Johan Tilstra is a former Program Manager at Utrecht University whose passion lies within the library world and the need for libraries to remain current, useful and dependable.
As Lean Library’s Founder and CEO, Johan Tilstra, came up with the idea for a browser extension when Utrecht University had the ‘Thinking the Unthinkable: A Library without a Catalogue’ initiative. The groundwork for the idea of not offering a catalogue was the conviction that libraries should shift their focus from discovery to delivery.
This conviction is based on an evident change in users’ behavior with regards to where and how they are starting their research, as pinpointed in many talks, articles and blog posts. Therefore, it’s vital for libraries to revolutionize the library environment to adjust and capitalize on this behavioral shift of their users.
Working closely with students and researchers, Johan recognized this shift and worked tirelessly, creating a prototype and developing it into a full-fledged extension that puts libraries directly in their end users’ preferred workflow.
Armed with his vision, he set out to start Lean Library, which once dependent on early adopters, is now a powerful force of change in the library landscape.
