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

[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.

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.

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.