In this part, Simon also provides two case studies of libraries: the Waukegan Public Library, which was struggling to reach Latino adults in a community that was more than 50 percent Latino (p. 99), which consists of four steps that are easily transferable to libraries. Simon outlines the museum’s “community first program planning model” (p. Part Three looks at understanding the needs and interests of our communities. This is one of the strongest parts of the book, where Simon teaches us how to empathize with outsiders and help more people feel like insiders. Part Two is about identifying and learning more about “outsiders.” Outsiders are the people we want to bring into the library who either don’t know that we exist or, worse, know that we are there but don’t feel welcome. Relevance theory may be a theoretical avenue worth more exploration by user experience librarians. In Part One, Simon looks briefly at the relevance theory of cognitive scientists Deirdre Wilson and Dan Sperber and the connection between effort and positive cognitive effect. For those looking for more detail, Simon has one previous book, The Participatory Museum, as well as her ongoing Museum 2.0 blog. The index of the book is equally short, only indexing projects or specific organizations mentioned in the text. The book’s many short chapters are divided into five parts: “What is Relevance?” “Outside In,” “Relevance and Community,” “Relevance and Mission,” and “The Heart of Relevance.” Each part consists of several short chapters, some only two or three pages long. In The Art of Relevance (Museum 2.0 2016), Simon provides practical steps, advice, and insights into the participatory design she has implemented so successfully at her museum, offering librarians a new perspective on user experience at our institutions. The metaphor of relevance as a key is used throughout the book and is a useful framework for libraries trying not only to improve the user experience, but to create new doors to allow non-users to enter the library and find meaning there too. Over time, she began to see relevance as a key-“relevance is the key to a locked door where meaning lives” (p. Early on in her role as director, Simon defined “relevant experiences” as “those connected to the needs, assets, and interests of our community, and to the art and history in our collection” (p. People not only come to the museum, they come back again and again, and they help shape what is there for other people to find. Over her time there, Simon has transformed the museum into a thriving community hub. Like many institutions, the museum was faced with the question of whether or not they were relevant anymore.

When Nina Simon became the director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History in California in 2011, the museum was on the edge of closing its doors.

Nina simon the art of relevance