Libraries of the Future

Over the past decades, the activity of the public library has changed so much that now this is a space both for reading and for work, socialization and continuous development.  

The efforts invested in libraries by large cities in developed countries allow people to feel comfortable and protected, go about their own business, concentrate, and have a rest there. In Denmark, Austria, France, the United States and many other countries, libraries work until late at night and do not control the visitors staying inside. In Sweden, there is a library for teenagers, where adults are not admitted, and it is always full of visitors. And in Athens, the public library allows one to both practice yoga and do programming.

“Neighbors, unite!” You will not see such a call in any library of the world, because this is its obvious role. The library has long become a space where people of various activities and with different needs, alone and homeless, gather. It is also a meeting place for neighbors, which inevitably leads to dialogue and establishing contacts, common interests, and plans.

In Ukraine, the potential of libraries has not been fully used yet; however, the library has every chance to be a place for the development of civil society.

The space of the Libraries of the Future at the Book Arsenal Festival personifies the modern public library where visitors, being free to choose among activities, learn, relax, or have fun on every floor and in every location. Together with other visitors – neighbors – one can get acquainted with one another, study, discuss books and events, attend free master classes, and even sleep. Everything is as it should be in the life of the truly lively library.

The architecture of the space has a minimalist design and is opposed to the tradition of accumulating objects and burdening with colors, as it is now observed in many Ukrainian libraries. It’s no coincidence that construction materials are used in the architecture since the transformation of public libraries mostly begins with construction. Valya Kotyk Children’s Library in Podil district of Kyiv has become the first new library, both in design and the principles of inclusivity and in the sense of work. The rest of the libraries are still at the stage of changes, therefore scaffolding is also a symbol of a difficult restructuring and the emergence of future libraries.

The Library of the Future is a project for renovating Kyiv’s public libraries, which has been implemented with the support of the Department of Culture of the Kyiv City State Administration since 2017.