Libraries as makerspace

[Tom Maillioux]

Hey everyone, some of you might have seen the following article in
BoingBoing : http://boingboing.net/2011/11/12/library-to-get-a-hackerspace.html.
I was able to chat over Skype with Lauren, the librarian behind the
idea, and it was a very interesting discussion about organic teaching
structures, organization issues, people's relationship to books,
information and knowledge.

At the moment she's reaching out to local teachers and schools, but we
are looking into making some space for a similar space in the library
I work at and here in France, there's an interesting trend of
discussing the future of libraries as hybrids of libs and hackerspaces/
makerspaces. What about you guys ? Any ideas/thoughts on this matter
(both pros and cons) ?

Cheers,
T.

[John Miller]

Hi Tom,

I am working on that in my school District. Transforming Media Centers
(aka Library) and our computer labs into an innovation
space/makerspace. As our schools move away from desktops to all mobile
devices we have some real estate to work with. We are experimenting
using Scrum with teachers and students as a framework to discover,
create and adapt.

I think it is a great idea! The literacy our kids need surpass just
reading and research, but in doing and creating.
It could get noisy though, but, the librarian has to move from the "
shhhh!" mentality. Making and collaborating can be noisy organized
chaos : )

I just spoke at a conference in Arizona about this topic. Makerbots.
Having makerbots in our old computer labs and Media Centers is a great
symbol of upgrading the digital native to the innovation native.
Would love to hear more about how this moves forward for you.

Regards,
John Miller
Director of IT
Litchfield Elementary School District
Http://it.lesd.k12.az.us

-Sent from an iPhone. Expect inaccuracies.

[Mel Shamanka]

Hey John,

I'll keep the list posted, of course. The library I work at being what it is - a ressource center for teachers all across the Académie de Créteil - we need to make sure we do things right. We're probably going to bring in a 3D printer derived from the RepRaps for that purpose, along with a series of ready-to-use class templates for such tools. The point after all is not just to show off the tools but to provide interesting uses for them :)

T.

2011/11/14 John Miller <mill...@lesd.k12.az.us>

--
"We do it because we are compelled."
TomMaillioux.fr
Twitter : @Bookmore