New book in the works
I’m officially writing a book this summer. The working title is Transition Design for the Cultural Commons.
This past spring, I completed a graduate seminar at CMU on Transition Design, a concept I've been exploring for the past year. The seminar brought clarity, action, and hopefulness to my thinking.
Initially, I aimed to adapt the Transition Design framework specifically for librarians. However, as the semester unfolded, I saw the potential to widen the scope to include not just libraries but also archives, museums, galleries, gardens, parks, community centers, and other related organizations. Individually, each can uniquely leverage the tools of Transition Design, but together, they could form an ecosystem that benefits their communities and extends globally. I'm eager to delve deeper into this idea and share a pragmatic vision—once the book is further along.
Aiming for brevity, accessibility, and affordability — I'm crafting a first-person narrative of around 130 pages, blending a personal journey with a creative re-mixing of an existing framework.
The words are emerging quickly—I've dreamt of passages, leading to middle-of-the-night scribblings, and even wrote a few pages on my phone during a recent ride to the airport. This project feels different; it is more like I'm channeling the book rather than writing it.
My plan is to draft the initial manuscript this summer, host a series of webinars in the fall, finalize edits and visuals next spring — and then aim for a release in fall 2025. Alongside the book, I want to create an open educational resource—a toolkit of sorts, approximately 20 pages and perhaps some video clips—to help people implement aspects of Transition Design within their organization. I envision it as a workshop packet.
I’ll share an update in mid-June to track my progress, but for now, my home office has become a vibrant hub for Transition Design . I’m immersing myself fully into this transformative intellectual landscape.
This work wouldn't be possible without the inspiring framework developed by Terry Irwin, Gideon Kossoff, and Cameron Tonkinwise. I am deeply grateful and hope to meaningfully add to their movement.
I’m also curating a Spotify playlist to capture the sonic ambiance as the project unfolds.
