John Dove’s presentation at the Charleston Conference
At this year’s Charleston Conference, John Dove, President of Credo Reference, participated in a panel titled, “It’s the Economy, Stupid! Dealing with High Acquisition Goals in Low Economic Times.” John’s brief presentation addressed the following question – Is an economic crisis the time to be considering trans-formative innovations? His answer to this question was a resounding yes. This very well may be the most appropriate time to innovate.
There are four main elements to innovation. First, there must exist some kind of constraint. The second element is what John called a “Wake Up Call.” The third element is the necessary action of stepping back, taking a look at fundamentals in order to rethink the situation. And lastly, there must be the courage to pull if off.
The new Barking Learning Centre
John used the rebuilding of the Barking and Dagenham Town Library to help the audience understand how trans-formative innovations are crucial in times of economic crisis. In this case, the constraint was clearly an economic one. In one of the economically challenged boroughs of East London were a dilapidated town center and a deteriorating town library. The “Wake Up Call” was that the physical building housing the town library had to be replaced but there was simply no additional money available from the town budget. Trevor Brown, Head of Library Services, stepped back and asked, “What are the overall information needs of town citizens?” He looked well beyond the specific needs of library patrons and thought about the overall needs of everyone in the town. In looking at the Town Hall he saw that much of what goes on in a Town Hall are the same kinds of activities of a reference room of a library: Citizens need access to documents and information, specifically people were seeking general information on permits, taxes, water bills, etc. Why couldn’t these Town Services be combined with the information and reference desk of the library? Trevor Brown was determined to find a solution that would surpass the one narrow goal of rebuilding a library.
Trevor Brown then had to figure out a way to rebuild the library without any more money from the Town. He worked with a developer to design and build an eight story building. The first story had the combined town information center and library learning center. The second floor housed the main part of the library. On the top six floors were upscale condominiums. This innovative solution added to the tax base of the town and the sale of the condominiums paid for the construction of the entire building. It was clearly the challenge of an economic crisis that led Trevor Brown to come up with a solution that far surpassed the single goal of rebuilding a town’s library—a trans-formative innovation.
The Condos above the Barking Learning Centre
Two of the best remedies for an ailing economy are education and people courageous enough to innovate despite financial hardships. The role that librarians play in aiding a floundering economy should not be underestimated. Trevor Brown proved this and his success is now improving the lives of the citizens of Barking and Dagenham.
Find more information about the project itself on ArchInnovations.
