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The Idea Store of London is a type of educational community centre that offers library services along with adult learning courses and extensive activities and events programmes. It was initiated in 1999 by the Borough of Tower Hamlets. The centres present public programmes such as dance classes, computer classes, libraries, and medical clinics. The spaces are usually located on blocks with high foot traffic. Since the first "idea store" opened in 2002 in Bow, several others have opened also in London: Chrisp Street (2004), Whitechapel (2005), Canary Wharf (2006), and Watney Market (2013). The group also publishes a local directory.
Contents
Logline
“Idea Stores are more than just a library or a place for learning. As well as library services, they offer a wide range of adult learning courses and an extensive activities and events programme.”
Vision
Approved in 1999, the original Idea Store Strategy has radically transformed the performance of library and information services in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which was characterized as having the “worst library service in London” (Ted Talk). Idea Stores were designed to deliver ‘in a way that captured the best traditions of the library movement and education sector but present them in an exciting way – one that draws in new users and retains existing users.’
Idea Stores are more than just a library or a place of learning. As well as the traditional library service, they offer a wide range of adult education classes, along with other career support, training, meeting areas, cafes and arts and leisure pursuits – all brought together in easily accessible spaces which are modelled on retail environments. They are places where individuals and families come together informally to socialise. They act as venues for community clubs.
Meeting needs of consumers
Listening to consumer’s needs in creating the idea store, people highlighted three key needs to be addressed in the creation of the idea store:
- “We want to go to places that are where we go in the normal course of our lives,”
- “We want a place that makes us feel good about ourselves,”
- “It needs to belong to us.” (Ted Talk)
The sentiment of the latter need was conveyed in CEO Judith St. John’s Ted Talk in envisioning that upon entering an Idea Store, one should “feel that love. You should feel that there are people in there who are interested in you, who have something to say, and that those people might be your neighbor.” (Ted Talk) The Idea Store has the serves the purpose of “creating excellent library services that have relevance to people in the future” (Ted Talk)
Following the largest consultation exercise ever carried out by the Council to establish just what residents wanted from the Idea Stores, significant service remodelling and capital investment led to the opening of the first Idea Store in May 2002 in Bow. The success of Idea Store Bow was firmly based on the broad partnership approach taken to service development and funding with the Learning & Skills Council and Tower Hamlets College making significant contributions to the strategy implementation.
Locations
From 2002 with the store in Bow, there have been four Idea Stores open to date. The first one to open was Bow, then Chrisp Street, Whitechapel, then finally, Canary Wharf.
Bow
Chrisp Street
Whitechapel
Idea Store Whitechapel opened in September 2005 and is housed in a building designed by David Adjaye. It includes the former Whitechapel library which was once home to the largest collection of Yiddish books in Europe. The £20 million Idea Stores project which first began in April 1999, encompasses Idea Store centres at Bow, Chrisp Street, and Idea Store.