Libgen - Towards a new class of evolutionary libraries

PREMISE
The world that we see today is closer than ever before. Knowledge which was earlier stored via books has now been transferred to the digital medium. It is accessible to the world, making the process of acquiring this knowledge i.e. learning, simpler. An avenue to self-educate and learn was initiated by need of a public space that made knowledge accessible to all with books. The concept of libraries initiated with this idea, by making learning accessible to all. It banked on the idea of gathering a wide spectrum of knowledge in one space, open to enable self-learning.
Books is a medium of self-learning in the form of written media that preserve history, fiction, art, and science. After almost after 650 years of its existence they are now seen as another form of technology that people are moving ahead without. It is not the only source of knowledge anymore.
Digital age resolved this with a few clicks by giving us information-based knowledge and a platform to learn on web. Yet, a spatial zone to absorb this knowledge is still finding its place in the urbanscape in the context of today.
Challenge
The function of a library was re-modelled with time as it served as a public facility that could be centralized for a different learning experience all together. With digitization, availability of the internet, modes of learning have been restructured into new forms, but the spatial zones to acquire this knowledge is yet to receive an update on a larger scale. Library has in a way become a public building that is wanted by everybody, however public interest is diminishing at large.
Today libraries suffer thanks to budget cuts and lack of interest by public at large - can libraries evolve to become something bigger? Can libraries be the think tank of the city? Or a forum where exchange of ideas happens? Can they evolve from a passive function of a repository to an active self-learning space to share and create new knowledge? Can this new function be enclosed in a more conducive infrastructure?
Challenge: The challenge here is to design/complete rewrite the universal definition of public library and democratize education and learning through refreshing spatial ideas.

Timeline:

Launch July 09, 2019

Registration closes: December 06, 2019

20$ Students, 25$ Professionals, 80$ Institutional Access

Submission Deadline: December 16, 2019

Public Voting begins: December 26, 2019

Public Voting ends: January 16, 2020

Result Announcement: January 26, 2020

 

Prizes:

Prize pool of worth 15000$

First Prize: 5000$ (For students and professionals)

Runner up: 3 x 1500$ (For students and professionals)

People’s Choice: 2 x 500$ (For students – Most appreciated project wins this)

People’s Choice: 2 x 500$ (For professionals – Most appreciated project wins this)

Honorable mention x 7 (Students): 250$ Each

Honorable mention x 7 (Professionals): 250$ Each

 

 

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