Category Archives: Public Libraries
IMLS Blog: “Free to the People”
To celebrate the national Week of Making, IMLS is running a series of blog posts about the maker movement. Here’s a snippet from today’s post from Corey Wittig of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: There’s an idea that today’s youth are Digital Natives—naturals … Continue reading
Posted in Makerspaces/Hackerspaces, Participatory Learning/Engagement, Professional Development, Public Libraries
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Free maker learning conferences in Ann Arbor 3/28 OR 4/18&25
Howdy! Please help us spread the word! Thanks to funding from the U-M Third Century Initiative and the UMSI Founders Fund, Michigan Makers is hosting two free Making Maker Learners conferences for those who work with K-8 students in formal or informal … Continue reading
Food for Thought: New Harris Poll on Libraries
From a new Harris Poll on libraries, some useful snippets for future use: 66% of American adults are either extremely (24%) or very (42%) satisfied with their public library. This number represents a seven percentage-point increase from the 59% of … Continue reading
Posted in Makerspaces/Hackerspaces, Public Libraries, Research
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Changing the rhetoric from “I love libraries” to “Libraries love communities”
What should libraries and librarians be advocating for? It’s something I think about a lot with my collaborators. There’s such a trend right now for librarians to double as promoters not just of their libraries but of their own personas. … Continue reading
Posted in Libraries, Participatory Learning/Engagement, Public Libraries
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Brian Kenney on Public Library Makerspaces
Milwaukee Makerspace at the 2011 Frolics Parade by plural on Flickr. CC-BY-SA. A few days ago, there was a great essay in Publisher’s Weekly by Brian Kenney about makerspaces in libraries. From the article: What’s radical about maker spaces in libraries? … Continue reading
Posted in Makerspaces/Hackerspaces, Public Libraries
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NYTimes: “No Rich Child Left Behind”
Stanford’s Sean F. Reardon has a provocative editorial in Saturday’s New York Times that’s a must-read for all who feel they are in the midst of the tornado of K-12 school reform. You’ll want to read the whole thing for yourself, … Continue reading
Posted in Assessment and Feedback, Public Libraries
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Live Blogging: Chris Coward on Public Libraries for Development
Live Blogging … Notes from Chris Coward’s talk at the University of Michigan School of Information’s Yahoo Speaker Series. Note: many of my notes are direct quotes from Chris’s talk or slides. I’ve tried to put those in quotations but … Continue reading
Posted in Public Libraries
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Video/Audio: NYPL’s Anthony Marx at Cornell: “Do We Need Libraries?”
Next term, I’ll teach Professional Practice in Libraries and Information Centers, a course for all kinds of future librarians and archivists. It’s sometimes a challenge to find provocative content that addresses all of their points of view: public, academic, and … Continue reading
Posted in Digital Publishing, eBooks, Public Libraries, School Libraries, Video
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New York Public Library and Hurricane Sandy
On her blog yesterday, Diane Ravitch shared an email from Tony Marx, the new head of the New York Public Library. In his email, he wrote: I am here at Mid-Manhattan [a major branch library] which like 61 branches is … Continue reading
Posted in Inspiration, Libraries, Public Libraries
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Libraries in 2025: Interview Questions
A short while ago, a student writer wrote to the School of Information asking some questions about what public libraries might be like in the future. Here are my responses: 1. In your opinion, what factors are changing libraries the … Continue reading
Posted in Public Libraries
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