During the month of July 2013, my colleagues, community partners, fifty teens, and I were stationed on The 2nd Floor of the Chattanooga Public Library for DEV DEV: Summer of Code. It was, to be completely honest with you, the greatest single experience I have ever had in a public library. Let me tell you why. Partners Since the program happened on The 2nd Floor of the Chattanooga Public Library it would be easy for everyone to think that this all happened at the library and it was all the library and that was that. But that’s not the case […]
Tags Justin Hoenke
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Make sure you check out Library’s 3-D printer spits out all kinds of fun and learning over at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. I’ve been talking with Saxonburg Area Library Director Erin Wincek about 3D printing over the past few months and I am in love with the things she’s doing for her community. I also love the support that her community and her board has for her passion: “We’re going to grab up these fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders and show them their future,” said Ms. Wincek, who thinks the printer could influence some of their career choices. Library board president […]
Yesterday I was reading Breaking Up With Libraries by Nina McHale. I had a few thoughts. First and foremost, I was bummed that our profession was losing such an amazing and talented person. Nina has done amazing work for libraries and she will be sorely missed in this field. Secondly, this one passage of Nina’s hit me really hard: Also in the mix is my general frustration with library technology. We pay BILLIONS to ILS and other vendors each year, and for what? Substandard products with interfaces that a mother would kick to the curb. We throw cash at databases […]
Instead of siphoning teens off into different rooms (and locking away noisy activities), the space is airy and completely open. The openness means, among other things, that it only takes one or two librarians to monitor the entire space. Rice says his team renovated the floor on the cheap, using paint and low-cost materials to fill the space. “Teens appreciate the rawness,” he says. “Rich materials might be a little bit of a turn-off.” The key, he says, is a space without much security, where kids feel free to just hang out. “It makes teens feel as if they have […]
When I was a teenager, I spent most if not all of my time in video game arcades in shopping malls. It was the time of fighting games…Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, World Heroes, Primal Rage, and many, many more. Who knows how much money I spent playing those games and more importantly, who cares. What mattered most (and what sticks with me to this day) was being in the same room with people my age who enjoyed the same things as me. It was exciting. It was fun. It created friendships and community. Video gaming in libraries isn’t a new thing. […]
The White Plains Public Library is doing some amazing things with their teens (claymation, LEGO catapults, and more) with Teen Librarian Erik Carlson at the helm. Recently, they finished up a minute long PSA about distracted driving. I’ll turn it over to Erik for more: This idea came from a film maker last year. He wanted to work with the library & the only money we had was from a grant from the Allstate Foundation. It was a large project where over a dozen teens worked on a PSA that lasted 5 minutes. We took that as a learning experience. […]
I decided to be a librarian in late 2006 at the urging of my mother in law Jill. She had been a librarian for many years and spoke of her work very passionately. With a simple poke and a simple “you know, you’d be good at this library thing“, I was off to attend Clarion University of Pennsylvania in January 2007. When I was a kid visited the Northland Public Library in Pittsburgh, PA on a weekly basis. I remembered two things about my time there: they had rabbits in the children’s area and they had the best selection of books […]
(from TribLive, Pittsburgh, PA: http://goo.gl/Tu7GM) Monessen residents soon will be able to borrow library books – at the laundromat. Jill Godlewski, children’s director at the Monessen Public Library, is planning to place several portable libraries scattered around town. Godlewski hopes to situate the wooden dispensaries once the weather clears. “The idea is to get books to people instead of people having to come to the library to get books,” Godlewski said. “We want to make sure there are no barriers to getting a book. My favorite part? A partnership with the local school! Monessen school district Superintendent Linda Marcolini is […]
I’m sorry I won’t be in Portland,ME to see the unveiling of the most excellent I’m Your Neighbor, Portland, Maine project that was put together by Kirsten Cappy of Curious City and is a partnership between the Portland Public Library, Congressman Jon Hinck, Maine Humanities Council, NAACP, Portland Branch, and Portland Adult Education. So what’s it all about? I’m Your Neighbor, Portland is a Portland, Maine community-wide read and series of public events in designed to promote a sense of community among the diverse people who make the port city their home. I’m Your Neighbor, Portland is sponsored by the Portland Public Library and funded by the Maine Humanities Council. Over […]
Thursday nights can be slow at my library. The teens have all gone home for the day, and the only ones that remain are the quiet few who are tearing through their homework or have their eyes focused on their internet browser. Tonight at my library, the scene was the same but before me was a pretty huge question: My little brother locked me out of my iPod. He’s five years old and he won’t tell me how to unlock it. How can I start again? Do I need to buy a new iPod? The teen was pretty bummed that […]