More Makerspace Ideas!!

More libraries are jumping on the makerspace bandwagon (huzzah!)  Check out this article at Library Journal to see what creative librarians are doing to help communities be creative.

What Color is Your Library?

Here's a link to an article by Pam Dyer at SocialMedia Today about the use of color in marketing.  It includes two excellent infographics from the Logo Company and Kissmetrics depicting how color affects consumers and how marketers can more effective use color in branding.

Dyer also quotes statistics that show that color:

• Increases brand recognition by up to 80%
• Improves readership as much as 40%
• Increases comprehension by 73%
• Can be up to 85% of the reason people decide to buy

Something to think about when creating posters, handouts, bookmarks, and bibliographies in the library -- the colors we choose can affect how receptive people are to our messages.

More than Books!!

Is there anyone who still thinks the only thing you can find in the library is books?  Check out this article to find out what's going on in Ontario, Canada.  The Ontario Library Association asked their member libraries how they were thinking outside the box to meet the needs of their communities.  The answers include fishing poles, garden seeds, story time quilts, ice skates, crafty makerspaces and more.

I love all these ideas.  Why not loan fishing poles, cake pans, pedometers and other little gadgets?  And I could easily see a community jigsaw puzzle table in a corner of my library.  Classes for seniors?  Absolutely.  Why not tap that huge mine of retiree experience and get some of our seniors to teach some classes and share their wealth of knowledge with the community (maybe the teens)?

Getting past Writer's Block

It's not only me!

Here's a link to a blog post with 10 straightforward tips to overcome writer's block.

My personal favorite tip for getting over writer's block is to stop feeling sorry for myself, sit down, and write.  For me "writer's block" is just my excuse for not getting the job done.  It's my literary Camille dying on the divan moment.  So check out these tips or give yourself a good shake.  And then get that, pen, pencil, or keyboard moving ... that novel, memo, or blog post isn't going to write itself, you know!!

Do you want to create a Makerspace?

An invitation for libraries to get more involved in makerspaces.  Check out this blog post at PC Sweeney's Blog.

What I love is the observation that libraries are already involved in makerspace activities.  Every time we have a class where we teach teenagers to make duct tape wallets, let the kids play with Legos, or have the adults doing hands-on crafts, cooking, or tech classes ... that's a makerspace.  They're learning to create and the library is facilitating the process.  That's all it is.  A $2 million space with an enormous annual budget is great, but it starts with people getting together to create.  We can do that ... we already are.

One Great Librarian

Thea Taube is a children's librarian a the Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library in  the East Village.  For several years she has been quietly, and unofficially, loaning an American Girl Doll named Kirsten Larson to interested children in her library.  Read all about it here.
What a fantastic idea.  And what a great librarian.

Makerspaces

I have been doing some reading on participatory librarianship and started learning about makerspaces.  I've found some wonderful information, but writing an essay that incorporates all the links I've found isn't going to happen so instead I've created a new page on the blog to include them all.

This is a somewhat unorganized, scattershot of links I have found about makerspaces. Makerspaces comes from the idea of creating community common spaces where people can come together to share equipment and tools that would be out of financial/practical reach of individuals.  I think it may have originated with hackers and gamers (so cool), but I'm still learning.

The whole idea is about sharing, creating, creativity, and community.  That's what libraries do, isn't it?

Practically speaking building a wood/computer/electronics shop in the library basement with space for arts, crafts and 3D printing might not be practical.  But the idea has potential.