As Europe faces new social, cultural, and democratic challenges, libraries stand out as trusted institutions with the power to connect communities and foster dialogue.
In the fourth LibrarIN Policy Brief, Next Generation Libraries: Bottom-Up, People-First and Purpose-Driven, Anthony Arundel (UNU-MERIT), Nordine Es-Sadki (UNU-MERIT), Lars Fuglsang (Roskilde University), Benoît Desmarchelier (University of Lille), Marieke Willems (The Lisbon Council), Marta Anducas (The Lisbon Council), and Elena Silvestrini (The Lisbon Council) explore how libraries can evolve beyond their traditional roles to become co-created, inclusive spaces where citizens, librarians, and policymakers work together to shape the future of public knowledge.
Rethinking How Libraries Innovate
Recent evidence from the LibrarIN large-scale survey of more than 900 libraries across Europe, reveals a persistent gap between ambition and practice. While most countries recognise libraries as civic and democratic hubs, only around a quarter of major library innovations involve users in the process.
The brief calls for a shift from top-down service design to bottom-up co-creation, where users, staff, and partners collaborate to design meaningful services. When applied effectively, co-creation increases the usefulness of knowledge obtained from stakeholders by up to 25 percentage points—proving its value as a driver of innovation.
Co-Creation in Practice: From Living Labs to Social Innovation
Case studies from across Europe show libraries adopting “living lab” approaches, experimenting with participatory projects such as repair cafés, world cafés on democracy, and user-led design of library spaces. These initiatives demonstrate that when citizens are empowered to shape services, libraries become not just places of access, but spaces of collaboration and belonging.
As analysed, successful co-creation depends on balanced leadership – one that encourages grassroots creativity while ensuring alignment with the library’s mission -and on developing relational skills like empathy and facilitation alongside technical expertise in digital literacy and AI.
Bridging Skills and Funding Gaps
The brief highlights two major gaps hindering innovation: a lack of staff skills and a shortage of dedicated funding. In particular, smaller libraries, face structural disadvantages that limit their participation in collaborative innovation projects.
To unlock their full potential, libraries need access to sustained funding streams, targeted training in innovation management, and support mechanisms that enable all institutions – large and small – to experiment and grow.
A Roadmap for the Future
The fourth LibrarIN Policy Brief outlines nine recommendations to empower libraries as agents of social innovation and democracy. From raising awareness of co-creation to recognising libraries as essential social infrastructure, the authors advocate for stronger, more inclusive policy frameworks that give libraries the resources and confidence to co-create the future.
As one of the brief’s key messages concludes:
“Libraries are not a simple fix for social division; instead, they are the critical infrastructure for building a resilient democracy, offering a safe arena for the robust debate needed to challenge extreme views.”