13 October 2015

Libraries add "maker spaces" to attract patrons

"A $4,200 recording booth, $5,400 worth of movie animation software and two $750 sewing machines. No, it’s not the wish list of a particularly spoiled, artsy kid. It’s a plan for the future of the Dakota County libraries.

The county is looking to join several Twin Cities libraries that have added “maker spaces.” The areas filled with technical equipment for do-it-yourself projects have grown in popularity over the past few years, and are changing libraries’ roles in their communities.

People are visiting libraries less as e-books become more popular, Deputy Library Director Ben Trapskin said. So communities are rethinking how to use the buildings. “We really want to breathe some new life into what we’re all about,” he said. “This is a good reason for people to come back into the space.”...

While Hennepin County libraries do not have a maker spaces for adults, they have added programming, like a knitting group, to fill that niche, Turner said...

Equipment and furnishings are expected to cost $55,000 and will be covered by a grant and a donation. The county is still figuring out how to cover future expenses like repairing equipment and training staff, Trapskin said.

Staffing the area will require a balancing act, said Darcy Schatz, who is on the county’s Library Advisory Committee. Employees will need to help run the equipment without sacrificing other services, she said.

But as communities’ needs have changed, Trapskin said libraries have gotten used to shifting staff and resources — like the donation that will help fund Dakota County’s maker space. That money was originally designated for print reference books."
See also this article about libraries that lend tools (to be blogged separately later).

8 comments:

  1. John FarrierOctober 13, 2015 at 10:25 AM

    We recently started a makerspace at my library. It's great fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 13, 2015 at 12:31 PM

    several months ago, my library added a makerbot 3d printer and a vinyl cutter (to cut patterns for t-shirts).

    a good amount of business at my library is from free internet access, using the printers, interlibrary loans of books / media, fax and copy machine, and the used books sales.

    I-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. ColbyOctober 13, 2015 at 5:29 PM

    This year, we actually undertook, trying to start a library in a rural part of Effingham County, Illinois. As I was researching 'how to start a library', I learned that a new library hasn't been started in Illinois in over 15 years. Expansions in district size have taken place, but not a physical new library... We shall see how it turns out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MinnesotastanOctober 13, 2015 at 8:52 PM

      The community I live in - Fitchburg, Wisconsin - built a physical new library about four years ago. It's a superb resource for the community in many many ways other than lending books and movies and music.

      If you are on the planning board, may I suggest you make a strong effort to get the community (individuals and businesses) to help fund the library. That gives the participants a vested interest in its success and removes part of the stigma of being built with "tax dollars." Use bricks with names on them or plaques or name parts of the library after businesses. Build it with multipurpose rooms available for local clubs and organizations to use so they don't have to meet in church basements or people's homes. That will also encourage them to embrace (and perhaps help fund) the new library.

      Good luck. I hope you are successful. There hasn't been a day in the past four years that I haven't had in my home a book, DVD, or CD from our library.

      p.s. - underground parking under the library is a fantastic and not very expensive amenity to have in a Midwestern climate.

      Delete
  4. Classof65October 14, 2015 at 12:54 PM

    I hope the day never comes when books are done away with and totally replaced with ebooks -- I prefer a REAL book any day even though I do have to wear reading glasses to read them.

    I am happy that libraries provide access to the internet to those who cannot afford to purchase computers, but to me the primary function of a library is to provide access to books. Yes, I admit that I'm old and old-fashioned.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousOctober 14, 2015 at 2:02 PM

      i thought so too, until... i got a (used) kindle. i like it, and sort of feel addicted to it? it is very handy. of course, i fill it with all the books from archive dot org and project gutenberg that i would have downloaded pdfs of and then slogged through on my PC. the kindle makes it very convenient to read those.

      now if only there were more free books that i want to read. :-)

      I-)

      Delete
  5. AnonymousOctober 14, 2015 at 3:25 PM

    kind of related, if one views libraries as repositories?

    http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/10/raiders-of-the-lost-web/409210/ Raiders of the Lost Web - If a Pulitzer-finalist 34-part series of investigative journalism can vanish from the web, anything can.

    if not, please delete!

    I-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. BarbwireOctober 14, 2015 at 4:28 PM

    I have a Kindle and love it, but it's not the same as holding a book. I go to the library regularly to take out books--I've never taken out a movie or a CD. I subscribe to the LA Times, and he first thing I do when I go downstairs every day is to open the door and pick up the Times. I devoutly hope the LA Times as an actual newspaper lives longer than I do. And, to quote Thomas Jefferson, "I cannot live without books."

    ReplyDelete