Librariness:
Re-envisioning NYC Branch Libraries
Grain was part of the interdisciplinary team UNION, which strategized towards increased visibility, recognition, and investment for New York City branch libraries. By creating a toolkit of branding, design, and engagement options, the team built momentum for these local resources to leverages private capital and public investment.
Branch libraries are serving more New Yorkers in more ways than ever before, yet they remain undervalued as a linchpin of civic life and social infrastructure. Increased visibility and recognition can catalyze broader transformation by engaging everyday people, local institutions, and, eventually, policymakers through modest programs and actions. The strategies created as part of this study are meant to build a broad-based constituency of advocates for the libraries. The strategies for this investigation reveal the important roles libraries have in civic life beyond information and education, including workforce development, health, disaster resiliency, and community identity.
This is the story of how modest, creative actions taken today can catalyze dramatic transformations in the city tomorrow. It’s about the New York City Branch Library system and how a visionary idea in the right hands, right now, can change the course of the future.
