What should a modern library be?
January 12th, 2009 by Geoff 20 Comments
Last week, Ed Tettemer (formerly of Red Tettemer) gathered together a group of people for a charette to rethink the Free Library of Philadelphia’s website.
A little back story is probably necessary. Ed and I met last year as members of Mayor Nutter’s transition committee for the rebranding of Philadelphia. (Yes, Ed and I seem to do a lot of re-ing.) Nothing really seemed to be making sense in this effort until Ed and I hit upon this idea of Open Source as the brand and also as the mind-set for Philadelphia’s new administration.
With this in mind, Ed brought together a group of people from various interactive and branding agencies, as well as, entrepeneurs and members of the Free Library staff and board to openly discuss, in a blue sky way, the future of the website. As part of the backdrop for our conversation, it was pointed out that the library is in the process of fundraising for a new addition (see above) to house:
a Children’s Library with a Preschool Center and a Craft Room; a first-ever Teen Center; a new 550-seat auditorium; two new Internet Browsing Centers, outfitted with 300 public-access computers; a new Business Department, with presentation space, online resources and a complete curriculum in business development; and a soaring, glass-enclosed pavilion with shops, a cafe and ample space for community gatherings.”
Instantly, our task changed (in my mind, at least) to be more of a rethinking of what a modern library should become.
Admittedly, I was looking for an excuse to open up the dialogue (as my Twitter post from the day before the session indicates), but nonetheless, I jumped at the opportunity.
Taking a step back, I believe that the post-World War II government-supplemented higher education system that has its origins in the funds of the GI Bill of Rights to be financially unsustainable. Not only that, I think that higher education is becoming less relevant to many people. I come across more and more college drop-outs or those that never attended college working in high tech and traditional white collar jobs. While I appreciate my college experience, I see it as almost a finishing school (in its best sense), and not a job training center.
As colleges become more expensive and government support continues to dwindle, it makes it harder and harder for the average person to take on that expense. (Keep in mind we are talking about graduating with debts in excess of $100,000.) However, the need to be educated has not diminished.
What better institution to fill this gap be than a place like the Free Library of Philadelphia?
If one accepts that conceit that a well-informed populace is vital to the operation of a democracy and considering that Ben Franklin founded the first lending library in North America here in Philadelphia then it is very compelling for the Free Library to be a place that embodies the future of education. (At minimum it makes for a very good story.)
And, I don’t mean as simply a resource (a.k.a. repository) to supplement education pursuits. The library should be a center for learning. In many ways, what I am proposing is an old fashioned idea. I would like the library to be a place of peer learning, apprenticing and mentoring. I am inspired by “unconferences” or open conferences like BarCamp where the attendees lead the sessions. There are no predetermined speakers. It is a great example of peer learning. The library can be the physical place that houses these sessions in an on-going way. Barcamps are usually only a day or two. This type of learning and sharing needs a home if it is to be an effective as a learning hub.
So back to the original point of the charette. What should role should the website of the Free Library play in this scenario?
I want to answer that question in a future post, but let me seed it with this quote from Mark Pesce’s essay Inflection Points:
When broken down to its atomic components, the classroom is an agreement between an instructor and a set of students. The instructor agrees to offer expertise and mentorship, while the students offer their attention and dedication. The question now becomes what role, if any, the educational institution plays in coordinating any of these components. Students can share their ratings online – why wouldn’t they also share their educational goals? Once they’ve pooled their goals, what keeps them from recruiting their own instructor, booking their own classroom, indeed, just doing it all themselves?
Technology can be used to coordinate the logistics of this information exchange in the library of the future.
I will expand on this idea in my next post.
To be continued!
____
Update: The continued post on what a modern library website should be is now live.
January 12th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Just under the wire, huh.
I love the idea of the library becoming more relevant in my everyday life. Adam Greenfield, for example, wrote his latest book in the New York Public Library’s Rose Reading Room, which looks rather romantic and wonderful. I’m not really sure what sort of circumstances would get me out to my library on a regular basis.
For those interested in thoughts on architecture and the modern library, please see this one by Dan Hill.
January 13th, 2009 at 10:26 am
this is a great start. since leaving the franklin i have been thinking about distributed education. libraries should be much more than book storage. looking to the past to see how the modern library has become what it is, is important. there has been a transition to being the central repository for knowledge/content. content being books, movies, music, etc
the city manages and supports charter/magnet/special focused schools/community colleges. why not take the college podcast/ open courseware model and apply to k-12 and make the modern library the place to go to for ala carte education at any level and allow the librarians be the gate keepers much like they had already been with books. create a few extra jobs and BAM.
just a few early thoughts/musings.
January 13th, 2009 at 11:10 am
The mountain in the middle of the room that has to be overcome is our culture’s march toward isolation (meaning information we used to need to go outside our box to get is becoming more readily available within our box).
Creating a need to go to a library may not be a sexy topic, but it’s something that needs to be addressed. Because if you look at it one way, a library can be defined (shallowly) as “voluntary school,” which might have a negative connotation with younger generations. It’s new definition and model should push past that and offer something more. What that “more” is I can’t really say other than offer a few suggestions. But I think what you’ve posted has some really great foundations that can be built upon. Whether we attempt that building is a different story, that hopefully can be overcome.
January 13th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Could not agree more with the sentiment that “I see [college] as almost a finishing school (in its best sense), and not a job training center.” I did not emerge from college career-ready, but I’m glad to have had the experience. I did wonder upon emerging with an English degree, however, “how does one *become* career ready?” How do you learn the things you want to learn?
I stumbled about in temp jobs, gathering bits of experience that proved useful and hitting upon the web early in its existence, but that was more dumb luck than anything. I *love* the idea of a library as place to construct the educational opportunities we need. It’s already the co-working space of choice for many, and a magnet for the well-read and community-minded; why not leverage that core constituency to attract others who would willingly soak up and share knowledge? The idea of an endless BarCamp, and not just monthly lectures by well-known authors, makes me smile. And think. And smile some more.
January 13th, 2009 at 11:25 am
[...] This is in response to Geoff Di’Masi’s post on his blog http://window.punkave.com/2009/01/12/what-should-a-modern-library-be/ [...]
January 13th, 2009 at 11:26 am
I wrote a lot… so I just posted it here. This is a great topic Geoff, I appreciate the feed back.
http://walking.alphex.com/2009/01/13/in-response-to-what-should-a-modern-library-be-at-the-punk-avenue-window/
January 13th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Its hard to discuss this without delving into the design of the addition, never mind the web site – but I think the idea that needs to be explored is how the web site and the building might interact to reinforce each other’s mission – where is that overlap?
I’ll just accept the notion of open-source activity as an extension and natural development of the library as a community element. Reserving “classrooms” or “community meeting rooms” for ad hoc education or BarCamp like gatherings sounds exciting, but the idea of them occurring behind closed doors feels like a contradiction. It can’t be open as the sounds inside and outside the gatherings would fight, but they could be transparent to the web site, and as such could be on display within the library as readily as on your laptop. But I wish for a visual connection to these dynamic meetings, to experience them as a casual observer while in the library, not only through a video feed.
January 13th, 2009 at 11:39 am
This dynamic learning environment could be distributed all around the library, so wherever you wandered or settled yourself you would have some sense of the energy. A transparent wall on a meeting space can expose the activity, and contain distraction, a series of web cams in each meeting space could allow a virtual participant or viewer to move around the room – perhaps even remotely controlled cameras that could be claimed for brief periods could allow you to zoom in to the scene from your remote location. The library should be like a panopticon for learning, both physical and virtual where you could take in the activity from the other functions in the library..
January 13th, 2009 at 11:50 am
There are so many great ideas embedded in these comments.
I really want to expand on many of these in future posts and discussions, but let me just say that I do agree that this model should extend to the education of people of all ages. Additionally, I completely agree that a repository is an outdated idea for a library. We can and should free up that space to allow for people to gather and share.
In terms of the new addition at the Free Library of Philadelphia, I have not explored the architecture of it. It may not be as conducive to supporting the future role of a library, but it does sound like a start in the right direction. Lavardera, I agree. The learning spaces should exposed and hopefully infectious. As the Desk Set librarians are known to say, “We are not shushers.” Libraries should have places where you overhear things. A place for active engagement.
The website can really support this. I will start to lay out some ideas in my next post.
January 13th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I really like where you’re going with this. What if libraries were another type of coworking space for students, adults, groups, etc?
January 20th, 2009 at 12:15 am
[...] week, I posted some thoughts on what a modern library should be, and promised to follow it up with a post on how a website could support that mission. True to my [...]
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:40 pm
[...] What Should a Modern Library Be? [...]
January 24th, 2009 at 10:30 am
College as finishing school an apt description. The old idea of a “liberal education” was that you “learned” a little about a broad variety of subjects. The Dual goal being to generally inform the student and provide an appreciation for the various disciplines. The “hope” was that one of them would strike a chord and become a passion.
Nice thought, but it wasn’t my experience.
There is something to be said for the old Guild structure where the craft that all work is at its heart is taught through experience. (To know is To Be). Apprentice,
Journeyman, Master Craftsman.
Library as New Union Hall – a bricks and mortar/digital space that acts as a clearing/meeting house for the Guilds.
The experience of the Library decribed by Lavardera could support such a model. But is it a case of If you build it will they come?
I am curious.
January 24th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I remember vividly my first trip to Las Vegas many years ago, where I observed the technology, imagination and resources put into keeping people inside the casino environment. Lavish shows suspended from the ceiling over gamblers’ heads and fantastical environments. I compared that with the scene inside our main library at the time, where everything (including the people) felt old, dusty and half-asleep. Where it was impossible to plug in a laptop because power outlets were only in the ceiling. At the time I thought: the messages this sends about what our society values and what the learning experience is like are tragic. YES, let’s have the library be a center of democracy in action and life-long learning. But let’s also keep in mind that our libraries need to create an experience for children and youth that says: reading and learning are dynamic, exciting, fun; our community values ideas as much as we value sports teams or holidays with fireworks and parades.
January 30th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
At least the people thinking about redoing the philly free library are aiming high. A teen center, 300 public-access computers, a business department, a cafe, and all on top of the intense visual of a huge sweeping glass wall. The topic of learning and changing how we deal with receiving information and education in school is very interesting. I remember about 10 years ago when my local library in NY received a huge budget and expanded their building. It opened up job opportunities in our town, such as for the cafe employees. It also changed my perception of going there to get books as a kid, here is this new building with lots of sunlight and people going in and out, it would make going exciting and inviting. This definitely ties in with what wendy was saying about our societies values on education vs. entertainment.
February 4th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
When I think of the word library, nothing but dark thoughts and bad experiences come to mind. Why is this? Why isn’t a library more appealing when it’s time to get work done? For starters, I think the library should be referred to differently. Everyone hated the library as a child so now that we are older we would like nothing more than to never have to experience that again. Calling it something else, such as resource lounge… or knowledge center… or anything that puts a happier thought in our head rather than the current dismal one, would completely change the cold, dark, dusty feeling that is associated with the library. With a new name, there would be no preconceived negativity towards it. Everyone would at least want to check out what this new place is all about and would most likely visit it at least once. Once they have entered the doors, you want them to feel welcome and more than anything else comfortable. When I think library, I want comfort to be the first thing that pops into my head. Before we start redesigning the building itself, adding cafe’s and walls and what not, why not simply make it a little more like your home? Everyone has that one couch or chair or some spot in their home where they love to just relax and read a book. So why not create this good feeling where we work and do research? Creating a place that people would visit even when they don’t have work to do is, in my mind, what a modern library should be.
February 5th, 2009 at 2:09 am
Good read.. very inspiring idea of an open source place of learning..
Free wifi and information sharing amongst common people with a curious dedication to learn sounds great to me, and it makes total sense
February 7th, 2009 at 11:42 am
[...] ‘Rethinking the Library’. In an open forum provided by P’unk Avenue, whose blog posts (1) and (2) were the impetus for this Junto, everyone got to speak their mind about what they believe [...]
February 21st, 2009 at 2:15 pm
This brings up some interesting ideas/ideals that I feel many of us consider at different times. I’ve personally been at conflict with the perceived ‘need’ to have a degree in particular areas for the sole purpose of employment after school. I do not feel this is a result of the institutions but rather from shifting standards in business and societal pressures. In turn, schools also operating like corporations, have increased tuition to astronomical numbers since the demand for higher education has increased. This is starting to backfire in this country though because the cost is too high and for most people the cost simply does not justify going to a university to get knowledge they can easily get outside of that environment.
It is the environment of the university that makes for productive learning and provides more than just the information in the books we can get on our own time. I agree that an organized institution does not necessarily need to be a part of that experience. Usually at college, students are surrounded by others who share a common desire to learn the information being taught and to be part of a public dialogue about a certain subject and learn from each other. I also believe that if systems were in place to allow people to self-organize these ‘classes’ it would be providing the same service as a university and could, perhaps, be even more educational.
A free public library is the ideal setting for this type of learning to take place. Not only does a library house the information people want to learn, it also has access to academics, teachers, community organizers, schools and (sometimes!) money. Personally, I would love to have a nice comfortable library space to use in my neighborhood that was open fairly late and maybe had a cafe. Even here at school the library is one of my favorite places to be despite the awkwardness of the physical space. Being surrounded by such an immense amount of knowledge is humbling, inspiring and motivational. Not only does internet and a computer just not translate in the same way, it is not as whole or complete and is just an extension of what has existed for thousands of years.
I am fearful that libraries will cease to exist if people, students especially, continually to rely too heavily on the web and computers instead of books.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:48 pm
M@,
The argument I am making is that libraries are not in the business of books. They are in the business of knowledge.
Knowledge can be embodied in ink on a page or bytes on a chip. All of that is not so important. It is the people that use the library spaces and the needs of people.
When looking at this problem, we need to consider people and not objects first. The architecture and objects should follow from there.