Involving customers in redesigning and marketing the library

Our paper describes the redesign process of Hakunila Library and presents a rough outline of our new marketing strategy. We had a midsized public library which looked (inside and outside) like a flashback to the 70’s and was no longer as popular as before. We had a question: “What should we do differently?” and we searched for answers to this question with our customers in our redesign process. We decided to focus on two customers groups: adults and young people (aged 12-15). We started in a traditional way: a detailed questionnaire for both groups. We continued in a non-traditional and service-design-like way: three workshops with both customer groups. Now, we have a much better understanding of our customers .We have planned a modern, flexible library space with mainly recycled materials and only some new investments and named our star services based on the wishes of our customers. Still, this only the beginning – changing a library is hard work! In the near future, we will make more concrete marketing plans for our services – especially the star services! – and develop a more detailed brand-building plan.