Future Trends in Libraries

"Makerspaces just might take over libraries. School of Information Studies professor Dave Lankes seems to think so. In his presentation to New York State librarians earlier this month, he asked the roomful of librarians to imagine libraries as places for people to learn and create, not consume and check out. In another talk he gave in October, he declared, “What will kill our profession is not ebooks, Amazon, or Google, but a lack of imagination.”

What’s a Makerspace?
So what’s a makerspace? Also called a hackerspace, a backspace, or a hacklab, it’s any sort of creative space where people gather to make stuff and share ideas about making stuff. These labs, often equipped with tools and materials, allow users to practice a 21st-century sort of DIY. Hackerspaces.org, a wiki connecting makerspaces around the world, defines them as “community-operated physical places, where people can meet and work on their projects.” The ideas behind makerspaces—community-driven, open-access, shared resources and tools, knowledge sharing—make them a natural fit for a library community..."