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Ask Slashdot: How To Reimagine a Library?
dptalia writes "I'm part of a team tasked with re-imagining my local elementary school's library. Libraries, especially school libraries, are struggling to remain relevant in today's world, when so much reading and research can be done from home. But this school has mostly low-income students who don't have the sort of high-tech resources at home that we all take for granted. What ideas do you have to turn an elementary school library into an environment that fosters innovation and technology?"
Lend out tools, toys, computers, and other things. The grand idea should be for people to learn for free.
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
Then worry about technology.
We'll tell you to stock the shelves with Calvin and Hobbes, How Stuff Works type books, and dinosaur stuff. This may be some of what the boys want, but it can't hurt to actually ask all the students what they are interested in. Skip the card catalog, and encourage exploring.
Granted, I'm of the "get off my lawn" group so it's been a long time since I've been in a school library. If you want to foster technical knowledge and give these kids a chance to explore areas that are not otherwise available to them then put something in there besides books and computers for research. Like a maker space kind of set-up where kids have access to tools and supplies to actually create things. Look at the appeal of Legos, now make it a bit more technical. Might even foster the actual reading of books and on-line information in order for students to achieve their goals (which they probably don't even have at this point.)
My own kids have this problem. They assume that if they type something into Google, they'll find what they need. The problem is, they don't know how to properly structure their queries so they find the relevant stuff quickly, so they end up wasting time just in the searching. Take the time to instruct the kids on how to structure a query in Google, and you'll save them a lot of time so they can actually complete their assignments quicker. Also, introduce them to other information sites like Wolfram Alpha or searching through a local newspaper database, so that they're aware that sites other than Wikipedia even exist.
Without that, it's really tough to get kids involved.
Get the kids involved in an ongoing operation whereby books are acquired, digitally scanned, and then re-donated to other schools/libraries/etc. Store the digital copies in some offsite database that can be shared amongst other schools/libraries/etc. Provide terminals where the students can peruse the scanned books and allow access to the digital library for students at home.
:)
Can't think of a better way to keep a library as a place to learn new and relevant skills and be exposed to gobs of information and knowledge at the same time.
I'm sure this all falls apart when the copyright lawyers get involved, but I would love to see the publicity the publishers get when they sue a school library
while [ 1 ]; do echo -n -e "\xe2\x95\xb$((($RANDOM&1)+1))"; done
The students presumably want to learn things. If they don't they will only go there if forced. So, first, you show them what a library is and how it is used to access information. The staff, catalog, the stacks, how to request materials, and most important What They Can Find in the Books (and recordings and videos, etc). Once they see it as a living tool that they know how to use, they will tell You how it should be better set up.
Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now, and let us slay him... and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
Doing research on the internet is different than in a physical library. Some aspects are transferable, others not. Using Wikipedia is different than using a encyclopedia. You want to teach the kids the skills of the future. That is how the library is becoming obsolete.
Books! Really people their is nothing wrong with good old fashioned books! We are talking about little kids probably from the ages of 5 to 10 years old. Tools? Technology? Stories, adventure, science, and just fun books is what you need. Get the kids in love with the written word. Most of the ideas I am seeing target maybe the oldest age group but nothing for the majority of the age groups involved.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
So imagine a perfectly spherical, super-conducting library of infinite density ... oh, is that not what you meant? :-P
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
One of the things I kind of miss from going to the library is having a curated collection of books to peruse. When I try and find a good book to read on Amazon there is such an enormous collection of stuff that finding a new book is a serious challenge. When I was a kid I would just go to the relatively small section of the library and look through that. I could take a book off the shelf and read a few pages to see if it appealed at all. With online book stores I'm mostly left to buying books by authors I already know, exploring new authors is an fiscal gamble. So thus far I've bought very few ebooks, instead I've stuck to the public domain works.
Don't, just don't.
You have already said these kids don't have a lot of technology available at home.
Well, turning this library into a tech haven will make it inaccessible to kids with weak tech skills. That's a disaster.
What you want is the library to be a place where kids get the basics. An introduction to technology that they will meet as they grow up should be part of it. But at the same time they should be able to interact with the library using the skills they have.
I betcha a lot of that will be good old fashioned books.
I honestly think you need to explain to the students the value of "reading pre-curated knowledge" from established experts (aka books) versus random one-off drivel on the screen (which includes comments on slashdot)
Too many times people think in a post-wikipedia world "real books" are outdated.
Puzzles, puzzles and more puzzles! Number puzzles, word puzzles, shape puzzles! Tangram! Origami!
Things that make you think! Things that give you a sense of accomplishment when completed! Things that make you feel as smart as you are!
Because...
Average Intelligence is a Scary Thing
Get a display space near the cafeteria or some other place where students go frequently. Put books there that are interesting to the students. Thor comics, Ender's game whatever the media is already advertising for you.
Talk to teachers and hold classes in the library occasionally so the kids feel comfortable there.
See if the school will add DVDs to the library's collection.
Get them there and they'll figure out how to use it, but you have to get them there.
If they can put meeting rooms in, so clubs can meet there that would be great as well.
"Sometimes it's hard to tell the dancer from the dance." --Corwin Of Amber in CoC
When i think back to my elementary school, there was only one reason to visit the library other than to check out books, and that was to play games on the computers.
We had games like Spellevator Math Blaster as well as some adventure game that constantly quizzed various knowledges that I can't for the life of me remember the name of.
(I wish I did because I never beat it and I'd love to go back and do such now)
The point is, there's many an educational game out there, and it's an easy way to get younger kids learning things they may not otherwise take interest in.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
My suggestion would be to start by renaming the library to the "center for information and learning" or similar. Then it becomes clear this is a place that provides information resources to support the educational mission. "Library" these days implies "books," which to too many people implies "dusty, old, obsolete, and useless:" a recipe for getting your budget cut. :-)
What kinds of information resources do your kids need to support their education?
You said yourself, they don't all have Internet access at home, so a big lab of desktop machines is a good starting point.
Does your collection include DVDs and audio books? If not, you can start to develop that.
My employer has a small library with a magazine rack of several current trade publications. You could do the same, put a rack of educational magazines near the door and create a place with good lighting and some comfortable chairs for reading them.
Keep the books, of course. Books provide a depth of information that is hard to match online even today. However, do active collection management to purge the non-fiction books that are out of date. Nothing says "the library is obsolete" like a shelf full of science books from 1973.
I would also suggest some kind of outreach effort, say a newsletter or blog pointing out some new, free enrichment resources kids can find online (including YouTube videos), what's cool on PBS this month, and what new books you've added to the collection. Maybe ask some teachers and students to write reviews of books and media they would recommend.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
While your educated upper middle class white guy probably doesn't see much use for a large library there are a lot of people that do.
I recommend you go to a small town library and see how it's being used. My wife is a librarian at our local library, and I'm always surprised how many people are there when I go in to see her. There are kids using meeting rooms for school projects, people using the computers to fill out applications for jobs, and there's always at least a few people interspersed between the racks just browsing or even sitting on the floor reading something they've found. The local knitters club meets there once a week and last I checked there were about a dozen volunteers for the literacy program teaching people to read at various times of day depending on when their "student" is available.
Fortunately, our community values our library so she gets a lot of local support, but I'm sure there are people in our community like yourself who see something that they don't/won't use as a giant waste or prime real estate or something...
have computers and such in a "study" area but have Yee Olde Shelves of Books
For "fun" you may want to have a "Blackout Day" where all of the computers are turned OFF so they have to have learned how to work with actual BOOKS.
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In a word, funding. A school district might provide iPads for every student, while many teachers curiously have to provide their own paper for making photocopies. The "technology and shit" budget for K-12 and community colleges is infinite in comparison to budgets for basic fundamentals. If you want to get sustained funding for any program, it may help to disguise it in buzzwords like "innovative" and "21st century". Unfortunately, a lot of bullshit gets in this way.
Speaking as a librarian, the single best thing you can do is budget for a librarian after you recreate the library as an technology explorer and innovation space, or whatever it is you have in mind.
You can stuff the room full of computers, but if there isn't someone there with the special expertise in dealing with this user population, all that will happen is the space will be wasted.
I wouldn't worry much about technology even then. Not even this "innovation" thing, honestly.
What libraries do, have been doing for a few thousand years already, is preserve knowledge and make it accessible. Note how "innovation" is no part of that, though it can definitely benefit from knowledge, such as knowing what has been tried before.
So I would tell librarians to find ways, innovative ways if they must, to bring reader and knowledge together. That is what libraries should be about.
You don't do that with fifty flavours of version-bound program-screenshot books, or with so much other shoddy shelf filling crud you see in poorer (knowledge-wise) libraries. You don't do that with fancy (and expensive, and noisy) techno-toys and more such silliness. You don't do that with "innovation".
You do it by reaching out to the reader.
Design a clean API and stick to well known coding standards.
This is /., no need to read more than the title.
Video of some good progressive thrash music
You know, I'm really old fashioned and like to browse books. Electronic browsing is not quite the same, however. What I have thought about doing:
On laminated plastic boards, about the height and width of a standard paperback but about as thick as a piece of cardboard, print out the covers of all sorts of books front and back. Use an RFID or QR Code sticker that can retrieve the book from the digital library. Place all the "books" on a browseable shelf. As a kid, browsing the local used book store or library was one of the few pleasures I could afford. I think this would meld the convenience and cost savings of a digital library with the fun of browsing a physical item.
Yes, there's a lot of drivel in published books. The signal-to-noise ratio is *still* immensely better than random posts off the internet.
Surely, you are well aware, what the "libra" part of the word library means (and it has nothing to do with weights)... But not one item on your long list mentions a book of any kind (papyrus, parchment, paper, electronic)...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Most of us haven't been in a school library in years, unless we have kids who are of that age.
There are a *lot* of librarian mailing lists out there ... if you want the geek perspective, try code4lib. They won't suggest that you try to hack together your own loan system using smartphones & barcode readers. (they'll instead tell you about the one they made that you can have a copy of)
Most of the innovation in library spaces is happening in public & college libraries these days, adding makerspaces or going high-tech ... but that's not applicable to an elementary school. I wouldn't even suggest it for a high school (where you'd have seperate computer labs, shop classes, home ec., etc.)
I wouldn't even bother with educating them on the benefits of real, deep research vs. satisficing with the top hit from Google ... leave that for middle or high school. In elementary school, just focus on making reading accessible and fun.
The only thing that you I think is wrong with school libraries is that they're closed in summer, so the books are sitting going to waste. I'd love to see there be better coordination between our local school & library systems, but our current library system is so disfunctional that I don't see that changing without them getting rid of the director who thought it was a good idea to fire all of the branch managers.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
But then I also think that there should be industrial arts and home economics, even for young kids.
One of the best things my parents did for me, was to make my sister and I start making supper for the family once a week when we sere still in grade school... we had to pick out a meal to make, and make most of it (with help). It was so useful going to college (and later in life) knowing how to cook and having a lot of practical experience.
Also lots of teenagers are hungry all the time and it's great if you can just cook something like an egg for yourself.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
One or two good EMP's and 99.95% of the e-books are gone forever. Floppy discs and CD-rom's last a few decades, perhaps. Paper lasts ~500 years or so.
One of these three is much more resilient to disaster than the other two.