Mobile Library as a Third Place

How can mobile libraries become “third places” in rural regions? In what way can they help advance social change in these regions and strengthen local cohesion? What should be reconsidered and changed so that they will be more readily viewed by locals as open, communicative meeting places, reliable information centres and partners for digital competence? With these questions in mind, the Schleswig-Holstein central municipal library tested innovative methods and formats in small towns and villages in the pilot region of Rendsburg-Eckernförde. These provided a basis for new impulses and concepts for its 13 mobile libraries. The organisers launched the project in cooperation with the State Association of Adult Education Centres and the state-financed organisation MarktTreff, which supplies residents of Schleswig-Holstein with essential services and local produce. They developed new concepts in cooperation with residents and policymakers in future-oriented design-thinking workshops. Following the project, the findings will be applied to the mobile libraries of the other districts and further developed with funding from the state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Project title: Mobile Library as a Third Place – Development of an Innovative Concept for the Future of Mobile Libraries

Partner: MarktTreff Schleswig-Holstein, Schleswig-Holstein State Association of Adult Education Centres