At YPRL, co-design means working alongside our community on matters that affect them, and pushing staff outside their comfort zones to achieve innovative outcomes.

The Four Main Principles of Co-Design

Principle 1: Participation A successful co-design approach hinges on empathy, listening, acceptance, and sharing, incorporating a diversity of experiences, perspectives, and skills. 

Principle 2: Development Co-design should be a developmental or learning process. As participants share experiences, knowledge, and expertise, there’s an opportunity to actively learn from each other and build our understanding of diverse perspectives. 

Principle 3: Ownership and Power Co-design is about fostering a collective and equal partnership in both processes and outcomes. Power is shared among participants, with facilitators placing equal value on everyone’s input regardless of their role or status. 

Principle 4: Outcomes and Intent Co-design activities should be practical and focused on outcomes. From the outset, it’s crucial that the co-design team understands the intent, scope, and vision of the process, while also ensuring participants have creative license when developing solutions. 

Investing in Co-Design skills 

Over the past few years, YPRL has significantly invested in equipping our staff with the skills needed for co-design. This includes having all Branch Managers and Program Coordinators attend Introduction to Co-Design sessions provided by White Light Education and supporting the development of YPRL Co-Design Champions. These champions not only lead their own co-design projects but also mentor and coach other staff members.

A great example of a practical takeaway from the training was technique called "Yes, and...". It creates opportunities for creativity and demonstrates that accepting isn’t the same as agreeing. Instead, accepting is hearing something and building on it. When applied to discussions, it allows groups to embrace each other’s creativity. 

YPRL’s commitment to co-design has fundamentally transformed our approach to community engagement and service development. By fostering and building a culture of co-design, we are seeing more inclusive, relevant, and sustainable services and programs. Through activities like "Yes, and...", we continue to push the boundaries of creativity and collaboration. As we move forward, co-design will remain a cornerstone of our strategy, ensuring that we stay responsive to the evolving needs of our community.

Celebrating Cultural Stories: The Wurundjeri Co-Design with Yarra Plenty Regional Libraries

In December 2023’s issue of INCITE, some of our Co-Design Champions discussed their experience building a co-design culture and capability into the organisation. The result, The Deadly Collection, was born from our local First Nations communities, who asked for stronger visibility, acknowledgment that sharing stories was important, and a better understanding of the connection to culture and country within our library collection.

Primary objectives of the Deadly Collection are:

1. Representation and Inclusion: Enable local First Nations people to see, feel, and relate to their culture, country, and stories within their local library spaces.
2. Awareness and Education: Inform the broader library community about the depth and strength of the library’s holdings created by First Nations people.
3. Cultural Exchange: Encourage the movement, sharing, and learning of First Nations stories within the community.

We created easily identifiable branding to highlight items created by First Nations People. We ensured that Indigenous Australian stories, voices, and illustrations were easily discoverable and prominent within our wider collection. You can read more about how we achieved this here.

Success and Future Plans

The success of the Deadly Collection is evident in both quantitative and qualitative measures. The positive feedback from the local First Nations peoples and the co-design group, coupled with the high engagement levels at launch events and the substantial loan figures, indicate that the project’s objectives have been met. To date we have 517 titles in the Deadly Collection, which make up 2,803 items. These items have been loaned 10,390 in the first six months since launching the collection.

Moving forward, we are expanding the Deadly Collection, with a commitment to acquiring more titles written, illustrated, or directed by First Nations creatives. We’re also incorporating the 8 Aboriginal ways of cultural learning in our Toy and Learning Library. This ongoing development ensures that the library remains a vibrant and inclusive space that honours and celebrates the rich cultural heritage of Australia's First Nations peoples.

Recognition and Impact

In June 2024, YPRL’s Deadly Collection was awarded a Special Mention in the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and PressReader International Marketing Awards. This meant that YPRL’s project was in the top 15 of 103 international submissions to the award.

YPRL’s commitment to co-design has fundamentally transformed our approach to community engagement and service development. By fostering and building a culture of co-design, we are seeing more inclusive, relevant, and sustainable services and programs. Through activities like "Yes, and...", we continue to push the boundaries of creativity and collaboration. As we move forward, co-design will remain a cornerstone of our strategy, ensuring that we stay responsive to the evolving needs of our community.