 |
What we've got: existing
library, right on Hinton Way. |
The Daily Journal/Anna Schuessler, 1/24/17. "Making space for makers: Residents reimagine creative spaces in county libraries."
 |
What we want: proposed modern
library, right off Palmetto Avenue. |
"San Mateo County residents now have a chance to weigh in on the creative
spaces available to them at San Mateo County libraries. At a community engagement workshop at the Belmont Library Wednesday,
Jan. 18, creators of all ages gathered to share enthusiasm for projects
they have been working on at their libraries and resources they hope to
see in the future. .... “People are looking at libraries more and more as
cultural
institutions and community gathering points,” said Library
Communications Manager Amanda Kim.
In step with a growing interest in the maker movement across the
Peninsula, San Mateo County libraries have expanded their offerings to
residents hoping to solve problems by doing. Wednesday’s meeting kicked
off a systemwide effort to create a
master plan for dedicated maker and
digital media spaces throughout the 12 libraries in the San Mateo County
system.
Exemplified by San Mateo’s annual Maker Faire, the maker culture
encourages
learning through do-it-yourself projects often involving
engineering concepts and technical components, such as electronics or
robotics. Three-dimensional printers — available at every library — and
programs such as computer coding classes have allowed patrons to engage
in the building process driving their projects, which have ranged from
models of furniture to video production. And staff see a unique opportunity for the library to foster new learning opportunities, convening makers of all ages.“One thing libraries have always been about is learning,” said Anne-Marie Despain, director of library services.
Read article.
Related, national vision. The Aspen Institute, "Dialogue on Public Libraries" (scroll down):
The Report, pdf pages 80, "Rising to the challenge, re-envisioning public libraries", pdf page 5. "What people and communities need to flourish in the
knowledge economy: Lifelong access; the capacity and disposition to learn in small; quick doses; the ability to use, understand and process information in many different forms; places to gather; access to conversations among creative people. People and communities need public libraries."
Reference, local libraries. San Mateo County Libraries. Pacifica Library Foundation, Facebook, LinkedIn. Proposed library.
City of Pacifica, "The new Pacifica library." "The current phase of the new library design involves Group 4
Architects completing a schematic design. Steps toward the schematic
design involve reviewing and updating library needs assessment, building
and site programs, focus group meetings and community outreach." Note photo/graphics. The modern library concept design is from Group 4 Architects/City of Pacifica reference. The current library is from Weymark/Pacifica Sharp Park Library.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
San
Mateo County residents now have a chance to weigh in on the creative
spaces available to them at San Mateo County libraries.
At a community engagement workshop at the Belmont Library
Wednesday, Jan. 18, creators of all ages gathered to share enthusiasm
for projects they have been working on at their libraries and resources
they hope to see in the future.
Library staff are hopeful this meeting, combined with focus
groups and online surveys, will help them reimagine their spaces in a
time when a growing number of patrons are turning to their libraries for
technical tools and resources to build creative projects.
- See more at:
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2017-01-24/making-space-for-makers-residents-reimagine-creative-spaces-in-county-libraries/1776425174757.html#sthash.fKBBgy9Q.dpuf
San
Mateo County residents now have a chance to weigh in on the creative
spaces available to them at San Mateo County libraries.
At a community engagement workshop at the Belmont Library
Wednesday, Jan. 18, creators of all ages gathered to share enthusiasm
for projects they have been working on at their libraries and resources
they hope to see in the future.
Library staff are hopeful this meeting, combined with focus
groups and online surveys, will help them reimagine their spaces in a
time when a growing number of patrons are turning to their libraries for
technical tools and resources to build creative projects.
- See more at:
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2017-01-24/making-space-for-makers-residents-reimagine-creative-spaces-in-county-libraries/1776425174757.html#sthash.fKBBgy9Q.dpuf
San
Mateo County residents now have a chance to weigh in on the creative
spaces available to them at San Mateo County libraries.
At a community engagement workshop at the Belmont Library
Wednesday, Jan. 18, creators of all ages gathered to share enthusiasm
for projects they have been working on at their libraries and resources
they hope to see in the future.
Library staff are hopeful this meeting, combined with focus
groups and online surveys, will help them reimagine their spaces in a
time when a growing number of patrons are turning to their libraries for
technical tools and resources to build creative projects.
“People are looking at libraries more and more as cultural
institutions and community gathering points,” said Library
Communications Manager Amanda Kim.
In step with a growing interest in the maker movement across the
Peninsula, San Mateo County libraries have expanded their offerings to
residents hoping to solve problems by doing. Wednesday’s meeting kicked
off a systemwide effort to create a master plan for dedicated maker and
digital media spaces throughout the 12 libraries in the San Mateo County
system.
Exemplified by San Mateo’s annual Maker Faire, the maker culture
encourages learning through do-it-yourself projects often involving
engineering concepts and technical components, such as electronics or
robotics. Three-dimensional printers — available at every library — and
programs such as computer coding classes have allowed patrons to engage
in the building process driving their projects, which have ranged from
models of furniture to video production.
And staff see a unique opportunity for the library to foster new learning opportunities, convening makers of all ages.
“One thing libraries have always been about is learning,” said Anne-Marie Despain, director of library services.
Despain is excited to work with community members as co-creators
in the process of imagining dedicated maker spaces across all 12
libraries she oversees. To brainstorm ideas from a group already teeming
with creative ideas, she has enlisted the help of Gyroscope, Inc., a
group with success in designing learning spaces for museums and other
libraries.
Steve Tornallyay, Gyroscope’s director of creative growth
strategies, led some 50 community members through Wednesday’s community
engagement meeting. Tornallyay has worked on other co-creation projects
such as the San Jose Public Library’s TeenHQ space, which was
co-developed with teens looking for hands-on learning opportunities at
their library. For Tornallyay, what excites him about co-designing maker
spaces in San Mateo County libraries is the challenge of finding
engaging solutions that will work across all 12 libraries.
“We’re trying to balance the countywide approach with keeping libraries unique to patrons,” he said.
The patrons attending Wednesday’s meeting demonstrated the
challenge and opportunity that lies before Tornallyay and library staff,
citing a wide variety of uses for maker resources currently offered at
the libraries. A grandfather described creating a name plaque with his
granddaughter using a 3-D printer at the library, allowing him to learn
more about 3-D printers and his granddaughter to use a keyboard and
mouse for the first time. Others described projects where they made
simple instruments to teach younger students about physics, or created
missing parts to machines with a 3-D printer.
For Kim, the variety of ideas makers bring to libraries, combined
with the diversity in the size and structure of the libraries
themselves, means they are not trying to develop defined physical maker
spaces for each library, but rather overall strategies for making maker
resources available to all patrons.
“We have communities of different sizes, and libraries of different sizes,” she said.
Kim said redesigning existing space and revamping current maker
programing and resources are options that might fit existing libraries.
Libraries currently under construction, such as the Half Moon Bay or
Brisbane libraries, may include physical maker spaces in their
construction plans. Kim said that a mobile maker space is an option that
has been discussed to possibly serve locations limited in their ability
to make changes to their physical spaces.
Library staff are hoping to gather input from the community in
the coming months, and to develop a master plan for maker spaces by the
end of May. For Kim, the opportunities to expand cross-sectional
learning can’t come quickly enough for a county ready to co-create.
“We want to hear from people of all backgrounds, to get a better
understanding of the digital divide,” she said. “How can maker spaces
help people bridge that divide?”
- See more at:
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2017-01-24/making-space-for-makers-residents-reimagine-creative-spaces-in-county-libraries/1776425174757.html#sthash.fKBBgy9Q.dpuf
San
Mateo County residents now have a chance to weigh in on the creative
spaces available to them at San Mateo County libraries.
At a community engagement workshop at the Belmont Library
Wednesday, Jan. 18, creators of all ages gathered to share enthusiasm
for projects they have been working on at their libraries and resources
they hope to see in the future.
Library staff are hopeful this meeting, combined with focus
groups and online surveys, will help them reimagine their spaces in a
time when a growing number of patrons are turning to their libraries for
technical tools and resources to build creative projects.
“People are looking at libraries more and more as cultural
institutions and community gathering points,” said Library
Communications Manager Amanda Kim.
In step with a growing interest in the maker movement across the
Peninsula, San Mateo County libraries have expanded their offerings to
residents hoping to solve problems by doing. Wednesday’s meeting kicked
off a systemwide effort to create a master plan for dedicated maker and
digital media spaces throughout the 12 libraries in the San Mateo County
system.
Exemplified by San Mateo’s annual Maker Faire, the maker culture
encourages learning through do-it-yourself projects often involving
engineering concepts and technical components, such as electronics or
robotics. Three-dimensional printers — available at every library — and
programs such as computer coding classes have allowed patrons to engage
in the building process driving their projects, which have ranged from
models of furniture to video production.
And staff see a unique opportunity for the library to foster new learning opportunities, convening makers of all ages.
“One thing libraries have always been about is learning,” said Anne-Marie Despain, director of library services.
Despain is excited to work with community members as co-creators
in the process of imagining dedicated maker spaces across all 12
libraries she oversees. To brainstorm ideas from a group already teeming
with creative ideas, she has enlisted the help of Gyroscope, Inc., a
group with success in designing learning spaces for museums and other
libraries.
Steve Tornallyay, Gyroscope’s director of creative growth
strategies, led some 50 community members through Wednesday’s community
engagement meeting. Tornallyay has worked on other co-creation projects
such as the San Jose Public Library’s TeenHQ space, which was
co-developed with teens looking for hands-on learning opportunities at
their library. For Tornallyay, what excites him about co-designing maker
spaces in San Mateo County libraries is the challenge of finding
engaging solutions that will work across all 12 libraries.
“We’re trying to balance the countywide approach with keeping libraries unique to patrons,” he said.
The patrons attending Wednesday’s meeting demonstrated the
challenge and opportunity that lies before Tornallyay and library staff,
citing a wide variety of uses for maker resources currently offered at
the libraries. A grandfather described creating a name plaque with his
granddaughter using a 3-D printer at the library, allowing him to learn
more about 3-D printers and his granddaughter to use a keyboard and
mouse for the first time. Others described projects where they made
simple instruments to teach younger students about physics, or created
missing parts to machines with a 3-D printer.
For Kim, the variety of ideas makers bring to libraries, combined
with the diversity in the size and structure of the libraries
themselves, means they are not trying to develop defined physical maker
spaces for each library, but rather overall strategies for making maker
resources available to all patrons.
“We have communities of different sizes, and libraries of different sizes,” she said.
Kim said redesigning existing space and revamping current maker
programing and resources are options that might fit existing libraries.
Libraries currently under construction, such as the Half Moon Bay or
Brisbane libraries, may include physical maker spaces in their
construction plans. Kim said that a mobile maker space is an option that
has been discussed to possibly serve locations limited in their ability
to make changes to their physical spaces.
Library staff are hoping to gather input from the community in
the coming months, and to develop a master plan for maker spaces by the
end of May. For Kim, the opportunities to expand cross-sectional
learning can’t come quickly enough for a county ready to co-create.
“We want to hear from people of all backgrounds, to get a better
understanding of the digital divide,” she said. “How can maker spaces
help people bridge that divide?”
- See more at:
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2017-01-24/making-space-for-makers-residents-reimagine-creative-spaces-in-county-libraries/1776425174757.html#sthash.fKBBgy9Q.dpuf
