ATO2014: Open sourcing the public library
Phil Shapiro one of my fellow opensource.com moderators talked to us next about open source and libraries.
Too many people ask what is the future of libraries and not what “should the future be”. A book that we must read is “Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries For Today’s Complex World“. If we don’t expect more of libraries we’re not going to see libraries change. We have to change the frame of mind that libraries belong the directors – they actually belong to the people and they should be serving the people.
Phil asks how we get some community participate in managing libraries. Start looking at your library’s collection and see if there is at least 1% of the collection in the STEM arena. Should that percent be more? 5%, 10%, more? There is no real answer here, but maybe we need to make a suggestion to our libraries. Maybe instead our funds should go to empower the community more in the technology arena. Maybe we should have co-working space in our library – this can be fee based even – could be something like $30/mo. That would be a way for libraries to help the unemployed and the community as a whole.
Libraries are about so much more than books. People head to the library because they’re wondering about something – so having people who have practical skills on your staff is invaluable. Instead of pointing people to the books on the topic, having someone for them to talk to is a value added service. What are our competitors going to be doing while we’re waiting for the transition from analog to digital to happen in libraries. We need to set some milestones for all libraries. Right now it’s only the wealthy libraries that seem to be moving in this way.
A lot of the suggestions Phil had I’ve seen some of the bigger libraries in the US doing like hosting TED Talks, offering digital issues lectures, etc. You could also invite kids in there to talk about what they know/have learned.
Phil’s quote: “The library fulfills its promise when people of different ages, races, and cultures come together to pool their talents in creating new creative content.” One thing to think about is whether this change from analog to digital can happen in libraries without changing their names. Instead we could call them the digital commons [I'm not sure this is necessary - I see Phil's point - but I think we need to just rebrand libraries and market them properly and keep their name.]
Some awesome libraries include Chattanooga Public Library which has their 4th floor makerspace. In Colorado there are the Anythink Libraries. The Delaware Department of Libraries is creating a new makerspace.
Books are just one of the tools toward helping libraries enhance human dignity – there are so many other ways we can do this.
Phil showed us a video of his:
You can bend the universe by asking questions – so call your library and ask questions about open source or about new technologies so that we plant the seeds of change.
Further reading from Phil: http://sites.google.com/site/librarywritings.
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