“When you say it’s gonna happen ‘now’ well, when exactly do you mean? See I’ve already waited too long, and all my hope is gone.” -Morrissey When I began a draft of this blog post, it was going to be about the five trends found in the IFLA Trend Report, which I thought would be interesting to tackle because they are interesting trends. However, I got side-tracked thinking about the ideas produced from the 2015 article, “What Technology Will Look Like In Five Years,” by Diomedes Kastanis. I want to add to Kastinas’ thoughts about how the ownership of things […]
Categories Participatory Culture
57 posts
About a week after I got the offer for my current job, and ten days or so before I started, I went to my future workplace and walked in the front door. I did not tell anyone who I was or why I was there. I just puttered around, getting a sense of the place and how it felt to be a patron there, how intuitive it was, how welcoming. Where people clustered, and for what purposes. What self-services were available, and how navigational information was arranged, and how readily staff made themselves visible and available to help. What I saw […]
How can we welcome everyone into our spaces during these times? Could you partner with a local restaurant or more for a soup night of your own at the library? For those libraries with a community kitchen or access to one, inviting people in to participate in cooking or serving one another or cleaning up, all while commiserating, might help to create some connectedness. Perhaps pair the event with a Human Library program, in which patrons can “check out” a person of a different race, a different religion, different political beliefs, or different sexual orientation for a brief discussion in […]
Confession: I have neglected my duty as a library leader. With more than 10 years of experience working in three different types of libraries, and a multitude of specialized training under belt, I have neglected to strategically bring my library support staff into the conversation and up to speed on today’s public library services scene. I am running circulation similarly to that of a grocer: smile, scan, and say goodbye. As a supervisor I must find ways to open the conversation and empower my staff to be a part of the ever-changing library community. How much more empowering would it […]
Over the last few years I have been inspired and impressed by all the fabulous programs I read about or heard about at conferences where libraries had “Makers in Residence,” “Artists in Residence,” etc. It never dawned on me until now that my place of work has had its own “Pilot in Residence” for over a year now. When the time came to expand our idea lab concept to a second branch in 2015, our director was looking for something innovative and fun that would fit our community and asked us to research the feasibility of a flight simulator. George […]
I was slightly embarrassed when I read Professor Stephens’ article “Stuck in the Past,” and his students’ responses when asked why they wanted to be librarians. When I decided to go to library school, it seemed like a logical choice, because (like those students) “I like books.” This is actually a bit of an understatement for me. I’ve always thought of myself as a book nerd and considered this a vital part of my identity. It is why I “followed my passion” and majored in English as an undergraduate. I got to read lots and lots of books, then write […]
This week my library held our annual Graphic Novel Symposium, which was a great program emphasizing diversity, creativity, and community . This event is essentially a mini con but is aimed at the curriculum. The conversations were thoughtful and engaging, and I thought that TTW readers may enjoy them. Here are the links: Graphic Novels and Their Use as Tools of Tolerance and Diversity Eric Kallenborn, Ronell Whitaker, and Claire Overton YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUHy5vqFL40&index=15&list=PLEenmBjMCRGg81l_w-fF8ywZivwQmlbR3 Generation Next: How to Keep Nerd Communities Growing Carlye Frank, Dawn Xiana Moon, Michi Trota, and Ytasha Woman YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqzlBX0LNgM&list=PLEenmBjMCRGg81l_w-fF8ywZivwQmlbR3&index=13 From Pencils to Print: Small […]
Honored to have an article in the new issue of the Journal of Education for Library and Information Science (JELIS) – special supplement on international issues in LIS education. This work is based on what we did in Salzburg in 2011, lead by R. David Lankes. 🙂 http://dpi-journals.com/index.php/JELIS/issue/view/310 Participatory and Transformative Engagement in Libraries and Museums: Exploring and Expanding the Salzburg Curriculum R. David Lankes, Syracuse University Michael Stephens, San Jose State University Melissa Arjona, San Jose State University Abstract: During a program titled “Libraries and Museums in an Era of Participatory Culture,” co-sponsored by the Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) and the Institute of […]
Link: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2014/10/webcasts/participatory-continuous-connected-top-trends-from-library-2-014/ Participatory, hyperlinked library services; DIY and maker movements; emerging technology in academic and research libraries; Google Glass—the Library 2.014 conference covered a broad range of topics and these were among the most notable. Join us for this free LJ webcast, where we’ll cover the highlights of each one and offer key takeaways. Michael Stephens will discuss participatory, hyperlinked library services in a connected world of “continuous computing.” Susan Hildreth will reflect on how the DIY and maker movements—particularly as they relate to STEM education (with badges to certify skill development)—place libraries as central learning hubs for their communities. Samantha Adams Becker […]
A big AHA! moment about 21st century participatory librarianship came from an unlikely source: a book about ancient pueblos of the American southwest. The author observed that each pueblo was comprised of a collection of living spaces surrounding a large common area – first, the Great Kiva, and later, the plaza. Every living space faced into this common area, which was the hub of pueblo life and ceremony, because, as the author noted, every community needs a center (Scully, 1988). That’s it! I thought.That’s the 21st century library. The 21st century library is some combination of physical and virtual space […]