Title:
The Interplay of User Needs, Architectural Design and Form of Libraries

Authors:
Karen Nyawira Gatamu & Paul Mwangi Maringa, Kenya

Abstract:

The study sought out human-centered design in libraries. Public libraries are no longer useful to a transformed majority user population. It was necessary therefore to delineate the met and unmet needs. Guided by Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Logan and Everall’s pyramid of library needs, a conceptual framework emerged where community needs, and community resources pooled to form the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) as the spine of the library. Such an MVP ensured that the convenience, connection, and incubation needs of its patrons were equally catered for, and the library was enabled to grow its capacity and acquire more resources. The resulting system was a positive feedback loop that ascertained adaptation to changing needs.  The case study method guided by observation and interviews was used to review libraries in the low-, middle- and high-income areas, thus, Kaloleni, Buruburu, and Maktaba Kuu libraries respectively. Most libraries met the convenience needs of their patrons, but not so for the connection and incubation needs. Bigger libraries tended to only fulfill general needs rather than specific community needs. It also emerged that a library that met the convenience, incubation, and connection needs of a population effectively also served as a good community library.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.51505/ijaemr.2024.9607