Making a New World: Libraries as a Center of Creation

A Presentation for the CLA Support Staff Conference

11/6/2015

What hat do you wear?

Librarian Hats

Investigator

Manager

Geek

What services do you provide?

• Find information• Lend resources• Curate• Support• Maintain

Libraries are Changing

Librarians are Changing

• “To be a librarian is not to be neutral, or passive, or waiting for a question. It is to be a radical positive change agent within your community.”

• ― R. David Lankes

3 Themes

• From place to platform• From atoms to bits• To atoms again

Library as Platform

– Be open to all– Give access to every scrap of information it has, including

its digital content, but also metadata about that content, its usage, and the social interactions around it

– Enable new products and services to be built by anyone with an idea

– Integrate everything the library knows into the entire Net ecosystem

• http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/09/future-of-libraries/by-david-weinberger/#_

What does this mean

• Focus on enabling technologies• Reduce focus on books• Increase focus on non traditional lending

What is a Tool Library?Tool libraries are just like traditional libraries, but with tools instead of books. They are great for people who can’t/don’t want to buy/rent tools they are only going to use once in a while.

The Tekventure makerstation parked at the Allen County Public LIbrary in Fort Wayne, Ind.

What hat will you wear?

• Wearable Technology • Sewing and Knitting

• Maker– Robots– Arduino– Soldering– Electronics– Quadcopters

• Maker– Carpenters– Blacksmiths– Welders– Shipwrights

These are things, therefore

• Cataloging• Lending policies• Instruction

We have always done this

• This Library afforded me the Means of Improvement by constant Study– Benjamin Franklin

We Distribute the Future

• The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed.

• William Gibson

Things that will stay the same

• We will continue to acquire, organize and lend books.

• We will aid seekers of information in finding that information mostly through the use of databases.

Things that will change

• Bits are cheaper to store and redistribute than atoms unless artificially restricted, therefore, library budgets will continue to focus on the digital.

• Consequences– Location does not matter– Collections matter less– Expectations of 24/7 access

How about the atoms?

• Makerspaces and community building efforts require real people and buildings. These activities are key to keeping libraries open.

Chattanooga

• 4th Floor• Our Vision: The 4th floor is a public laboratory and

educational facility with a focus on information, design, technology, and the applied arts. The more than 12,000 sq foot space hosts equipment, expertise, programs, events, and meetings that work within this scope. While traditional library spaces support the consumption of knowledge by offering access to media, the 4th floor is unique because it supports the production, connection, and sharing of knowledge by offering access to tools and instruction.

The went from this

To this

University of Nevada Reno

• There are two student 3D "wranglers" who anyone can make an appointment with through the DeLaMare's online libguide to show them how use the 3D printers or to trouble shoot problems.

– http://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2014/makerspace

Some of what they offer

About those 3D Printers

• Get one, they are cheap.• Just because you have one does not mean you

have a makerspace but it is a start.

Develop a Maker Mindset

• If something breaks think about trying to fix it.• Find something you love to do and offer a

class on it.• Go to workshops.• Read Make magazine.

Q&A

• Author info– edward.iglesias@ccsu.edu

• This presentation is at– http://www.slideshare.net/edwardiglesias