Should Public Libraries Become Hacker Spaces?

ptorrone writes "Public libraries — the availability of free education for all — represent the collective commitment of a community to their future. They symbolize what is most important, a commitment to educating the next generation. The role of a public library should also adapt over time, and that time is finally here. It's time to plan how we're going to build the future and what place public libraries have, should have, or won't have. MAKE's latest article encourages everyone to start talking about one of our great resources, the public library, and its future."

Comments

Yes

[Junior J. Junior III]

Libraries do not have enough legal expenses already, and have ample over-budget to support this initiative.

Re:Yes

[natehoy]

Good libraries seek relevance in all things, and are relevant in so many things other than books. Don't limit your mission.

Sure, it's hard work, but who else is going to do it? The schools? They're already mired in political and religious wrangling. They're trying to play the role of parent and teacher. They're already the subject of unfunded mandates that conflict with their mission. They're already burdened with parental indifference, community budget-cutting, and federal mandates for unrealistic performance in things that aren't actually helping kids love to learn.

The kind of people who are attracted to the library are, by and large, the kind of people who want to get involved. Build this. They will come. Work with your "Friends of the Library" group (if you have one, and if you don't, FORM ONE NOW) to drive initiatives like this.

Don't ask your community's government for the resources to handle this, ask your fellow citizens directly. There are plenty of us who stand ready to help our libraries, because we recognize them for what they are - not dusty rooms full of books, not free-use computers, not distributors of free access to museums and local places of interest, not arts and crafts centers, not meeting spaces, not community builders, but all of these things, and so very much more.

Plutarch once said, “the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” Go light a few fires today.

Re:Yes

[PopeRatzo]

Libraries do not have enough legal expenses already, and have ample over-budget to support this initiative.

You think efforts like the ones by Republicans in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and others to put all the publicly held commons into the hands of the corporate donors is going to stop at public libraries?

Junior, there's not going to be public anything when these Vandals are done.

Re:Yes

[moortak]

Oddly enough my local library does host a hack space a few times a month in their public rooms. They simply require a waiver of responsibility and a contract from the group for damages.

We're all in it together

[slim]

Public libraries — the availability of free education for all — represent the collective commitment of a community to their future. They symbolize what is most important, a commitment to educating the next generation.

Try telling that to the British government.

Re:We're all in it together

[kenh]

I thought our public schools "represent the collective commitment of a community to their future," not our libraries. (Though I suspect that too many districts reflect our "collective commitment" in an accurate, yet unflattering way.)

Re:We're all in it together

[Sarten-X]

...because by the age of 25, you've done all the inventing and creation you're going to, and all educational efforts should be spent on just the children.

Dying out...

[Haedrian]

I don't think Libraries will survive for much longer. If you want a book now you can get it in a digital version, and the publishers are rather adamant about allowing their ebooks to be borrowed from the library, and pretty much anything else can be digitised and accessed online.

So while its a nice idea to convert libraries to this sort of thing, they're not going to survive much longer in my opinion.

Huh? Have you been to a library lately?

[oneiros27]

Just because you haven't been in a library in years doesn't mean they're dying out. With the recession, I'd say my local library is busier than ever.

• Want to watch a movie tonight for free?
• Need a computer to search for a job or fill out a job application?
• Need a book for resume advice?
• Want to try out a cookbook before you buy it as you're doing more cooking at home and need some more variety?
• Kids need a place while their parents are working a second job? (okay, this one's a bit of a problem; not all kids are well behaved)

All are available at your library. Some even loan out video games. (ours doesn't, but we organize video game nights for the kids; I'm working on organizing a 'video game swap' at the next one so people can trade the games they're not playing with other people)

And those are just the reasons for the busier times; I see the same parents picking up an armload a week for their kids to read. When the kid's going through a book a night, it adds up, even at $0.99 ebooks. And this way, you don't have to worry about the kid breaking a $100+ ebook reader, or get one for each kid.

If anything, the reason they're not going to survive is because of budget cuts due to loss of tax revenue. There's been a concerted push to get politicians to back up when they say 'We support education' to fund the libraries, or explain what they really mean is 'We support schools', even when most of their time is wasted teaching to standardized tests.

Re:Libraries have become daytime homeless shelters

[dkleinsc]

That phenomenon is hardly the fault of either homeless or public libraries.

Yes, homeless hang around libraries. It's a comfortable temperature, there's things to do other than beg for food, there are bathrooms available, and as a member of the public they have every right to be there. And they might well be taking the time to study some new job skills and the like in order to break out of the poverty they're in.

And from the public library's standpoint, their job is to serve whatever members of the public walk in the front door, whoever they are (provided that they aren't trying to do anything illegal). Those same folks that you'd love to avoid are patrons of the library just like you.

I also want to make sure that other government agencies don't feel that it's their right to start sending the overflow of what they have to deal with to the maker spaces I enjoy.

It's public. That means that just because you enjoy those places doesn't mean you have any more right to be there than anyone else.

Re:As a librarian..

[natehoy]

I don't know how things work in Oz, but a lot of libraries in the US have formed "Friends of the Library" groups that manage and help fund things like this (or anything the local government is unwilling or unable to fund). Our local library has one, and it offers things like free passes to local museums and places of interest, kids' art programs, juried art and photography exhibits, teen programs, reading and story times, etc. All run and managed by volunteers, all supported by voluntary membership fees and donations and proceeds from things like sales of community-donated used books and modest entry fees into the art/photography shows.

The "Friends" are partners with the library, and do the sorts of things that the library lacks a budget and personnel to handle. Everything is paid for by the members of the community who wish to participate, and everything can be enjoyed by everyone whether they pay in or not. Enough people cough up $20 (or in a lot of cases a LOT more) a year that the Friends group in our community is doing quite well, and has programs going on constantly.

Re:Huh? Have you been to a library lately?

[slim]

This is one of those threads where it's worth people noting what country (or even which state) they're in.

British libraries tend to be fairly adequately stocked. If they don't have a book you're looking for, you can search their catalogue and order it from a different branch within the region. If you want a specific book they don't own, they'll consider buying it.

So, it seems like we're pretty lucky here. However, the current government is doing their best to wreck it all with funding cuts (while claiming all the while that local councils can achieve the same services on less money, simply by waving a magic "efficiency" wand.)

an alternative

[khallow]

There's no reason we couldn't create a specialized non-profit whose purpose is to provide workshop space for DIY. You don't have to repurpose existing public entities who don't have the funding, space, or expertise to implement this plan.

Re:an alternative

[BJ_Covert_Action]

Aren't most hackerspaces already registered as nonprofits? I know the one in Santa Barbara, California is.

Re:I think libraries are as obsolete

[Monchanger]

Oh, poor baby. Your opinion was criticized. As were you for blindly agreeing with a sarcastic comment in your need to feel like you're not the only schmuck sharing that opinion. Let's all have a great big cry-fest and apologize for your hurt feelings.

Fact of the matter is your opinion is wrong. Yes you're entitled to state it.
"PC" my ass. I explained how it's wrong several days ago. You didn't care to respond, which you're also entitled to do.
Now you're back here again repeating the "libraries are obsolete" nonsense, despite it being shown to be a useless point of view which you don't bother to actually discuss. That's still legal, but it doesn't make you any less of a nuisance to this community than the common troll.

So yeah, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this but, these posts of yours are useless. You don't have to censor yourself- just say something interesting on the subject for a change.

can they afford the cost?

[peter303]

Most of the towns around me have cut hours severely and even closed branches. This is a cruel irony because many unemployed people have stopped paying for home internet in favor of public internet. Many libraries are funded by property taxes, which havent gone up much lately.