Transforming: Physical & Virtual Space

Ethnographic Design: Creating Culturally Centered Library Spaces

Monday, June 27, 2022

10:30am – 11:30am

Location: Washington Convention Center, 146A

Join NYU Professor David Vinjamuri, library architect Joe Huberty and community librarian Julie Retherford for a discussion of a new school of library design - Ethnographic Design. Instead of starting with standard library ratios measures, ethnographic design goes into the community to understand the needs of the patron (or student) groups to understand how to configure spaces and services. This design comes from the anthropologic research technique of video ethnography and uses modern technology to make this accessible at the community level. See how Ethnographic Design can help libraries guide renovations that result in meaningful benefits for the community.

Learning Objectives:

understand the role of ethnography in library design
segment library users into ethnographic populations to understand how to better serve them
apply ethnographic observations to space design

Main Contact(s)

DV

David Vinjamuri

adjunct Associate Professor of Marketing
New York University

Speaker(s)

JH

Joseph Huberty

Architect
Engberg Anderson, LLC
Julie Retherford

Director
Chetco Community Public Library