Are Maker Spaces the Future of Public Libraries?

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Are Maker Spaces the Future of Public Libraries?

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 21, 2011 @08:02AM from the yes-please dept.

misterbarnacles writes "Shareable has an interview with librarian Lauren Britton Smedley from the Fayetteville Free Library, which is adding a Fab Lab to its community offerings. She said, 'I think that libraries are really centers for knowledge exchange, and a Fab Lab fits perfectly into something like that. This idea that libraries are a place where the books live, and you go to find a book, and that’s all it is, I think is really starting to shift. Libraries are a place for social transformation. They’re a place that you can go to get computer access, or access to technology that you can’t get anywhere else, and access to people. ... At the Fab Lab, the impetus behind the whole thing was to create a center for knowledge exchange where we’re not just offering Intro to Word or Intro to Excel — that we can offer Intro to Computer Programming, or Digital Fabrication — these skills that are really important in the STEM fields, and we can push that information out for free. And how do we do that? By getting people in the community who know that stuff to come in and share what they know.'"

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Re:Until the Lawyers Show Up by trout007 · 2011-11-21 08:09 · Score: 5, Funny

Maybe you need to read some books. It is then not than. Get a clue.

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I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
Money by masternerdguy · 2011-11-21 08:09 · Score: 4, Insightful

Not with the budget cuts.

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To offset political mods, replace Flamebait with Insightful.
Libraries at their core.... by ducomputergeek · 2011-11-21 08:10 · Score: 4, Insightful

Libraries at their core are places where knowledge and learning could be shared. Why does that have to be limited to distribution via dead trees? I for one think this is a brilliant idea.

--
"The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
1. Re:Libraries at their core.... by uniquename72 · 2011-11-21 08:26 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  This idea that libraries are a place where the books live, and you go to find a book, and that’s all it is, I think is really starting to shift.
  "Starting" to shift? Libraries haven't been about books in at least 10 years (since I became a librarian). In fact, the "it's not about books" thing was a long-tired cliche even then.
2. Re:Libraries at their core.... by Myself · 2011-11-21 08:33 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It's a valuable resource to a community, but so are parks and swimming pools. The library doesn't have those things attached to it, either, for obvious reasons of indoor air quality and such.
  For years, I've described i3 Detroit specifically, and hackerspaces/makerspaces in general, as being "something like a library, but for beings with opposable thumbs in addition to eyes". Learning and making and tinkering is in our nature, and I think it enhances us as humans to exercise these abilities. The word "literacy" needs an analog for "skilled with tools and understanding of mechanical things", so we can talk about it.
  I think everyone should have access to such a space, just like access to a library. But should they be under the same roof? No, I don't think so. My personal feeling is that libraries as dead-tree collections are obsolete, and that we should not be talking about expansion, but complete conversion. Librarians are cool and library science is interesting, but paper artifacts don't need to live in every community. Let's take the spirit of learning and access and freedom, which libraries embody, and give it new life with the valuable things that every-day people don't have in their homes, like books once were.
3. Re:Libraries at their core.... by camperdave · 2011-11-21 08:36 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I'll say it's not about the books. My local library has 54 SF books, and not an Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, or Bova in the bunch.
  
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  When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
4. Re:Libraries at their core.... by ThorGod · 2011-11-21 08:37 · Score: 2
  
  "Starting" to shift? Libraries haven't been about books in at least 10 years (since I became a librarian). In fact, the "it's not about books" thing was a long-tired cliche even then.
  Say that to my overdue book fees :) (whoops!)
  
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  PS: I don't reply to ACs.
5. Re:Libraries at their core.... by NewWorldDan · 2011-11-21 09:27 · Score: 2
  
  My local has a full section of vampire romance, so I guess it's staying current with the times. Which I guess is the challenge for libraries these days, staying current with the times. Their reference sections are pretty much obsolete thanks to the internet. If digital books ever really become lendable, then things will really change.
  Back to the subject at hand, I don't know that a maker space is a great fit for a library. It appeals to (I think) a very small segment of the population. It depends a bit on what people are thinking of making. Personally, I make furniture and software, and my basement is my workshop for both. The software studio doesn't need a community space, and the woodworking isn't suitable for the public either. 50% of time in the woodshop is spent on cleaning and maintenance (sharpening, calibration, etc.). A scrapbooking space at the library would probably draw 10 times as many users.
6. Re:Libraries at their core.... by linatux · 2011-11-21 09:29 · Score: 2
  
  Most books you only want to read once. Borrowing from a library is ideal.
  Specialist technical books, rare books, etc are too expensive for most people to buy. A library means you have the opportunity to enjoy & learn from them.
  Most people probably can't justify owning a fabricator, but might love the chance to 'borrow' one. Of course, if it works well for the library, the local copy-shop will probably run a higher-spec model & do it cheaper.
7. Re:Libraries at their core.... by vlm · 2011-11-21 09:30 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  "Starting" to shift? Libraries haven't been about books in at least 10 years (since I became a librarian). In fact, the "it's not about books" thing was a long-tired cliche even then.
  I think its a physical remodel thing, it takes awhile to remodel, so that what they wanna do reflects the building layout. The recently completed remodel of our local public library just dropped below 50% of floor space devoted to books. When I was a kid it was between 50 and 75 percent. About 10% kids play and meeting and reading area next to the childrens library desk (beanbags, etc), also a separate glass walled "teen area" with teen books and scheduled book readings and book discussion groups. Study areas have imploded down to less than 10%, too many homeless were living in the study desks, I donno where they go now. Computers and computer area has exploded to at least 10%, must be two dozen virus, worm, and keylogger-laden windows PCs there slowly chugging away, I wouldn't touch those machines with a ten foot pole, or at least without an elaborate forensics kit. About 10% current and recent magazines and newspapers, note they subscribe to about 25 national and world daily newspapers. About 10% non-traditional library media, we're a depository library for genealogical microfilm and have rows of readers and printers to use it, well over a hundred years of local newspaper on microfiche, etc. About 10% DVDs, audiobooks, music CDs, and ancient 1980s 1990s computer cds/dvds (shareware, multimedia shovelware, etc). About 10% meeting spaces ranging from small office like collaboration areas to a 100 or so person meeting hall. That leaves about 30% remaining for old fashioned physical paper books. Still the largest area by far, but a far cry from the old library.
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
8. Re:Libraries at their core.... by eh2o · 2011-11-21 09:30 · Score: 2
  
  There are already "tool lending libraries" in many cities (well at least they are in several cities near where I live), they are managed by the library system and allow residents to check out all sorts of things including drills, nailguns, post-hole diggers, etc. There are a great many tools that a person might benefit from using but would be wasteful to outright buy.
  A 3D printer, shopbot or CNC milling machine would be the equivalent of a reference section in the tool library--big tools you can use on site but can't take home. Its a fairly logical extension, although in practice the amount of skill required to use these tools properly and successfully isn't trivial and it remains to be seen how much benefit they could actually provide to the general public. Makerspaces tend to be frequented by rather geeky folk.
9. Re:Libraries at their core.... by vlm · 2011-11-21 09:57 · Score: 2
  
  Specialist technical books, rare books, etc are too expensive for most people to buy. A library means you have the opportunity to enjoy & learn from them.
  Not where I live. Nothing beyond high school level WRT to tech books. Hundreds of new paperback vampire chick and zombie escape paperbacks, but all they've got for automotive repair, for example, is the '73 Dodge Dart Chilton manual. That's about it. You don't wanna know what I found in the computer section, its unspeakable. Lets just say I could relive my childhood pretty well, and I'm not young (as you can see by my /. UID).
  Oddly enough they've got plenty of dough, being a rich suburb. Stacks of new paperbacks, open long hours, well/heavily staffed, clean well lit and well maintained, tons of new DVDs and music cds, the internet access computers aren't too awful, if you could clear the virii keyloggers and worms off them.
  They just don't see their place as providing technical books to "the public". Never have, really. I wish I had a big nearby university library to browse in.
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
10. Re:Libraries at their core.... by daath93 · 2011-11-21 10:02 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  You could easily have an excellent sci-fi collection of 54 books without having a single old, white male author among them.
  Yes, we should stop publishing white male authors until blacks and hispanics have decided they want to write sci-fi as much as white males. How far are we going to cary this farce of social injustice before we start to realize that blacks and hispanics are just interested in different crap than we are (on average)? Its not a CRIME to have different culteral priorities and interests.
Ask a silly question in the title ... by dkleinsc · 2011-11-21 08:14 · Score: 3, Insightful

I'm sure this is a useful program put together by well-meaning people. I'm reasonably certain that it's a net benefit for the patrons of the Fayetteville Free Library. But none of that remotely leads to the conclusion that "maker spaces" or "fab labs" are the future of public libraries. It just leads to the conclusion that it may be a program that's worth trying.
My general rule, whenever a 'news' story has a question in the title, is that the answer to the question is almost always "No". For instance, "Steve Jobs revered as the Second Coming?" or "Can we improve web performance by using a product from some obscure tech company?".

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I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
1. Re:Ask a silly question in the title ... by Baloroth · 2011-11-21 08:30 · Score: 2
  
  What else would you expect from the director of a "Transliteracy" department?
  The interviewer in TFA asks what "Transliteracy" (yes browser I know that isn't a word) means, and the director's response was basically "critical thinking... but for computers!" We do not need another meaningless buzzword. Really, "critical thinking" sums up exactly what that word means, and it does so concisely, clearly, and in a way anyone who is literate can understand. Unlike "transliteracy." Although inventing a new word is a really good way to create a job for yourself...
  
  --
  "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
2. Re:Ask a silly question in the title ... by hedwards · 2011-11-21 09:18 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Actually, around here the libraries are mostly used by the well off. Or at least those are the people I see when I go to the library. The poor people don't seem to be interested in literature or the resources that the library has available. With the possible exception of the computers and a few workshops. But those things are also available from other places.
  When it comes to government services you tend to get what your officials demand. If they demand low quality fly by night services that's what you get. If they demand high quality services and provide funding that's what you tend to get. Especially if you have an active citizenry that demands it.
Neat. by Anonymous Coward · 2011-11-21 08:16 · Score: 3, Interesting

I want a metal brake, CNC mill, CNC lathe, cutting laser, water jet cutter, and TIG welding outfit at my library.
1. Re:Neat. by vlm · 2011-11-21 10:02 · Score: 2
  
  I want a metal brake, CNC mill, CNC lathe, cutting laser, water jet cutter, and TIG welding outfit at my library.
  My community college vocational ed building is next door to it's library... and its got all that goodness, just sign up to audit a class. Plus you get a free instructor. Literally, I'm not kidding, $174 for 4 months access to the welding lab two nights a week open lab hours, do whatever you want at your own pace in the open lab, although if you do their curriculum at their recommended rate and the instructor approves your work, you can earn a cert every quarter eventually leading to an associates degree in welding. I've been meaning to do this for over a quarter century now. I taught myself soldering and brazing and some stick welding decades ago, always wanted to do TIG. Also the nurse/medical voc tech school is next door, if you're lonely...
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
2. Re:Neat. by vlm · 2011-11-21 10:12 · Score: 2
  
  Perhaps try your local community college?
  I've never understood this about the "makerspace" movement. So, basically, you want to create an unaccredited community college night school, but you think you can do it for everyone for free or at least cheaper than my local CC? My local CC has open lab "classes" for welding, machining, and I believe electronics and they are NOT free nor have they ever been free, that just doesn't work economically. All divisions have always had "independent study" class for any subject they don't outright have "open lab time" class, so if you can convince exactly one instructor/adviser that you are not a hazard to yourself or fellow students, you're golden. They've got decades of experience doing exactly what a makerspace seems to want to start to do. And the non-profit CC charges somewhat under $200 a quarter to do it, which is actually pretty decent compared to some makerspaces asking over $100/month. And they've got new equipment, not makerspace castoffs. They've already got multiple clubs meeting there, in some cases in the open labs, two ham radio clubs and two car clubs that I formally know of, so its not like there's no one to hang out with.
  So, other than a trendy marketing campaign and endless free publicity, what exactly do makerspaces have going for them that I can't get at the CC?
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
3. Re:Neat. by gmhowell · 2011-11-21 11:31 · Score: 2
  
  So, other than a trendy marketing campaign and endless free publicity, what exactly do makerspaces have going for them that I can't get at the CC?
  Hipster douchebags. Tons and tons of hipster douchebags.
  Hell, I burned more than $200 worth of consumables in each of the welding classes I took at my CC (probably why it cost more than $200).
  
  --
  Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
This is right on. by MarkvW · 2011-11-21 08:26 · Score: 2

As material printers and CNC devices become ubiquitous, people will want to be able to access designs and plans of things that they can make. Libraries are an ideal source of these designs and plans.
This is something the average end-user can understand.
1. Re:This is right on. by Obfuscant · 2011-11-21 08:48 · Score: 2
  
  As material printers and CNC devices become ubiquitous, people will want to be able to access designs and plans of things that they can make. Libraries are an ideal source of these designs and plans.
  The Internet is an ideal source for those plans and designs. Nothing says that a library is the only access to the Internet.
  There is no reason that a library has to be all things to all people. It has a function: a repository of knowledge in many different forms for societal history. That's not the same as "a place to play with high-tech toys" or "to build stuff".
  Please libraries, keep doing your intended function well and stay out of the "societal change" business. That's not your job.
2. Re:This is right on. by Jeng · 2011-11-21 09:03 · Score: 2
  
  I would imagine that that technology would fit in better at ones local community college or tech school.
  The community college or tech school could have a side business that allows supervised access to the technology for a price.
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
3. Re:This is right on. by vlm · 2011-11-21 10:23 · Score: 2
  
  The community college or tech school could have a side business that allows supervised access to the technology for a price.
  They almost certainly already do.
  Where I live, several programs are operated as open lab, do 15 "quests" assigned by the instructor at your own pace whenever the lab is open, earn a cert, repeat until you have a degree (in welding, and the non-book half of the automotive degree).
  Anyone can audit any class as long as they convince the instructor and there's no waiting list (probably OK for at least 90% of classes).
  All divisions have independent study class, if you wanna do your own AS/400 thing and they've got the gear, they'll assign an instructor to baby sit you and possibly even help, if you'll pay your tuition (about $200 per quarter). I know for a fact their CCNA-bootcamp gear was hired out by a bunch of guys working on their CCNP using that strategy on the weekends because I already had my CCNP and they wanted advice from me, I donno how it all turned out, but sounded like a good plan. I also know a guy who built a CO2 laser power supply this way. And another guy who built a ham radio 10 GHz transverter (a man after my own heart I'm sure). The school has/had a HP spectrum analyzer/tracking oscillator/phase noise analysis rig with rubidium stabilized source worth something like 1/2 the cost of my house, other than at the CC I have no idea how to even access that kind of gear without getting a job in the field. Even renting from one of the rental operations would be impossible.
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Libraries and churchs by koan · 2011-11-21 08:28 · Score: 5, Interesting

I'm not religious at all, I don't buy into it, however the positive side of religion is as a community center, a gathering places for people to come together and in that sense I support the idea.
However I have often thought that libraries could be (and are) the same thing on a higher level, a community center laced with science, knowledge and education, (and fiction too) access for all and a saner, kinder place to gather.
A church of the geek/nerd as it were.
I have many fond memories of my local library, and anything that keeps them around is welcome, there should always be some place for us "non-believers" to gather.

--
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
1. Re:Libraries and churchs by Obfuscant · 2011-11-21 09:01 · Score: 2
  
  Libraries, even at their most busy, are more like meditation gardens, where everyone tries to be quiet and pretend the other people aren't there. There's no community, no familial bonding or corporate learning. Certainly no communal worship.
  you've missed the last ten years of "library science", then.
  The library cannot be just a library, it must be a communal meeting center and day care and internet service provider and whatever social function is popular in an area. If an area has a need, the library will try to fulfill it. In our fine city, the public library is a place for kids to get free lunches during the summer. Not just poor kids, any kid that walks through the door will be fed for free. Well, at taxpayer expense, I should say.
  You see that in the librarian's quote: "Libraries are a place for social transformation."
  Maybe that's a side effect of librarians thinking that libraries are becoming obsolete because of the Internet and they have to create some new market for their services. Maybe that's human nature trying to make a mundane part of life more excititing. Maybe being a center for information isn't enough anymore. "Social transformation" is the requirement.
  I saw this article in the latest Make asking this question. I immediately thought "oh, please God, no".
2. Re:Libraries and churchs by swb · 2011-11-21 09:45 · Score: 2
  
  Like schools, libraries are have bought into the notion that their "mission" can't be accomplished without a social services component, because all members of the community have to be brought up to the same level.
  And this is where mission creep and budget creep starts happening.
3. Re:Libraries and churchs by tlhIngan · 2011-11-21 10:38 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Like schools, libraries are have bought into the notion that their "mission" can't be accomplished without a social services component, because all members of the community have to be brought up to the same level.
  A library's mission is to promote the spreading of knowledge.
  Now, traditionally, say, just over a decade ago, this was done via books. Books of all kinds. Fiction counts too - even though they're read for enjoyment, that enjoyment may lead others to new conclusions. And nevermind the archives of newspapers and access to many journals of many fields.
  With the spread of the Internet, libraries had to become ISPs as well, because it's a vital source of knowledge. And a librarian is skilled enough to help knowledge-seekers decide if something on the Internet is possibly truthful. It's also why libraries try not to be judgemental, either.
  Many libraries also hold roundtables where authors and experts come in and give presentations - again, spreading knowledge. And the kid-reading-time helps inspire kids to seek out knowledge.
  A maker space is a good way to spread hands-on knowledge - the book on the shelf can do so much, now take that knowledge and apply it.
  A library's goal is to provide knowledge to those who seek it, regardless of means. They're often derided these days by people who think the internet is the be-all end-all of everything (usually by people of means who can buy the same books). Or perhaps by scared people of means who also want to keep the poor in their place - how dare they try to improve their lot and possibly compete.
I love your premis. by Anonymous Coward · 2011-11-21 08:29 · Score: 4, Interesting

My local library is struggling for funds. Buying dead trees with ideas printed on them is out of the question - the budget is so restricted that library hours are being cut back constantly. I love my library and I support it every that I can - aside from volunteering because my state Georgia is run by ignorant, moronic, stupid, asinine, fucked up,
You see, if I want to volunteer at my county library I have to state that I have never wanted to over-throw the US government because my idiotic, moronic, dipshit, redneck, ignorant, asshole, stupid, legislature says that I need to fill out this form (Sedition and Subversive Activities Questionnaire)!
I'd like to say, that we in the State of Georgia in the US of A (not to be confused with Georgia the country - for my ignorant fellow Americans) are stupid, ignorant, Bible thumping morons!
See, I can't fill it out and say "No" because I want to control the World and my first action as Emperor of the World is to condemn every Goddamn Georgia (US) legislator who voted for that bill to hard labor - actually any labor considering that they're all pampered assholes - and education outside of their moronic World view.
Goddamn it! I Really Hate the South sometimes!!
1. Re:I love your premis. by Migraineman · 2011-11-21 09:26 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  No, no, no. The system is designed to punish those who oppose it. You need to change your public-facing statements such that you are in compliance with the system.
  
  I want to control the World and my first action once elected as Emperor of the World is to prosecute every Goddamn Georgia (US) legislator who violated his oath of office to the fullest extent of the law.
  
  Take a hint from Miranda - anything you say can and will be used against you. Why would you provide your opponents with ammunition?
Re:Until the Lawyers Show Up by Anonymous Coward · 2011-11-21 08:32 · Score: 4, Funny

You idiot. He was replying to himself. Compare the usernames, blind man.
trout007 trolled you well.
Re:I think they are confusing by the+eric+conspiracy · 2011-11-21 08:32 · Score: 2

If it's at a University they already have maker spaces in the STEM departments.
When I was an undergrad I had a intersession break that was supposed to be independent study - eventually I ended up doing a project in a machine lab with the help of a prof I found hanging out in the lab. Built a simple game machine in about 6 weeks. It was the most fun I've had in my life. Learned a crapload too.
Re:is frosty piss the future of beverages? by hedwards · 2011-11-21 08:40 · Score: 4, Funny

Come on now, we've had Bud for decades.
Re:I'd rather have books by the+eric+conspiracy · 2011-11-21 08:41 · Score: 2

Way too narrow. Libraries are places where you go to get access to people (librarians) who can help you find expressions of ideas. Those expressions could be in meat space or in virtual space.
Fab Lab? by owlnation · 2011-11-21 08:48 · Score: 4, Insightful

I'm all for redefining what a library is. I've always felt that libraries are potentially much more useful spaces than they are currently used for. The problem being that they are ultimately run by civil servants who are far from the most creative people on the planet. (They may even be the most uncreative people on the planet).

However, let us not -- ever -- call these wonderful institutions, "makers spaces", or "fab labs", or any similar kind of retarded buzzword bullshit.

There's a current global trend to turn museums into dumb infotainment centers for kids. Can we please not also make libraries the information centers for the new Idiocracy.

By all means expand the boundaries of what a library is, but call it a library. If you are too fucking dumb to know what a library is, you should not even be in one.
Why do we have to make up names for things by Brett+Buck · 2011-11-21 08:52 · Score: 2

It's not a "maker space", it's not a "fab lab". It's been referred to a "workshop" or something very similar for, as near as I can tell, 4-500 years. It has the same relevance to a library as a blast furnace.
library:
late 14c., from Anglo-Fr. librarie, from O.Fr. librairie "collection of books," noun use of adj. librarius "concerning books," from L. librarium "chest for books," from liber (gen. libri) "book, paper, parchment," originally "the inner bark of trees," probably a derivative of PIE base *leub(h)- "to strip, to peel" (see leaf). The equivalent word in most Romance languages now means "bookseller's shop." O.E. had bochord, lit. "book hord."
Re:Until the Lawyers Show Up by tehcyder · 2011-11-22 02:57 · Score: 2

American English isn't perfect, but it's done a good job of cleaning up a lot of the nonsense in British English, most of which is inherited from the way Anglo-Saxon was corrupted by Norman French. English would be a much more sensible and regular language if it weren't for the Normans.
If you take out the French, Latin, Greek, German, Celtic and other influences on English, you're left with something that is...not English. Only insane racists think there is a pure "Anglo-Saxon" that is really English. Hint: Angles and Saxons weren't from England.

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To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it