make-a-thek Personas and Journeys

This deliverable presents the user research carried out to define the make-a-thek personas and user journeys, key tools for designing a modular makerspace approach tailored to public library contexts.

The work builds on co-design methodologies and design thinking, involving both library professionals and local communities across pilot countries. Research activities included interviews, online surveys, live workshops, and mapping exercises aimed at understanding needs, behaviours, barriers, and expectations related to making, fashion, craft, and circularity.

The outcome is a set of multi-layered personas (librarians, crafters, makers, citizens, circularity experts, fashion professionals, and prosumers), each paired with a detailed narrative user journey. These stories explore real-life interactions with makerspaces in public libraries, highlighting motivation, friction points, and engagement dynamics.

The findings provide crucial input for the design of the make-a-thek toolkit and its future implementation in pilot libraries, ensuring solutions that are inclusive, adaptable, and user-driven. In addition, these insights will inform subsequent project work, guiding space configuration, training, facilitation, and community engagement strategies.