This is part of a series of Session Notes from grantees who have received Professional Development grants from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries. Each grantee will share their professional development experience and include tips and other resources from the workshop or class. Grantees had their choice of an article for the Compendium, a webinar or a podcast. This project was made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

 

Erin Wincek,
Erie County Public Library

The 31st annual Computers in Libraries conference took place from March 8-10, 2016. Each year, over 1,500 national and international participants from school, public, academic, and special libraries converge at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC. The focus of this year’s conference was on technology and how librarians can apply innovative solutions in their communities. 183 speakers presented on a truly impressive array of topics focused around the conference’s theme: Library Labs: Research, Innovation, and Imagination.

Attending the conference was a great chance to learn about the ways libraries are providing cutting-edge services to meet their community’s needs. Currently, at the Erie County Public Library, we are planning the future of our main location, the Raymond D. Blasco Memorial Library. As the building coordinator, I’m actively involved in this re-imagination. A new strategic plan and building master plan have positioned us to make a dramatic impact on the City of Erie.

We actively sought community feedback for both the redesign of the library and our strategic plan, and are making every effort to focus on being responsive. Our community told us that while they value our carefully-curated collections and resources, they want more skill building opportunities, job seeker help, small business support, and space to work collaboratively to move Erie forward.

In response, we are implementing the ideaLAB. A space dedicated to bringing people together to collaborate, educate, and motivate one another. Public meeting areas, a makerspace, and a digital media studio are just a few of the proposed additions to the library.

There are many libraries which have paved the way for the direction we’re currently undertaking, and the Computers in Libraries Conference was the perfect place to hear from them first-hand.
Sue Considine, Executive Director of the Fayetteville Free Library (FFL), was an early adopter of makerspaces in libraries. Her presentation, Community Partnerships: Engagement and Impact, discussed the FabLab operated by the FFL, one of the earliest and most successful public library makerspaces in the country.

Every move FFL makes is carefully planned using forms and worksheets to assess the strategic, qualitative and quantitative impacts of their services and programs. Strong emphasis is continually placed on staff training and forums. When planning programs for the library and makerspace, the staff use outcome-based planning. Why are we offering these programs? How will this program help us further our mission? Moreover, Ms. Considine noted that the most important relationships in the library are internal. To that end, the library provides ample opportunities for staff involvement and buy-in. This carries through to their programming philosophy where strong partnerships with local businesses and Syracuse University has enabled  FFL’s programs to grow to where to over 40% are now being led by community members.

Employees of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, located in Charlotte, NC, offered insightful tips and analysis in their presentation, From Zero to Makerspace. They received a Knight Foundation grant in July of 2014 and opened their makerspace, the Idea Box, within 7 short months! During their two-month information gathering phase, the staff toured other makerspaces, surveyed their community, and collaborated with other local organizations.

Given the short time frame for opening their space, staff from all of the library’s locations at all levels were given the chance to apply to be a part of the Idea Box team. This provided the library system with staff at each location who can explain what was happening at the main library to the rest of the staff as well as the community. As we at the Blasco Library move toward implementing the ideaLAB, we are faced with the question of how do we staff the space in the best way? Learning about how other libraries faced these same challenges was a key takeaway for me at the conference.

Interestingly, for the first year it was open, Charlotte Mecklensburg’s Idea Box was only open for only 8 hours each week. They are now increasing operating hours to 16 hours each week due to demand. Before the conference, I had not considered limiting the hours of our future space to less than the full operating hours of the library. Learning about each library’s model of service and their reasoning will help my library take a well-balanced approach.

Several other presentations focused on makerspaces in an academic library setting. I learned that college innovation centers face the same challenges as public libraries. Who will fund equipment? What types of equipment should we provide? How do we train our employees and get their buy in?

At the University of La Verne, Amy Jiang offered advice to communities with both public and academic makerspaces. Rather than compete, she stressed that we all need to learn to dance. Public libraries should be gateways to academic libraries, and we need to look at the work we do from a collaborative, versus a competitive, perspective.

Jiang’s library is working with students to design innovative solutions for the school. Most recently, a student used a Raspberry Pi and Chromecast to create a collaborative technology table. Realizing that the way we learn is rapidly changing, universities are acting less as instructors, and focusing more on mentorship.

Resonating  through each of the  presentations on makerspaces  was this essential take away: a makerspace must begin with the community, and it must be responsive to a need. Honest assessment and analysis of your community’s problems, strengths, and aspirations, as well as conversations with local government, business, educators, and library users and nonusers should steer the direction you take. It’s not about whether or not your library has a laser engraver or 3D printer, it’s about listening to your community’s needs.

The three day conference offered many thought provoking opportunities, and the pervasive overtones were transformation, innovation, responsiveness, and knowledge generation. As we continue to move forward as an institution, our responsibility is to build social capital. Not only are we as professionals and paraprofessionals building upon all the skills and knowledge we learned in library school, but also years, and sometimes decades of experience working in libraries. We are building a new sense of community and partnership not only with the people we serve, but with our staff that will spread out into all our future endeavors, by not being the endpoint, but the facilitator. The take-away is that now is the time for libraries and librarians to be bold and to be at the forefront of re-envisioning our libraries and communities. Many great examples were shared of ways that libraries are breaking the mold and actively becoming the libraries their communities need.

Many presenters have shared their presentations.  View their presentations here.

Erin Wincek is the Blasco Library Coordinator for the Erie County Public Library. Erie County Public Library has five physical locations, including the Blasco Memorial Library which sits on the bay of Lake Erie, and four branch libraries, a bookmobile, and is a District Library Center for Erie and Crawford Counties. ECPL shares an ILS system and provides IT & technology support for its locations and the six independent libraries of Erie County.