ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on a body of work (2018–2021) that explores public libraries' role in engaging topics of death and dying with their communities. The Death Positive Library is an action research project and cross-country UK collaboration between Redbridge, Kirklees, and Newcastle Libraries and academics at Northumbria University. Design and humanities research is at the heart of this partnership. Using polyvocal and multiple methods of engagement, our aim is to create impact by opening outwards the question of personal legacy. COVID-19 shifted the nature of this research as it mapped onto the broader public demand for events exploring death, as people attempted to understand and navigate the new global picture. Live methods and public testing were core to this exploration, including public installations, physical and digital death cafes, festivals, online book club/film club with author Q&As alongside the development of a curated booklist and online/library-based website for navigating creative, cultural, and future options for the end of life – giving the public creative spaces for contemplating mortality.
