On the last day of the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Rotterdam last August, all kinds of fieldtrips were organised, including to the OBA in Amsterdam, the NeudeLibrary in Utrecht and the Groninger Forum. Wonderful Dutch libraries well worth an inspirational visit. But this 'library tourism' seems mostly limited to best practices and main branches.

Libraries are long gone from being dusty buildings to vibrant places in often architectural masterpieces, such as the Rozet in Arnhem. Delegations of administrators, policymakers and other interested parties regularly visit such hotspots, even outside conferences. This policy tourism is certainly not limited to the library sector; it is perfectly normal and desirable not to reinvent the wheel every time in (spatial) projects and to learn from each other. Still, I have a few reservations about it.

Indeed, we seem to keep visiting the same flagship projects for inspiration, such as the LocHal in Tilburg. In a recent article, The Guardian discussed libraries of the new era: De Krook in Ghent, Dokk1 in Aarhus, Oodi in Helsinki and Deichman Bjørvika in Oslo. These are undeniably wonderful libraries, but can these best practices really serve as an example for all libraries? With more limited budgets or opposition from municipal politics, it is sometimes impossible to develop such gems ourselves, and that must surely be frustrating. Perhaps we should instead go to less well-functioning or designed libraries, to learn how to not do it, or come up with a solution together on how to create a wonderful library facility there too.

In addition, we all draw our inspiration from the same examples, making libraries sometimes surprisingly similar, despite being supposedly locally anchored and created with (citizen) participation. Almost all have imposing entrances with lots of light, height and vistas, makerspaces, colourful and varied furniture and the almost inevitable grandstand staircase. Although many people will find these designer environments beautiful, the thesis 'Familiar Façades' by sociologist Dennis Mathysen (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 2021) shows that far from everyone feels at home there and even experiences a threshold to enter. In particular, less educated and older respondents in his study found iconic libraries less inviting and less recognisable as a library. They also felt uncomfortable criticising these places.

Finally, these inspiration visits often involve the central library, but what about neighbourhood branches? Shouldn't we visit and design them with the same interest, because after all, not everyone can or wants to come to the central branch? Every euro can only be spent once, and focusing on the central branch may come at the (financial) expense of other branches. But the focus on impressive design can also have adverse effects for the central libraries themselves. For example, the Library of Birmingham won several architectural awards, but a year after reopening in 2013, both opening hours and staffing levels had to be almost halved.

So at the next conference, field visit or inspiration session: check out a neighbourhood branch, a library struggling to achieve a particular development, or one in a less iconic building but with very inspiring programming!