Keith Ranaldi: "Libraries have always been places of innovation"
2025-06-23 Keith Ranaldi was the first fellow of the Emerging Tech Lab at Leuphana University Lüneburg on May 22.
Keith Ranaldi, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Head of the Library Innovation Labs at the University of Rhode Island (USA), visited Leuphana University Lüneburg on May 22 as the first fellow of the Emerging Tech Lab.
In an exchange with the Experience Lab of the Media and Information Center (MIZ), he emphasized the basic idea and mission of libraries “to provide access to knowledge and to continuously innovate this gatekeeper role.”
In addition to providing access to knowledge via conventional books, e-books, databases and modern research technologies, libraries have long also offered interactive opportunities to come into contact with media, methods, information and knowledge.
At Rhode Island University, Keith Ranaldi has created an ecosystem of opportunities for students with the Library Innovation Labs: In addition to various labs for AI, virtual reality, audio and video editing and a makerspace, there are also labs for idea generation and spin-offs for student start-ups. For Keith Ranaldi, it was interesting to see how the infrastructure of innovative learning spaces and learning opportunities at Leuphana is designed for students.
With the MIZ Experience Lab, which provides low-threshold access to topics such as AI, VR and 3D printing, the Bib Video Studio for podcasting and video design, and the Creative Space Makerspace by Prof. Ricardo Usbeck, which is currently being created in the MIZ foyer, already offer a wide range of innovative opportunities for students in close proximity to the library.
With this new orientation, libraries remain true to their original self-image: to be central places for access to new knowledge - whether by book or “learning by doing”.