1.
Individual Project Top Line Brief
Duncan McKean 05975465
Version 3_15 JAN 09
Background
• Over the last 10 years book borrowing has fallen by 34% (Chartered
Institute of Public Finance and Accountability, 2008).
• 87% of respondents to a public consultation felt that a library closure
would affect them greatly (Buckinghamshire City Council
Government report, 2006)
• “Attempts to replace a local library with a mobile library service at
Avonmouth were met with very strong local resistance.” (IDeA peer
review, 2004)
• “We need to move on from the perception of libraries as merely
depositories for books…” (John Rouse, Cabe, 2003)
• “The growing recognition of third places in relation to social capital
and community cohesion suggests an appropriate role for the
public library movement seeking to reaffirm its place in the network
society.” (Harris, 2003)
• “…how it [a library] is being used for positive interaction between
people, connecting the people and the resources the library holds
in a way that enriches lives…” (Helen Carpenter, Director,
welcometoyourlibrary.org, 2008)
Insights
• Public libraries are in a unique position to be a third place (not
home, not work) within the community.
• People still believe that a library should be the centre of a
community and have an opinion on what a library should be
whether they use them or not.
Opportunity
• A product / service that engages the local community to help
create a valid third place used by, benefitting and reflecting that
community.

2.
Idea
• The library can be considered as a viable third place for the local
community to use.
• If the local community had an opportunity to invest and engage
with this third place they would be more likely use other facilities
there.
• If this engagement reflected each user then this could reflect the
community as a whole and facilitate a community network for users
and visitors.
Product / Service Outline Description
• The product / service will give users the opportunity to personalise
their experience of the third place in an innovative way.
• These “personalisations” should create a strong sense of personal
investment and facilitate interaction between community
members.
Target Market
The market can be segmented into the following groups:
• Current library users
• Lapsed library users
• Non-library users
• Vulnerable sections of society
• Tourists and people new to the area
• Local councils that run the libraries
Consumer / Customer / User Benefits
• Will create a third place where people can go that is not work or
home.
• Help introduce beneficial library services to a new audience.
• Will make people feel part of a community.

3.
User Needs
The product / service must:
• Allow the personalisation to be represented in a way that other
people can interpret.
• Allow the user to interact with product / service in an engaging or
provocative way.
• Facilitates community networking.
• Give the third place a sense of identity.
The product / service should:
• Be available for a subscription price of £50.00 p/a or under as
primary research verifies.
• Be intuitive to use so no handholding required.
• Can be used by ages 8-80.
• Portray information resulting from personalisation in a visually
stimulating way.
• Give the ‘Cheers’ feeling: where everybody knows your name.
• Product / Service could be used as an informal tourist centre as
primary research verifies.
Likely features and technology
• Human interaction touchpoint.
• Way of expressing the personalisation in a simple analogue, digital
or mechanical way.
• A way for users to experience what other users have expressed.
Development issues and challenges
• Product / Service must not be a ‘use once’ novelty.
• Possible danger of information overload for consumers / users.
• Ability to appeal to a lot of different target markets.
• Product / Service must conform to any relevant standards.
• Ergonomic considerations to touchpoint.
• Additional considerations might be required for certain target
segments such as vulnerable users.
Assumptions
• Currently there is no cost limitation to develop product / service.
• It is valuable to target several market segments instead of targeting
a narrow segment because as a community third space it should
serve the whole community.

4.
Technical expertise required
• At this stage no technical expertise has been identified.
Limitations
The scope of this product / service is purposefully broad at this stage,
however it is limited by/to the following:
• Public libraries.
• The community being ‘local’ to the library as defined by current
local authority library catchment areas.
Stakeholder Map