The LIBoratory Project Report

The LIBoratory Project How might the library improve people's lives in the community?

About Us

Launched in 2016, Jockey Club Make a Difference Social Lab is Hong Kong’s first community-initiated public services innovation lab. We run labs with government agencies and citizens to design services and policies for better public life, through community participation, design thinking and co-creative experiments.

About Make A Difference Institute MaD believes in the social potential of creativity. Through participatory programmes, we inspire and empower young people all over Asia to come up with innovative responses to our time's challenges.

Founded in 2009, our long-term goal is building a creative civil society. Our portfolio includes the Jockey Club Make a Difference School, Jockey Club Make a Difference Social Lab, MaD Good Lab, urban pioneering projects, creative ventures with corporates, arts and cultural organisations as well as regional exchanges. Focusing on the creative industries, our annual MaD Festival is a multifaceted programme that explores innovative practices and fosters synergies across silos and countries. Attended by 1,300 participants from over 100 cities in Asia and beyond, we invite aspiring changemakers to join at different entry points – from gaining awareness to acquiring knowledge and taking actions.

Since 2014, MaD has been steered by the Make A Difference Institute, a communityinitiated organisation and a registered non-profit under Section 88 of the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Ordinance. Before then, MaD was an anchor project of the Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture.

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Table of Contents About Us

1 2 3 4 5

Executive Summary

6

Background What is a Social Lab? Our Social Lab Method

9 11

Essentials of the LIBoratory Project The Site and the Lab Question

15

Lab Formation

18

Timeline

20

Library Ethnography Exploring Library Issues through Ethnography

25

Selected Stories Collected by Lab members

26

Prototypes 1. Curated Library

32

2. Re-orientation of Library Space

34

3. Rack-on-the-Go

36

4. South Asian Bookshare

38

5. Happy Library Cards

40

6. Friends of the Library

42

Lab Impact Follow-up after the Lab

46

Feedback from LCSD

48

Reflections and Thoughts for Improvement

50

Innovative Library Practices from Other Parts of the World

52

Acknowledgements

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“We are always in search of room for innovation, I think what’s great about social innovation is that it isn’t always about technology, but we could innovate through better collaboration or better insights into the issues, and really take time to digest our thoughts from the process.”

Michelle LI, Director, Leisure and Cultural Services Department

“A smart society is one in which all the knowledge that is available, comes together. Not only the knowledge of experts or the government, or of professionals, but also of citizens who often have very specific knowledge about their neighbourhood.”

Wieteke VROUWE, Lab Facilitator, Kennisland (The Netherlands)

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“Young colleagues would often suggest new ideas but they are usually killed at the middle layer, let alone reaching to the top. Yet I think we don’t have to rush on this: start with small projects and bring the experience back to the department.”

Louis NG, Deputy Director, Leisure and Cultural Services Department

“It’s not about ticking boxes like a quick survey but showing compassion and trying to understand why. All these could shed some light on how to better provide for our citizens.”

Ada WONG, Chair, Make A Difference Institute

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Executive Summary In partnership with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), the Po On Road Public Library in Sham Shui Po became the lab base. Together with publicly recruited citizens, LCSD’s librarians and Kennisland (a think-and-do tank in Amsterdam), we began a five-month process that explored how district libraries can improve people’s lives in the community. Following the “Feed Forward” methodology, the Lab Team collected around 80 citizens’ stories, connected with system stakeholders and community users through public engagement activities, and co-created six prototypes that sought to address library service gaps: Curated Library experimented with thematic book curation and interactive book display to better utilise library resources and create interesting “bookshelf-shopping” experience to prompt more varied user journeys while inside a typical library setting.

Re-orientation of Library Space proposed a spatial redesign of the Po On Road Public Library to better accommodate spatial needs of different generations from seating arrangement, diversity of activities, noise levels to atmospheric design.

Rack-on-the-Go sought to extend newspaper reading from the library to the park, in order to alleviate space congestion in the library, and suggested possible collaboration and resource sharing between the library and its surrounding communal facilities.

South Asian Bookshare experimented with a book collection and book sharing scheme themed on South Asian languages and culture at the entrance of the Po On Road Public Library, which aimed at identifying any specific learning needs of the South Asian community in Sham Shui Po.

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Happy Library Cards proposed an alternative, empathy-led solution to resolve disputes of library users sharing the same space through a specially-designed card game that put players into others’ shoes.

Friends of the Library proposed as a community-based network of volunteers that would organise library activities tailored to local needs.

The six experiments touched on a diversity of issues and pointed to library innovations. While they are developed out of the particular case of the Po On Road Public Library, they also speak about paradigm shifts needed for district libraries to better serve citizens with different needs: • Reposition standardised district libraries as community learning hubs with local character: the need for libraries to go beyond its role as passive book and information centres run by professional librarianship, to proactively creating community ties, district-based programmes and services that respond to the needs of the neighbourhood and allow for more local character to be developed.

• Develop more user-centred and age group friendly library services: understand diverse district user profiles deeply, and their different needs for learning and library services.

• Go beyond traditional modes of learning: traditional text-based reading is but one mode of learning among many; modern libraries should be receptive enablers of new models of learning through making tools, using new technology and facilitating community co-creation.

• Become more enticing learning destinations: a more lively and contemporary image, user-led interior design and furniture, better communication to reduce complaints as well as make known the diversity of resources at libraries.

To provide more agile public services, we need to understand the community deeply, be experimental to create alternative scenarios and build in community collaboration in the service models. The LIBoratory Project is a first-of-its-kind experiment in Hong Kong to pioneer evidence-based policy innovation from a community standpoint. We hope these recommendations can be taken on board by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and continue to join hands in creating better libraries for citizens in our beloved city.

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1

BACKGROUND 8

1 - Background

What is a Social Lab? A Social Lab can be seen as a laboratory where we experiment with finding small, local solutions to (big) social problems. However, in this lab we do not wear white coats or work behind closed doors; instead, we find place outside, in neighbourhoods where real life takes place. The Lab Team is multidisciplinary – citizens, civil servants and professionals work together to find out where challenges lie and experiment with alternative scenarios, to come up with new services and policy recommendations.

Each lab project is a temporary existence, yet it offers a way to address questions such as: who is (not) organising policy making and designing services and processes, who is (not) invited, who defines what “quality” is, which challenges are (not) addressed and which pathways are (not) explored and why.

Launched in 2016, Jockey Club Make a Difference Social Lab (JC MaD Social Lab) is the first community-driven public services innovation lab in Hong Kong. As an independent NGO, we run labs with government agencies and citizens to design better services and forward-looking strategies through community participation, design thinking and co-creative experiments.

Our core values

CO-CREATIVE

USER-CENTRED

Convene a cross-sector lab team with civil servants, community stakeholders and citizens.

Understand social issues empathetically and identify community needs.

PARTICIPATORY

EXPERIMENT-DRIVEN

Design community engagement activities to facilitate idea exchange, build new relationships and co-design solutions.

Build service prototypes to test citizens' response and collect evidence for policy recommendations.

1 - Background

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Why now and why is MaD doing this?

Our starting point is TRUST. Trust is lacking in Hong Kong. Millennials, in particular, are keen to participate in the public sphere, to deeply understand issues and be empowered to create better communities in Hong Kong. However, civic engagement is still largely in the format of one-sided consultations, creating disconnect and dissatisfaction with little citizen participation. When the JC MaD Social Lab came into being, we asked these questions: what if citizens and civil servants can work together, learn together and experiment together? Can we have a new method to build trust among different stakeholders? What does it mean to design policies using a more creative, user-centred approach?

As a prototype before the launch of JC MaD Social Lab, we experimented with a one-week “Lab Sprint” in 2015 with Kennisland, a think-and-do-tank from Amsterdam which runs social labs in different Dutch cities, as our lab partner. We explored issues faced by the homeless and elderly communities in Sham Shui Po. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The Lab Sprint was over-registered within a short time, the team made interesting discoveries, and interesting community initiatives were born in just a week. There was a thirst for platforms that encourage more participatory and empathetic public service design, and a need to bring in stakeholders from the system to have a bigger impact.

Understanding the homeless community in Sham Shui Po

Kennisland, a think-and-do tank from Amsterdam, was our lab partner at the one-week “Lab Sprint”

Watch a video to learn more about the “Lab Sprint”: https://goo.gl/crc5SM

With generous support from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the MaD team was given the opportunity to run four complete lab cycles from 2016 to 2019, with which we will develop a set of tested Social Lab methods and tools that would work for the Hong Kong context. The LIBoratory Project, which took place between September 2016 and January 2017, was our first lab experiment.

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1 - Background

Our Social Lab Method We invited Kennisland to be our programme partner to design the first JC MaD Social Lab. The LIBoratory Project largely followed Kennisland’s “Feed Forward” methodology, and where appropriate, we adapted the method to Hong Kong. Simply put, Feed Forward is a method of collecting, publishing and interpreting citizens’ stories together, which then serves as feedback for undertaking future actions.

A four-step approach

Step

Step

Step

Step

1 2 3 4

Field Research • Map out key stakeholders, devise interview guides and collect stories from the field • Set up a lab station in the community to get in touch with citizens and stakeholders

Collective Ethnography • Write citizens’ stories as a team to piece together a collective ethnography of the district • Verify and publish stories with interviewees

Story Analysis & Collective Evaluation • Analyse stories, tease out red threads and identify service gaps • Host open-to-all “collective evaluation” meetings where community members are invited to verify findings and the Lab Team reaches out to potential partners

Prototyping • Create small-scale, iterative experiments to test assumptions and finetune users' needs • Evaluate experiments and come up with innovative solutions leading to policy suggestions

1 - Background

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS METHOD

ROPING IN CITIZENS, COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS AND CIVIL SERVANTS C R E AT I N G A

SAFE ENVIRONMENT

to form new social networks, creating trust in the community and in the system

for co-creation and experimentation where citizens and civil servants work very closely together

PRIORITISING

PEOPLE’S STORIES over dry statistical data to better sense the urgency for action, and reinstate an empathetic dimension to policy-making

HIGHLY PARTICIPATORY AND BOTTOM-UP to mobilise local knowledge and flip the traditionally expert-driven policy-making processes

HUMAN-CENTRED AND EVIDENCE-BASED : understanding public issues through the public’s eyes; collecting users' feedback to modify service ideas with high agility

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1 - Background

Why libraries and what kind of impact do we want to make?

We all love to learn (or need to learn in a knowledge-based society), and public libraries are the single most dedicated public learning facilities available to all ages. Libraries are so visible in every community and they should respond to the needs of citizens of different ages. According to a Legislative Council research brief titled Challenges of Public Libraries in Hong Kong 1 published in February 2016, however, the LCSD has continuously registered declined usage of public library services from 2005 to 2014. Physical visits, books and multimedia items on loans, e-book circulation and enquiries about reference materials have all dropped by 3% to 52%, with increased visits only to libraries’ webpages. Also, it was suggested that libraries of low-income districts are visited more often, yet their book collections also tend to be smaller. All these suggest the need to “re-orientate libraries to meet the changing needs of the public” 2.

Usage of Public Libraries in Hong Kong (2005-2014)

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Looking at libraries worldwide, they generally face an identity crisis as information, knowledge and entertainment have become so available online. In many cities, budget cut threatened the existence of libraries with the less used ones being forced to close, while some have turned bookless, some have incorporated new models like maker culture, and others are tuning in to the ageing population. People are re-imagining the new future of libraries. IDEO has published a library innovation toolkit 4, MIT Media Lab’s Public Library Innovation Exchange (PLIX) 5 have teamed up with public libraries and the Knight Foundation to come up with new library services and tools, just to name a few.

For this first JC MaD Social Lab, we have chosen to work on a relatively old public library in a low-income district, to carefully study usage patterns and unmet needs of library users and nonusers through the “Feed Forward” approach, and then bring up creative experiments to improve library services. We hope the strategies and recommendations from the Social Lab could inpsire public libraries in other districts, creating a bigger impact on the public library system.

1 2 3 4 5

“Challenges of Public Libraries in Hong Kong”; Research Office, Legislative Council Secretariat; Feb 2016 http://www.legco.gov.hk/research-publications/english/1516rb02-challenges-of-public-libraries-in-hong-kong-20160229-e.pdf Ibid.

Ibid. http://designthinkingforlibraries.com/ http://learn.media.mit.edu/libraries/about/

1 - Background

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2

ESSENTIALS OF THE LIBORATORY PROJECT 14

2 - Essentials of the LIBoratory Project

The Site and the Lab Question LCSD had selected the Po On Road Public Library (PORPL) in Sham Shui Po as the base for the Lab. After several meetings with the librarians and initial background research, we had defined the Lab Question as follows:

How might the library improve people’s lives in the community?

Built in 1988, the Po On Road Public Library (PORPL) belongs to an older generation of public libraries. Unlike newer public libraries which are usually stand alone buildings with more space and resources, these older public libraries are often hosted in municipal service buildings with limited space, and usually in communities with an older population.

The Library shares the same roof with a wet market, a cooked food market and a sports centre in the building

The entrance

2 - Essentials of the LIBoratory Project

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A Fact Sheet on Po On Road Public Library User Profile Sham Shui Po has been identified as one of Hong Kong's poorest districts by the Commission on Poverty. Being also one of Hong Kong’s oldest districts, it is undergoing rapid urban renewal. PORPL users are mainly residents nearby, such as elderlies, new immigrants, housewives and children.

Basic Numbers YEAR OF OPENING

1988 SIZE

1,720

SQUARE METRES

COLLECTIONS (as at 31 March 2016) OVER

180,000

Library Services Adult Library Service Audio-visual Service Block Loan Service Book Drop Service Children's Library Service Express Check-in Service Extension Activities Lending Service Library Catalogue Multimedia Service Newspapers and Periodicals Services Outreach Programme Readers' Advisory Service Reference and Information Services Reservation Service Self-charging Service

1

https://www.hkpl.gov.hk/en/about-us/collection-develop/scope.html

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2 - Essentials of the LIBoratory Project

CATEGORY

District Library Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) operates a five-tier library system whereby service points at different levels provide library materials appropriate to their respective purposes and clienteles. It consists of a network of 70 static libraries and 12 mobile libraries, where static libraries are further categorised into the Central Library, Major Libraries, District Libraries and Small Libraries. District libraries are meant to offer a full range of standard library services to serve the general needs of their respective districts.1

Computer Related Service 'Print with Ease' Self-printing Service Children's Internet and Multimedia Services Computer Service for the Visually Impaired Computer and Information Centre Government Wi-Fi Service Internet and Electronic Resource Services Internet and Multimedia Services

Other Services and Facilities Children's Multimedia Room Electronic Locker Extension Activities Room Self-serviced Photocopying Service Students' Study Room

Children’s Reading Area

Newspaper Reading Area is almost always full

Adult’s Library

2 - Essentials of the LIBoratory Project

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Lab Formation We publicly recruited interested citizens to join the Lab Team – at the end forming a crossdisciplinary, cross-generation Lab Team of 34 citizens coming from all walks of life, aged between 18 to over 60. LCSD was supportive and nominated four librarians to join the Lab Team. They included three Senior Librarians from Sham Shui Po, Kwai Tsing and Extension Activities and one Librarian from the PORPL.The Lab Team was further assisted by three designers on prototyping and the MaD Social Lab Team.

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Lab Members

who participated from start till finish from different disciplines

Lab Team members were volunteers recruited via MaD’s online and social media platforms.

They provided pro-bono services; 17 of which belonged to the “Core Team” who committed fully in all processes, and the other 17 were the “Resource Team” who assumed a more supportive role. This arrangement provided flexibility for aspiring citizens with full time jobs or studies to participate according to their time schedule.

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2 - Essentials of the LIBoratory Project

The LIBoratory Project also had a Directors’ Lab consisting of senior LCSD management and other government officials to give strategic advice.

The Directors’ Lab members included: Louis NG Deputy Director (Culture), LCSD

Rochelle LAU Assistant Director (Libraries and Development), LCSD

Mary CHENG Chief Librarian (Hong Kong Central Library and Extension Activities), LCSD

Kim SALKELD, JP Head, Efficiency Unit (until Dec 2017)

Freda TONG Charities Manager, Hong Kong Jockey Club

Ada WONG, JP Chair, Make A Difference Institute 2 - Essentials of the LIBoratory Project

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Timeline Held between September 2016 and January 2017, the lab comprised largely two phases:

A 5-Month Lab Process:

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2 - Essentials of the LIBoratory Project

Story Collection Phase An intensive two-week field ethnography training coached by the Kennisland and MaD Social Lab Team comprised workshops on methodology, story collection and writing, story analysis and background study of public libraries.

A public community presentation was held to showcase the findings and collect opinions from users. A total of 79 stories capturing different facets of Sham Shui Po’s livelihood were written, and being used as data for analysis.

Prototyping Phase Based on the themes emerged from stories captured in the Story Collection Phase, the teams created prototypes and conducted multiple testings of the prototypes. These began with another intensive training week in early November 2016. A public evaluation meeting called “Action Day” was held in the PORPL to invite users to give feedback to the prototypes for refinement. The lab ended with a Finale in January 2017.

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2 - Essentials of the LIBoratory Project

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LIBRARY ETHNOGRAPHY The Lab Team are members of “story hunters” who help citizens tell their own stories, as well as “story connectors” trying to identify common threads in the stories they collect. In a short period of six weeks, the Lab Team collected 79 stories from diverse users and non-users, which allowed them to see issues in the library as well as in people’s daily lives. Why do they go to the public library? Why would some never go?

“Up until the moment I heard it from the interviewee in person, my thinking had always been biased. That’s where the power of a story lies — it’s sincere, it’s flesh and blood, and it tears down walls of prejudice.”

Yan LAM, the Lab Team (Core Team), Freelancer

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3 - Library Ethnography

Exploring Library Issues through Ethnography Interviews conducted:

49 interviews with people in the Po On Road Public Library PORPL Users

LCSD Librarians

11

Middle-aged

1

Librarian

9

Elderly

1

Cultural Services Assistant

8

New immigrants

1

Assistant Clerical Officer

8

Children (under 18)

8

Housewives

3

Ethnic minorities

2

Young people under 30

30

interviews with people from the Sham Shui Po Community

Non-PORPL users 12

Elderly

9

Middle-aged

3

Young people under 30

2

Housewives

2

Ethnic Minorities

1

New immigrant

1

Secondary School Librarian

Community NGOs 1

Leader at Kowloon West Community Harmony & Solidarity Services Centre, Hong Kong New Arrivals Services Foundation Limited

1

Leader at Fu Cheong Mutual Help Child Centre cum Women Service Centre, Kowloon Women‘s Organisations Federation Lau Shau Man

1

Staff member at HOME Centre Support Services for Ethnic Minorities New Home Association

2

Leader and staff member at Hong Kong Young Women‘s Christian Association

2

Leader and staff member at The Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong Mei Foo Children and Youth Services Centre

3

Staff members at Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association, Elderly Academy

3 - Library Ethnography

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Selected Stories Collected by Lab member Calligraphy Master at the Library Grandpa Chan spends eight hours at the Po On Road Public Library every day copying Chinese paintings and calligraphy from different books with his ink brush. “Most of the people here know me,” he says proudly, “sometimes, children would even sit beside me and watch me practise for half an hour!”

His penmanship, captivating as it is, was in fact a hobby he has taken up only after retirement. He emulates the great artists and perfects his skills through close observation and diligent practice, and just like that, he began a decadelong dedication to penmanship. “A lot of people have complimented my works, and that makes me very, very happy. Once there was a professor from the University of Hong Kong who saw my calligraphy and came to express his admirations!”

Grandpa CHAN (in his 70s)

For the Air-con, and Whiling Away the Hours…

Speaking of his day-to-day life now, Uncle K keeps repeating the word “boring”: “There isn’t much to do at home. Life is just plain boring. Most of the time I just wander around the streets, sleep, run, play video games and watch TV. Life is more-or-less the same every day, after all most days don’t matter much. Every now and then I come to the library or stadium to stay cool.”

Indeed, during summer times, Uncle K often went to the public library to fritter away an hour or two, either reading the newspaper or books on traditional Chinese medicine. From these books, he has learnt about the nutritional values of food, and he would then go and buy ingredients to make herbal soups accordingly. The public library is important for educating and cultivating his mind, Uncle K told us, if not for the resources there, most likely he would not have access to knowledge about health and wellbeing, and would be left to “fend for himself”.

Uncle K (aged 69), elderly and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipient

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3 - Library Ethnography

Volunteer Promoting Reading Xiao Xiao loves to volunteer and keep in touch with society. For instance, she volunteers as a “library auntie” at the kindergarten where her son studies at Un Chau Estate in Sham Shui Po, and there she helps with book purchases as well as borrowing and returning. The kindergarten library also enlists the help of “story aunties”, who come to read stories to children so that the children can learn about the world through narratives and fiction. Xiao Xiao hopes to, in her words, “make more friends, and talk to different kinds of friends, and in doing so learn new things and broaden [my] knowledge”.

Xiao Xiao, mother and new immigrant from the mainland

A Quieter Study Room?

What should the perfect library be like? Waisee says right now the students’ study room at the library is not quiet enough. If there is a “noise-free room” at the public library, then she and her classmates can really focus on their homework, they would finish it quickly and get to have more playtime to themselves.

Wai-see and Yin-wing told us that they have many assignments from school, especially on days other than Mondays and Thursdays. We thought, Monday is the start of the week, so it makes sense that the workload is a bit lighter, but why Thursday? They answered: That’s so that they can prepare for more assignments on Friday!

Wai-see and Yin-wing, primary school students

3 - Library Ethnography

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The Library’s Collection and Style are not “Trendy” Enough “I don’t really go to the public library!” We urged him to tell us why, and he explained that he has always found reading boring and never liked it. He preferred pictures to words, but the manga (Japanese comics) at the public library was not “trendy” enough for him. He also said that if he wanted the latest chapter of an anime or a manga, he could just find it online easily, which is more convenient and offers more choices. Reading between the lines reveals his impression of the public library as being oldfashioned and dull. “It’s meant to spread knowledge, so why would the library have the manga I like in their collection? It’s just not their style!”

Ah Chun, a young man stepping into the working world

Humanity Beyond Negative Stereotypes Ben, a Pakistan-born young man, is a member of his own cricket team. When Sham Shui Po Sports Ground is unoccupied, Ben and his friends often come and have their practice on the field. A couple times, however, they were kicked out by park attendants for playing cricket on what is meant to be a football pitch. Sometimes they head instead to Aberdeen Sports Ground, but the venue hire charge is high so they seldom go there.

“Why did you decide to come to Hong Kong? What is your favourite thing about the city?” “Hong Kong is great in every way! There’s nothing bad about it.” Ben ponders the question for a while, and said: “I like the laws here the most. Everyone in Hong Kong is equal, whether you are rich or poor, you are subjected to the same set of rules and laws.”

This was in fact my first close conversation with a South Asian, my first glimpse into their way of life. I must admit with a bit of shame that at first I was thinking: it must be hard doing menial jobs? It must be depressing having to leave their home? Surely, they must face a lot of oppression being a minority here? It turns out those were all just my biased assumptions, my own imaginations — my toil even — casted onto someone else.

A Pakistani young man (aged 36) been in Hong Kong for five years

To read our complete compilation of citizens’ stories, visit: https://medium.com/theliboratoryproject 28

3 - Library Ethnography

“I have been working at public libraries for a long time, and at work I talk directly with members of the public all the time.

But those communications tend to be formal and direct such as complaints or enquiries. In contrast, Social Lab collects in-depth stories, I get to sit and talk with neighbourhood folks, and take the initiative to understand their inner thoughts and feelings about the library. That was very different from our usual form of engagement with readers.”

Jimmy LEE, the Lab Team (Core Team), LCSD Senior Librarian

“The process is bringing the “humanity” and the understanding of people’s needs into the solution. This is the biggest differentiation of Social Lab compared to any other startup competition. Without engaging the “users”, it’s very easy to forget that we need to be humble and put the users at the centre of everything, rather than getting hooked and addicted to our own ideas.”

Joelle CHAN, the Lab Team (Resource Team), Digital Consultant

3 - Library Ethnography

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The Lab Team has come up with six prototypes to improve existing public library services

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4 - Prototypes

4

PROTOTYPES

“The originality and feasibility of the six prototypes suggested by the LIBoratory Project is something we couldn’t get from the expert approach we usually take. This lab approach brought to us a new dimension of thinking...that when the LCSD seeks to improve its services, there’s another approach we can learn from.”

Louis NG, Deputy Director, LCSD

4 - Prototypes

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2

Prototype

01

Curated Library

Observation Each book is a different world. Libraries are so full of resources and possibilities, yet users’ usual reading habits often limit their journeys inside and thus usage of the public library. The way books are displayed do not particularly encourage curiosity or exploration. Current book display (arranged by call numbers with book spine facing

readers) somewhat expects users to come into the library knowing already what they want. From our observations, a number of users spend a relatively short time in the library, making it even more unlikely for them to explore the full range of library shelves.

Challenges • Some library users wish to see a more engaging, reader-oriented book display and curation.

• Public libraries have always arranged books according to current library classification systems.

• Librarians usually have little time to spend on curating the monthly book recommedation corner.

• Some users have relatively little time to spend in the library, for example, mothers taking the library as a “temporary babysitting area” as they drop off their kids for wet market shopping; or young people coming into the library well-researched, picking the books they need then leave.

Prototype Idea This prototype transforms an existing furniture in the

of the vast reading resources inside the public library.

public library into a more interesting and interactive

The Lab Team also designed a questionnaire inspired

book display, and experiments with thematic

by the traditional dim-sum order sheet for readers to

curation to put books related to the theme of food

contribute their ideas for future library activities. The

from different disciplines together. This prototype

feedback demonstrated the possibility of collecting

aims to encourage readers to venture into unknown

user feedback and book recommendation in a creative

reading territories, broaden public knowledge on book

and constructive way. Library users are instantly

categories and most importantly, make better usage

attracted and eager to explore the book display.

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4 - Prototypes

Findings & Insights • P u b l i c l i b r a r i e s c u r r e n t l y h a v e “ b o o k recommendation” corners with simple displays which change around once a month. There is a need to make the sea of library resources interesting and relevant, and to do this well it requires good curation, better design and creative input, knowledge of the resources on hand and time. It is highly recommended that activating and making visible the vast array of library resources, many of which now lay dormant or have been/will be sent to storage once the usage gets too low, be made into a priority focus of library development.

• Library users gave feedback on topics they preferred, but the form is relatively difficult to comprehend. It is suggested to have more guidance on collecting feedback, or to use a simpler feedback form.

• Book curation should cater to the interests of users, and be down-to-earth particularly in lower income neighbourhoods such that the public library would not be perceived as “a solemn place for the welleducated” but provides friendly guidance for local people to gain knowledge in ways they prefer. This requires good data and insight of current users, their age, gender, education background, ethnicity, habits, interests, etc.

• Public libraries primarily measure its performance with “readership”, i.e., the number of books borrowed, which is just one (if not limiting) facet of what a popular public library should achieve.

It is recommended that LCSD looks at other indicators that enhance user experience in public libraries, such as time spent per visit, frequency of visit, diversity of visitor profile, diversity of activities allowed, numbers of activities proposed (or even run) by users.

Further Suggestions • Public libraries should try to attract current non library-goers and curate with community perspectives and creative displays, allowing visitors to make new discoveries.

• Public libraries could curate more exhibitions in line with popular interests, making books and multimedia resources more visible to the public.

• Public libraries may consider setting up an “Online Curatorial Platform” for encapsulating and producing a set of curatorial guidelines – with which the public can be invited to participate and utilise (select, combine, add) library resources to organise exhibitions under preferred themes – with a view to develop community-oriented public libraries with strong citizen-driven curatorial directions.

2

Prototype

02

Re-orientation of Library Space

Observation There are often not many young faces in the library. In fact, most of the time it would be packed with elderly folks, some of them are already queueing up at the entrance before the

library opens. They come for the newspapers and air-conditioning, which is particularly necessary during hot summer.

Challenges • Young people told the Lab Team they don’t like how the library looks and smells – old-fashioned interior design, chairs looking like those in

public hospitals, stale air, etc. They prefer visiting bookstores which are more trendy and casual for reading or sitting in cafes.

Prototype Idea This prototype proposes a spatial redesign of the PORPL to meet spatial needs of different generations: • Kids’ area (a big kid landscape area and a small kid’s chamber) relocated to the library entrance, with its big glass wall welcoming visitors with a cheerful and energetic outlook; big and small kids are separated to avoid accidents.

• Colourful and trendy area created: nicelooking curated exhibition area or maker space with high benches and stools replacing oldfashioned and cold “hospital chairs” .

• Newspaper and magazine zone relocated to the back of the library to create a more enclosed and cozy living room area, especially for the elderly who are heavy users.

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4 - Prototypes

Parents and children particularly like the concept because they believe a colourful environment stimulates sensory development. The reading atmosphere becomes more vibrant and lively which makes the library a popular place for the

children. The elderly think that the idea is great, though they expressed worries on the noise level which the interior design shall further investigate.

Further Suggestions • To respond to emerging needs of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education in schools, public libraries may consider adding a maker library with space and tools to accommodate various modes of learning.

• Quite a few interviewees questioned whether reading is the only way to learn, and whether there are other containers of knowledge beyond the more traditional medium of books and DVDs. Can the Lab Team learn from people’s experience?

Or exchange our skills like cooking and knitting? Public libraries can be “a community learning hub” that facilitates the community to crowdsource and co-create their own knowledge via lively means, and encourages experimentation, collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Original floorplan

Proposed spatial change 4 - Prototypes

35

Prototype

03

Rack-on-the-Go

Observation The PORPL is always filled with newspaper

to fill the already tight space to allow more

readers. During the lab period, the library also

newspaper readers to sit.

underwent an expansion to add rows of chairs

Challenges • Old people developed a regular habit of queueing up early in the morning before the library opens its door, to make sure they get hold of the newspaper they want to read.

• The newspaper and magazine reading corner occupies a sizeable area inside the library; some residents are discouraged by the scene, feeling it is too much like an elderly centre and that “they don’t belong there”.

Prototype Idea This prototype transforms a cloth-drying rack into a mobile newspaper rack that roams in the community, creating alternative reading space and testing users’ feedback to reading newspapers in a non-library setting. The tests were conducted

36

4 - Prototypes

in parks and the podium of a housing estate, with the hope of alleviating space congestion in the library, also making better use of communal space.

Findings & Insights • Reading newspapers is a form of leisure activity

• Storage and operation (changing newspapers,

for residents. The Lab Team discovered that many

moving the rack in and out) could be an issue,

cherish the reading experience and content (whether

and the prototype could be improved by having a

the newspaper is up-to-date or not) is less important.

storage space near the testing sites. Many residents

The preferred atmosphere varies from bustling social

suggested the indoor LCSD sports centre adjacent to

area to silent solo area.

the library as a good place to start.

• The prototype is a kind of intervention that disturbed the usual routine and group dynamics in the park when the rack was there. Community groups like the idea but they also said the racks need to be there at the right time regularly, such as mornings and early afternoons for the elderly, and afternoons for housewives before they pick up their children from school.

Further Suggestions A community map should take stock of residents’ favourite community spots to spend personal time and to learn. This data will provide insights into identifying favourable locations for the newspaper rack, which should not be difficult to do.

2

Prototype

04

South Asian Bookshare

Observation There is a significant number of South Asians

tongues. Current district public libraries have very

in Sham Shui Po but they are rarely seen in the

few such resources. Meanwhile, the Lab Team has

library. During the field research, some of them

observed a sense of mistrust between the local

expressed the wish to read books in their mother

elderly and the South Asian community.

Challenges • Given the already stupendous challenges for South Asians to master Chinese and English, they may not see the point of going to the library (with books in only Chinese and English); also, it is suggested they should extend their social network with locals, more so than acquiring “hard knowledge” through reading.

• Some local library users feel hesitant to get in touch with the South Asian population, even when they are also library users.

• Procurement of books in South Asian languages poses challenges, e.g. the need to know the languages and also book purchase policies in order to vet book content; the need to be “impartial” as there are many languages and dialects used by South Asians and it would be challenging to procure them all; and finally, technical issues related to information input.

Prototype Idea The Lab Team initiated a book sharing corner themed on South Asian languages and culture (in any kind of languages) at the entrance of the PORPL for two months to test user responses.

The team opened this up for community book donation first, while at the same time looked for organisation donors. Thanks to the generosity of

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4 - Prototypes

Sagar Library, a community-run Pakistani Library, the team was able to gather 50 Urdu books to kick start the experiment. Posters were put up at various community spots for the South Asian community and a Facebook page was also created to promote the scheme.

Findings & Insights • The corner was not as popular as the Lab Team had imagined. Later the team was connected with Kung Yung Koon Shabnam, a community-building initiative in Kwai Chung for South Asians, who suggested that South Asian men work long hours and can hardly find time for books, while women need to take care of their kids.

which are not usually considered “their place”.

• Books crowdsourced for the bookshare are mostly philosophical and religious books, which also explains its relative lack of popularity. The Lab Team was then approached by Lohas Bookstore in Tuen Mun, operated by a South Asian former social worker, to help extend the prototype testing.

• As the South Asian community usually congregates

There the bookshare met with a more welcoming

at mosques, South Asian supermarkets or certain

response, with mostly South Asians women

community centres, it might be more effective to

expressing interest in cook books, children’s

bring the book-sharing network to these places,

books, poems and fiction.

instead of asking them to come to public libraries

Further Suggestions • While second-generation South Asian children

children’s picture books could also be procured.

are hard pressed to study Chinese, it is also

Furthermore, old magazines can also be sent

important for them to establish cultural links via

from public libraries to different neighbourhoods

books/magazines in their mother tongue. The

for people’s continuous reading.

Central Library has magazine and newspaper subscriptions from six South Asian countries.

To understand the needs of different South Asian communities better, design thinking and co-creation workshops with South Asian readers could be set up on a regular basis. With better knowledge of these readers’ abilities and needs, better and more sustainable options will emerge.

• To make public libraries welcoming for South Asians, there is a need for public libraries to establish more active outreach with NGOs. Cultural exchange should take place in the form of activities that allow friendship and cultural understanding between South Asians and locals.

It is suggested that the South Asian community, while closely knit among their own ethnicity,

• It is also important for the public libraries

is most deficient in local knowledge. Public

to understand the preferred learning models

libraries have a role to play in encouraging

and reading needs of such a heterogeneous

South Asians to access more community

group with diverse ethnicities. Since a few

resources and knowledge.

magazines are already subscribed, perhaps

2

Prototype

05

Happy Library Cards

Observation Public libraries are popular facilities, and are also

and accordingly, librarians spend a good portion

vulnerable to Hong Kong’s prevalent complaints

of their time processing complaints and not

culture. Tension arises between users and library

improving services. Are there better, more direct

staff when needs and expectations are not

ways of resolving conflicts? How can users and

aligned. Accessibility of the 1823 hotline means

librarians become more empathetic individuals

complaints could be just a phone call away;

when sharing the same space?

Challenges • Users have different expectations of library conduct, for example, in noise level and permitted activities. Library staff act as gatekeepers for keeping order.

• Some library users think that rules are too strict, and this can result in tension just by discussing the issue.

Prototype Idea Happy Library Cards is a card game and communication toolkit that puts players into different roles to discuss library issues and navigate needs of stakeholders. Through the game, players cultivate empathy for other users and mediate new strategies for library management. After collecting feedback from three trials with university students, adults and children respectively, the toolkit developed four

40

4 - Prototypes

supportive card sets: the “scenario cards” to show quotes from parents & children, teenagers, elderly and librarians for helping one to step into others' shoes; the “emotion cards” to provide vocabularies for abstract feelings and enhance communication; the “function cards” to drive discussion direction; and the “inspiration cards” to prompt innovation by giving interesting examples of libraries around the world.

Findings & Insights •

•

•

The Lab Team tested the cards for a few rounds

•

While it is easy for citizens to file a telephone

with different users, from university students,

complaint, they may not be aware of the

children, adults to librarians, and found the

layers of work involved in processing a simple

prototype to serve well as a complementary

complaint. Some Lab Team members suggested

instrument to the topic; actual cultivation of

putting information about administrative cost of

empathy requires a more comprehensive approach

processing a complaint together when promoting

and concerted effort from all stakeholders. It can

the complaints hotline, so that citizens can make

however be a good tool to engage library users/

sound judgment themselves what could work for

librarians for more in-depth discussion.

greater public good in respective cases.

During the test, young people expressed

•

Underlying this prototype is the imagination of a

disappointment with the library setting and

happy community library where users could love

facilities. With the convenience of accessing

and protect the place as their own, and resolve

university libraries, they prefer not going to the

conflicts on their own without the need to resort

public libraries.

to library management or the police; public

As with most public services and human nature, complaints come so much easier than compliments. Librarians expressed the wish for more appreciation of their works, and more empathy for their situations especially when handling difficult library users.

libraries open their doors to every citizen almost every day, and they might have a stronger role to play in citizenship education. Features or events that facilitate the expression of appreciation towards libraries, or collaboration that requires users to work together to make the library a better community place can be useful in kindling a more caring and empathetic attitude.

2

Prototype

06

Friends of the Library

Observation “Friends of the Library” is suggested as the “ultimate prototype” at the final stage of the Lab to help run the proposed solutions in a long-term, sustainable manner. The majority of the prototypes require more in-depth collaboration and liaison with community members and organisations, which are beyond the current manpower and development plans of the PORPL. This concept is popular in the U.S. and Europe as a way to untap community resources to promote reading, provide programming services and materials and even funding. The Lab Team suggested “Friends of the Library” as an

42

4 - Prototypes

ambassador scheme for citizens to support and promote the library and design communityfocused library programmes and services. It provides a means for the community to participate in the library, and cultivates a sense of community ownership. Retirees and elderly are often found in the library, some of them complaining life is too boring while others take up new learning and reading habits to fill their time. Perhaps the library could better work with them as well as cross-generational community members to add value to both parties.

Protoyping phase as an iterative process The prototyping phase is not just about making the ideas real, but a time when the Lab Team reaches out further to relevant people and organisations in the community to inspire trusting collaboration and to further investigate the issues.

In the prototyping phase, we met with these people and organisations who were interested in knowing more about our prototypes:

Community Sector

Academic Sector Public Sector

Department of Cultural Studies, Lingnan University Independent Researcher, Intercultural Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

4 - Prototypes

43

“I have more understanding of library services, such as e-resources. I couldn’t imagine how complicated it is to introduce or remove a service. I now understand more about the public libraries’ concerns.”

Desmond CHU, the Lab Team (Core Team), Marketing Consultant

“Beyond rules and limitations I see the librarians’ passion for connecting people with knowledge and keeping the place comfortable for everyone.”

Joelle CHAN, the Lab Team (Resource Team), Digital Consultant

44

5 - Lab Impact

5

Lab Impact

“I have different perspectives in the co-creation process and developed empathetic understanding towards the situation faced by the civil servants in handling different wants and needs.”

“Previously I thought libraries are outdated but later I discover that the government is trying to adjust the design of new libraries to fit the needs of the new era.”

Vincent CHONG, the Lab Team (Core Team), Law Student

5 - Lab Impact

45

Follow-up after the Lab Impact of any initiative often takes time to realise. The MaD Social Lab Team includes here further prototypes and actions initiated by libraries after the LIBoratory Project as a result of the lab’s five months of work.

Curated Book Display LCSD formally tested the idea of curated book display at three libraries in the Kwai Tsing District, led by the Senior Librarian who was part of the Lab Team. Curated book display was tested for one month in October 2017, with design features suggested by the Lab Team, creating a more interesting browsing experience, and making visible the rich resources in the libraries.

The MaD Social Lab Team is in discussion with LCSD to further explore book curation ideas to promote reading to children and parents in the community.

Experimenting Library Space One prototype was reimagined space usage, space allocation and interior design in the PORPL to better suit user needs. The realisation of this prototype requires new funding and cross-departmental collaboration which means it needs to be a long term plan. The MaD Social Lab Team was invited to share their findings where LCSD, Architectural Services Department, the Hong Kong Design Centre and the Make A Difference Institute sat together to discuss possibilities for this endeavour with a view to use design thinking to co-create future public libraries.

Training Session with LCSD At the invitation of LCSD, the MaD Social Lab Team presented their findings to the senior management of LCSD at their training session on 3 November 2017.

The lab process is one where participating civil servants go through the whole lab cycle from gathering stories, brainstorming solutions to making the prototypes. One of them remarked, “I have learnt a new methodology to collect clients’ views and know more about their needs.” Another civil servant, who is not from LCSD, shared similar feedback, “I know more about the communal approach to identifying improvement areas for public services, and I realise public libraries can bear a bigger responsibility of making the community better.”

46

5 - Lab Impact

Experimentation of curated book display at the Kwai Tsing District Public Library

Non-slippery adhesive tapes to guide users to different bookshelves, encouraging detours and surprise journeys.

Multi-disciplinary books under the theme of traditional Chinese culture are brought together.

This is an upgrade of the usually single-discipline monthly book recommendation corner.

Adding interactive elements for users to indicate book preferences, which creates a sense of user participation and an initial attempt to help gather individual library-specific user preference for more location-specific book selection.

Panels promoting electronic resources of similar subjects, enabling a more holistic learning experience while also boosting usage of less visible resources.

Book display modelled after commercial bookstores, with attractive book covers facing the front to entice users.

5 - Lab Impact

47

Feedback from LCSD

The Make A Difference Institute is grateful for LCSD’s support in being our Lab Partner for this pioneering co-creative experiment. The following session is provided by LCSD.

• The LIBoratory Project was the first social innovation project in which LCSD worked in partnership with a professional team consisting of Make A Difference Institute and Lab Team members of diversified backgrounds. The Social Lab approach brought a new dimension of thinking to LCSD when seeking to enhance its public library services.

• On completion of the LIBoratory Project, LCSD tested the idea of curated book display at different public libraries in order to create a more interesting browsing experience for readers, and to better utilise and make visible the rich resources of the public libraries. With the inspiration of Rack-on-theGo, LCSD set up the first pop-up library in Sham Shui Po, followed by a series named “Fun Reading at Your Neighbourhood – Pop-up Library” held beyond the library premises in Tuen Mun, Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong in 2018. A range of curated library activities tailor-made for target participants were held outside the physical libraries to enable them to enjoy reading in a relaxing environment and to foster social inclusion within the community.

• LCSD will enhance the environment of the Children's Library in different public libraries to transform the area into a happy and enjoyable place for children to read with their parents and care-takers. We will apply design thinking to engage and communicate with members of the public, to learn about their needs in re-designing the library spaces and to transform our services to better meet their needs in using the public library services.

• In the same instance, LCSD will leverage technology to provide innovative public library services as well as to enhance the facilities, service quality, cost-effectiveness and friendliness of the public libraries to promote city-wide reading culture and support Hong Kong’s development as a smart city.

Design thinking will be applied in our upcoming Smart Library Project, to meet the needs of the public, and to advocate a “people-oriented” service culture. The LIBoratory Project and the prototypes are good references and have laid the basis for us in engaging the public in promoting value-adding library services and in advocating inter-disciplinary collaboration.

48

5 - Lab Impact

Photos in this session are provided by the Hong Kong Public Libraries, LCSD

5 - Lab Impact

49

Reflections and Thoughts for Improvement On Library Services The six experiments touched on a diversity of issues and pointed to library innovations. While they are developed out of the particular case of the PORPL, they also speak about paradigm shifts that are needed for district libraries to better serve citizens with different needs:

Reposition standardised district libraries as community learning hubs with local character The need for public libraries to go beyond its role as passive book and information centres run by professional librarianship, to proactively creating community ties, district-based programmes and services that respond to the needs of the neighbourhood and allow for more local character to be developed.

Develop more user-centred and age group friendly library services Understand diverse district user profiles deeply, and their different needs for learning and library services.

Go beyond traditional modes of learning Traditional text-based reading is but one mode of learning among many; modern libraries should be receptive enablers of new models of learning through making tools, using new technology and facilitating community co-creation.

Become more enticing learning destinations A more lively and contemporary image, user-led interior design and furniture, better communication to reduce complaints as well as make known the diversity of resources at libraries.

50

5 - Lab Impact

On Lab Process This was our first time running a full lab with a public department. As experience is one’s best teacher, the MaD Social Lab Team constantly reflects on the design and methodologies used to adjust for the better. From this first experiment, we have identified the following key improvement areas:

1. Enable deeper analysis The lab question was set broadly to allow for flexibility in exploring various interesting issues. Coupled with a tight project timeline, there is not enough time to investigate the issues deeply, which in turn compromises prototype quality. There is a need for more time to work together, and for deeper participation from the librarians and the Lab Team to conduct deeper analysis; alternatively, setting a narrower lab question to allow for more focused prototype ideas.

2. Collect pain points from frontline and managerial librarians As librarians work in the system every day, they are like knowledge troves. However, it is not always easy to talk about pain points, especially to people who are new, and not from inside the system. It is important to have more and deeper dialogues with the librarians in the story collection phase.

3. Difficulty in collaboration As a cross-disciplinary team, a key challenge encountered is how people from different sectors work and think rather differently. There are different protocols, paces, languages, expectations, and implicit rules.

A designer may expect fast-paced, varied experiments to be done inside the library and readily accept interruption to normal services in order to create room for experimentation; a civil servant may justifiably expect test plans to go through prudent approval processes to ensure public safety and set right public expectation. More synchronising work is needed to pave way for more successful co-creation.

4. Deepen community participation throughout the lab process To ensure the Lab Team was working on the right track, we organised 3 community sharing sessions at the PORPL to collect citizen feedback on the identified themes and suggested prototypes. However, the feedback collected tended to be general. Mechanisms of community participation need to be designed into the Lab such that the feedback can shed light on user needs and habits and translate into design details to guide prototype development.

5. Empower non-participating librarians to have more ownership of the social lab process As the Lab Team is only temporary, and could only take in a small number of librarians as lab members, we hope to find more ways to empower non-participating librarians so they can also learn about the lab methods, compare them with existing methods they use, and develop ownership of the social lab process for public library services to keep evolving according to citizens’ needs.

5 - Lab Impact

51

Innovative Library Practices From Other Parts of the World The Reading Room is a community library operated entirely by citizens in Rotterdam. Back in 2013, a few public libraries had to close down in Rotterdam due to budget cut. Maurice Specht and his friends asked their neighbours, “How do you want your ideal reading room to look like? What are you willing to do for it?” 50 citizens came together and ran a five-day quick prototyping to test key themes and collect citizen responses.

Leeszaal Rotterdam (The Reading Room), Rotterdam

They got permission to use a vacant Turkish bathhouse and transformed it into a public meeting place all about language, culture and imagination.

Run by 107 volunteers from 20 nationalities, the Reading Room has a collection of 25,000 donated books, a café, numerous citizen-initiated workshops, computers running on LINUX and Wi-Fi signals freely shared by the neighbour living on top. The Reading Room is now a multicultural community hotspot, and keeps receiving 1,200 donated books every week. www.leeszaalrotterdamwest.nl

“Library of Things” in Sacramento Public Library, California Photo Credit: Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG

The New Library, Amsterdam

What belongs to a library apart from books and readers? “Library of things” is now a worldwide phenomenon that seeks to redefine libraries and makes libraries relevant to new technology and people who like learning but not necessarily books.

In Sacramento, they provide in their borrowing catalogues video games, GoPro cameras, sewing machines, ukuleles, screen printers, etc. Tools for use in the library include 3D printers, 3D screeners and a bike repair station. Libraries are experimenting with more innovative visions and trying to meet more distinct community needs, also launching a wider DIY maker movement. http://www.saclibrary.org/Services/Library-of-Things

The New Library in Almere, near Amsterdam in the Netherlands, runs a special reading scheme for kids and parents. Opening this colourful suitcase you will find 4 picture books of a chosen topic, such as magic, first words, counting, transportation, music, library, etc. The suitcase and the books are on loan for a month. They are particularly popular with busy and worried parents who sometimes express their uncertainty in how to choose good books for their kids.

https://www.denieuwebibliotheek.nl/english

52

Innovative Library Practices from Other Parts of the World

Acknowledgements Lab Partner

Programme Partner

Directors’ Lab

MaD Social Lab Team

Louis NG Deputy Director, LCSD

Loretta HO Elie LAM Ariel LO Ada WONG Rachel YAN

Rochelle LAU Assistant Director (Libraries and Development), LCSD Mary CHENG Chief Librarian (Hong Kong Central Library and Extension Activities), LCSD Kim SALKELD, JP Head, Efficiency Unit (Until Dec, 2017) Freda TONG Charities Manager, Hong Kong Jockey Club Ada WONG, JP Chairperson, Make A Difference Institute

Lab Members (Core and Resource Teams) CHAN On-ying, Joelle CHENG Ka-yee, Alliot CHEUNG Lai-sum, Lesley CHU Pak-yan, Desmond POON Tsz-hin, Ernest YIP Yi-man, Crystal YUNG Chung-kwong, Sunny ZENG Ying-fang

CHAN Ho-ming, Sam CHAN Wai-yam, Eunice CHEUNG Hay-wai, Eunice CHONG Yip-fung, Vincent JONG Tak-in, Angela KONG Mei-yi, Elaine LAM Shuk-fong, Vivian LAM Tsz-yan LEE Wai-man, Jimmy LEUNG Hoi-ling, Helen POON Yuen-mei, Ada TAM Kin-lok, Luke WONG Wing-kee, Vicki WU Chung-sze, Sushi YUEN Sin-yu, Kitty ZHANG Xiao-yun, Wendy 807 Creative Space

CHAN Siu-wai, Wallace C H O W C h e u k - t i n g , Te r r y CHOW Ka-ho, Aries CHUI Suk-mui, Sophie KWOK Yue-ting, Vanessa LEUNG Ming-yin, Charles WONG Chui-kwan, Alice WONG Wing YU Ron-hin, Casper

Acknowledgements

53

Cover Image

Prototype Designers

Eden NG Samuel NG

LAU Hoi-ying, Kate LI Jian-shi, Sisi WONG Lok-yan, Olive

Editorial Assistant

Translation

CHOW Yeuk-nga, Garfield

FUNG Ka-man TSUI Wing-yan

Graphic Design

Videography & Editing

WONG Ka-son, Jim

LAU Tak-shing LO Wai-hoi

Intern CHAN Chun-leong Caleb FAN Ka-lam, Nicky TANG Wing-man Mary WONG Yui-hin, Susane

Layout Design PLAY Production

Photography CHEUNG Wai-lok LAM Lui-kong, Roy

Proofreading NGAI Ka-yan, Luna

Special Thanks Architectural Services Department Confederation of Trade Unions Training Centre Department of Cultural Studies, Lingnan University Efficiency Office Fu Cheong Mutual Help Child Centre cum Women Service Centre Hong Kong Community Development Network Hong Kong Design Centre Hong Kong New Arrivals Services Foundation Limited Hong Kong Young Women's Christian Association Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association, Elderly Academy Kai Fong Tour Kowloon Women's Organizations Federation Lau Shun Man Kung Yung Koon LAB by Dimension Plus LCSD Training School New Home Association HOME Centre Support Services for Ethnic Minorities Newspaper & Periodicals Library, Hong Kong Central Library Sagar Library School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Sham Shui Po District Council

54

Acknowledgements

Sham Shui Po District Office The Boys' & Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong (Mei Foo Children & Youth Services Centre) The Zubin Foundation Atung CHAN CHEN Yun-chun CHEUNG Chui-yu Phoebe CHOW CHOW Pui Yu Chloe LAM Max LEUNG LOHAS Book Family Data NG SIU So-yuet YUEN Ka-chun, Fizen And friends and organisations for informing our field study

Date of Publication: Dec 2018 Video Documentation of the LIBoratory Project:

https://goo.gl/Bbsdk8

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