Hosting hackerspaces in libraries might seem odd, but libraries are and have always been central to all sorts of learning. Hackerspaces are becoming increasing popular, so it makes sense that a respected institution such as public libraries bring maker tools to everyone.  Everything from mold injection machines to 3D printers are taking up residence in some libraries.

In the Fayetteville Free library in upstate New York, Librarian Lauren Smedley won a grant and received funding on Indi Go Go for creating a hackerspace. The Fabulous Laboratory, as this hackerspace is called, will occupy over 8,000 square feet of space that was once owned by a furniture manufacturer. Although some might wonder how hackerspaces fit into a library, I can’t think of a better place to house one.  The Fayetteville library already has video gaming stations, iPads available for check-out, and Skype sessions with authors so a hackerspace fits nicely.

Learn more about hackerspaces in libraries

Related library articles

• My Wish for Public Libraries
• Public Libraries and Education
• The Public Library as a School

We even created a Lesson Outline of our approach to help other homeschoolers!

Lifestyle Additions

While I realize that libraries have to be careful about food and coffee around books and print collections, there must be a creative way to accommodate both. The more a public library can fit into my lifestyle, the more important it is to me and the more likely I am to support it both financially and politically.

Better Architecture, Interior Design and Lighting

The public libraries in our area are neat and clean, but are drab, boring, boxy affairs. The sterile architecture and beige walls and brownish carpeting scream ‘government agency’. Libraries ARE important and should reflect this through distinctive decor, architecture, displays, paint, floor covering, seating, etc. I believe that more people would use libraries if libraries reflected a different attitude.  Build public libraries with the intention of making them places people want  to visit rather than places they ‘need’ to visit. Work with interior designers to reflect the flavor of the local community, to capture imagination and even inspire. Currently, most are simply  ‘functional’ — like orthopedic shoes!

Imagine Possibilities Beyond Tax Forms and Storytime!

I would love to attend book fairs, author signings, prominent guest speaker lectures, small musical performances, etc. I have to say, our public library system hosts some of these things, but most public library buildings just weren’t designed to accommodate them, so the events always come off as ‘low budget’, ‘better than nothing’ affairs. Why not design new public library spaces to incorporate theatre, music, lectures and community fairs as a central element?

Rethink Marketing/Funding Opportunities

One of the things I admire about Barnes & Noble is its lifestyle product line. Barnes & Noble carries beautiful reusable bags, tastefully decorated reusable water bottles, a dizzying array of high quality and attractive personal journals, bookmarks and more! I think that if public libraries are creative, they just might create buzz and gain new revenue streams. I would proudly purchase and use uniquely designed reusable shopping/tote bags,etc.  from my public library  to support building renovations or new collection materials.

Start with local college art students to create unique designs for products that the public library could sell. Or why not hold a community contest to create designs that could then be incorporated into bottles, journals, bags, etc? Currently, our public library system sells unappealing ‘stodgy’ blue and red totes that look like they were designed using Microsoft Word’s clip art.

Focus on Education

I believe that public libraries should serve as community learning centers. Why not provide small classroom space to host serious local education businesses a few times per week? I am not talking about the PTA or the Mom’s club.  I mean charge a fee to businesses that offer  tutoring services, foreign language courses, or math and technology classes for gifted learners and/or homeschoolers. In addition to generating revenue, public libraries can provide easier access to these educational opportunities.  Instead of having a library inside of the school, why not put the school inside the library!

Extended Weekend Hours

I wish the public library was open late or at least a few hours later on Friday and Saturday evenings. Our public library closes at 5 pm on these days. If the above items were successful, staying open later on Fri. and Sat. would be a “no-brainer”.

The Little Blue School blog author, Lydia, has created a really nice lesson around the Terry Bisson book, ‘Boba Fett Crossfire’. The lesson has reading comprehension questions for each chapter and has a really nice vocabulary list. Check the book out at your local library and enjoy!

The British Library website is an amazing resource for anyone, especially homeschoolers.  Our favorite text is of Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawings and our homeschooler was stunned and fascinated that he was looking at Leonardo Da Vinci’s original drawings and notes.  We used the magnification tool and examined the beauty of Da Vinci’s backward hand writing!

Here are the areas of the British Libraries Website we enjoyed:

• Turning the Pages – The Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawings text is amazing.
• Resources for schools & teachers – We could spend hours reading this amazing collection of resources.
• Treasures in Full – Similar in content to Turning the Pages, high-quality digital editions of old texts.
• Treasures in Full (full list) – A complete list of all digital editions found in ‘Treasures in Full’.

We like to think of our eclectic approach to homeschool as a favorite family recipe. You know, the kind that doesn’t have exact measurements of anything, just general ingredients with vague terms like a ‘dash of salt’ and a pinch of sugar, to taste. And just as these recipes are shared with the next generation, so to is education in the eclectic homeschool family.

In other words, there is no set ‘curriculum’ with neatly organized lesson objectives, timelines, timed tests, etc. The approach to learning is natural and to the ‘taste’ of the student and parents. Don’t be fooled into thinking of this as a lazy, cop-out approach, because it is far more work to gather lesson materials and answer tough questions that arise from such an open-ended approach than it is to use a prepared curriculum for every subject. Think of it as preparing homemade meatballs instead of getting a fast food burger at the drive-through.

The end result is that learning becomes an adventure. Usually, our homeschooler can’t wait to start learning more about paleontology, space, or Luciano Pavarotti. And when children enjoy learning, they learn more and with more depth. We roll up our sleeves, load up on books, magazines, dvds and even a microscope from the public library. We cover math, science, language arts, reading, spelling, writing, poetry, art, music, foreign language, geography, world history and anything else that comes up in conversation. We take frequent ‘field trips’ to local museums, parks, performances and schedule plenty of social time with homeschool groups and even find time for karate and swimming practice!

We take a pinch of this and a scoop of that, mix it together with enthusiasm, stir it up a bit, taste for well-roundedness, let thoughts simmer lightly but steadily until questions are answered and intellectual curiosity is satisfied. In other words, we just follow our instincts and know there is no set recipe for learning or life.

Bookmarks
We use del.icio.us, a robust online bookmarking tool, to ‘tag’ websites of particular interest. Set up a free account to start keeping track of your favorite online resources. You can assign ‘tags’ to categorize your links, search your links and even share your links. View our del.icio.us bookmarks.

Reading List
We use LibraryThing to keep track of some of the books we use in our homeschool curriculum. Create a free account to keep track of books you use, share your list with others, rate books, search books, read what others are saying about books and more. Here is our LibrayThing homeschool book list

Homeschool Blogs (RSS)
To keep up with what other homeschool blogs have to offer, I subscribe to the blogs’ RSS feeds. We recommend setting up a free google account and customizing your igoogle.com page with homeschool RSS feeds. RSS feeds allow you to scan the latest postings from all of your favorite blogs at once. If you set google as your default RSS reader, clicking on an orange RSS feed icon will automatically add the feed to your igoogle home page.