Tag Archives: Librarians

Book-filled Places for Makerspaces

Libraries have always had a special place in my heart. As an elementary school student, I always remember weekly trips to that magical place where our class would peruse the Caldecott Medal-winning authors, attempt to understand the Dewey Decimal System, and sign out books that lined up with our interests. Unfortunately, our librarians failed to fully realize the life lessons that could be extracted from The Far Side comic collections, but nevertheless, I found a way to thrive.

As the years went by, those leather bound walls became nothing more than a backdrop for flashy multimedia devices. Entire volumes of encyclopedias were reduced to a CD-ROM. Librarians went from stamping books to stamping hall passes, so students in study hall could access computers in order to keep up on the latest sports news, celebrity gossip, or spend 40 or so minutes toiling with the latest games that Shockwave had to offer. I believe it was Bob Dylan who once said, “the times, they are a-changin’.”

This is why I found it refreshing to learn about the concept of a makerspace. In what I would describe as a conscious move toward reclaiming these hallowed grounds, libraries are finding new meaning in the face of a digital world. Much like the public utilization of fire halls for banquets and receptions, libraries are adapting to the needs of the public by embracing the inevitability of change.

While the articles primarily focus on application of makerspaces within school libraries, we see such tactics being similarly implemented in corporate entities across the world. The emergence of War Rooms, which are designated areas that have been established to carry out a specific goal, are often employed to bring key players across all departments into one location to brainstorm, analyze, and ultimately implement an idea or product. Not only does this provide an opportunity for team building, but it also facilitates questioning through the merging of several different interests and perspectives.

Much like Colleen Graves outfitted a conference room for small group collaboration, these areas provide a more intimate environment vs. the learning commons which can facilitate a much larger audience. These nimble structures allow for increased participation through the ability to conform to particular tasks at hand. The colorful description of interactive spaces adorned with movable furniture, whiteboard walls, and chalk-top surfaces; reminded me of offices at Facebook or Google. Much like the ideas wrought from such entities are meant to change with the times, this same approach is now being routinely applied to the workspace.

Along with the allusion to co-working, these communal domains can play host to makerspaces catered to specific applications, such as fab labs and hackerspaces. Tod Colgrove highlights the versatility of these spaces, in that they can allow for the potential integration of technology, therefore having the ability to unite satellite locations from across the street or across the globe. Even the role of the librarian is changing, as a diverse repository of knowledge must now be called upon, in order to facilitate the dynamic needs of these movers and shakers makers.

The extension of makerspaces to public libraries, is an especially exciting concept. Often relying on funding from local taxes, fundraising, and donations from private parties, these seemingly archaic institutions seem to have a chance at survival, and an opportunity to make a legitimate comeback. Though the emphasis may have shifted away from “print literacy”, I feel that Carolyn Foote said it best, “we are about understanding the world we live in literacy”.