
 
Danielle Wyatt is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research examines the public life of culture as expressed across institutions, cultural policy, public space, and everyday practices.

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