The impact of libraries as creative spaces

Ready access to information through digital media has challenged the perceived societal roles of public libraries. Since the mid 1990s, libraries have reoriented themselves towards public participation beyond lending and reading. Libraries now offer an increasing range of community-focused creative activities.Library spaces are transforming. In addition to housing archival and loan materials, desks and reading spaces, libraries are becoming even more exible and activity-oriented. Given these transformations, understanding and demonstrating the new contributions public libraries make to their communities is critical.In 2015, the State Library of Queensland (SLQ) commissioned researchers at the Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to explore the impact of libraries as creative spaces.The objectives of the Libraries as Creative Spaces project were to:• Investigate the community impact of creative spaces in public libraries• Provide clear evidence of this impact• Articulate the opportunities to further embed creative spaces in public libraries or community spaces.The methods used included:• A contextual review of thinking regarding libraries as creative spaces• A literature review on the evaluation of creative activity in libraries and creative spaces more generally• Interviews and observational eld research at selected Queensland libraries• The development and refinement of an evidence-based Creative Spaces Impact Framework• The development of an associated rich media package (including videos, photos and digital stories) showcasing library-based creative activity across Queensland in 2015.The contextual review highlights the attention being paid to makerspaces as a site of creative activity in public libraries. However, the review also points to the many other ways public libraries are facilitating creative activity. It also demonstrates that while libraries have been formally evaluated for more than a hundred years, only recently has there been a concerted e ort to develop frameworks that can qualitatively assess the social impact on individuals and their communities. Moreover, few of these frameworks directly assess libraries as creative spaces.Following the contextual review, an extended literature review was undertaken for two reasons. Firstly, to develop our understanding of how creative spaces are evaluated (outside the library context). And secondly, to develop our understanding of how libraries are evaluated in more general terms. From this initial evidence base, a preliminary Creative Spaces Impact Framework was developed.The framework was used to interrogate creative activity at ve public library sites across Queensland – Ayr, Cleveland, Helensvale, Roma, and Victoria Point. The framework was revised in conjunction with the eldwork and further feedback from a range of stakeholders. The Creative Spaces Impact Framework allows for the evaluation of libraries as creative spaces through the creative activities they enable. These activities may be formally organised by the library, informally enacted by library clients, or involve a combination of both approaches. The contents of the framework represent a range of impact potentials, some of which will be relevant to certain library creative space activities more than others, if at all

Makerspace em bibliotecas escolares : uma análise bibliométrica

Este trabalho incide sobre o uso do makerspace em bibliotecas escolares, tendo como principal objetivo identificar, por meio de análise bibliométrica qual a abordagem dada em relação ao makerspace nas bibliotecas escolares. Apresenta-se, primeiro, uma revisão de literatura sobre as bibliotecas escolares e os makerspaces e, em seguida uma análise bibliométrica sobre o tema. Utilizando o software Publish or Perish analisam-se 979 artigos em língua inglesa e 108 artigos em língua portuguesa e língua espanhola. São analisadas informações sobre os principais periódicos, artigos, autores, datas, índice H, índice G e outras métricas. Fez-se uma análise altmetrica com os 50 artigos mais citados focando em dados sociais e demográficos. Em relação aos principais periódicos, observou-se que 25% das revistas publicaram 48% dos artigos, enquanto os outros 75% de revistas foram responsáveis por 52% dos artigos, validando, nesse caso a Lei de Bradford para o tema. Quanto aos principais autores os resultados apresentam coerência em relação a Lei de Lotka mas não puderam ser confirmados com exatidão. Quanto aos principais artigos, notou-se uma certa preferência entre os leitores do tema para documentos que possuam uma abordagem mais ampla, contemplando análises panorâmicas sobre o tema do makerspace, com visões tanto práticas quanto teóricas. A visão teórica sobressai entre os artigos mais citados. A análise temporal indicou um crescimento no número de documentos publicados desde o primeiro artigo encontrado na literatura, tendo o crescimento sido exponencial entre 2011 e 2014, altura em que passou a ser linear até à data delimitada para a realização da pesquisa (2018). Na análise altmetrica constatou-se que não existe uma relação direta entre os artigos mais citados no meio científico e os artigos mais citados em redes sociais e outras ferramentas da web 2.0. Verificou-se ainda que em língua portuguesa e espanhola tanto na análise bibliométrica quanto altmetrica o número de artigos, autores, citações e menções é muito inferior ao da língua inglesa, sendo esta última a língua mais ativa sobre o tema no meio científico e nas redes sociais. Conclui-se que o makerspace é um espaço em potencial para as bibliotecas escolares um local para estimular a criatividade e servir como um auxiliador do processo de ensino-aprendizagem, dando suporte extra-classe aos conteúdos transmitidos pelos professores em sala de aula. Notou-se também a capacidade desses espaços para desenvolver habilidades específicas nos alunos e aproximar a comunidade externa, incluindo os pais, nas atividades da escola, estimulando ainda mais o desenvolvimento não só cognitivo, mas também, o desenvolvimento social dos estudantes.This work focuses on the use of the makerspace in school libraries. Its main objective is to identify, through bibliometric analysis, the approach given in relation to the makerspace in school libraries. It is presented, first, a review of the literature on school libraries and the makerspaces, and then a bibliometric analysis. Using Publish or Perish software, 979 articles in English and 108 articles in Portuguese and Spanish were analyzed. It was analyzed information about the main journals, articles, authors, dates, H index, G index and other metrics. An altmetric analysis was done with the 50 most cited articles focusing on social and demographic data. In relation to the main journals, it was observed that 25% of the journals published 48% of the articles, while the other 75% of journals were responsible for 52% of the articles, validating, in this case, the Bradford Law. As for the main authors, the results are consistent with Lotka's Law but could not be confirmed with accuracy. Regarding the main articles, there was a certain preference among readers for documents that have a broader approach, contemplating panoramic analyzes on the theme of the makerspace, with both practical and theoretical views. The theoretical view stands out among the most cited articles. The temporal analysis indicated a growth in the number of documents published since the first article found in the literature, this growth was exponential between 2011 and 2014, when it became linear until the date delimited for the research (2018). In the altmetric analysis it was verified that there is no direct relation between the articles most cited in the scientific literature and the most cited articles in social networks and other web 2.0 tools. It was also verified that in the Portuguese and Spanish languages both in the bibliometric and in the altmetric analysis the number of articles, authors, citations and mentions is much lower than in English, the latter being the most active language on the subject in scientific circles and in social media. . It is concluded that the makerspace is a potential space for school libraries a place to stimulate creativity and serve as a helper of the teaching-learning process, giving extra-class support to the content transmitted by teachers in the classroom. It was also noted the ability of these spaces to develop specific skills in students and bring the external community, including parents, into the school activities, further stimulating the development not only cognitive but also the social development of students

Convivial Making: Power in Public Library Creative Places

In 2011, public libraries began to provide access to collaborative creative places, frequently called “makerspaces.” The professional literature portrays these as beneficial for communities and individuals through their support of creativity, innovation, learning, and access to high-tech tools such as 3D printers. As in longstanding “library faith” narratives, which pin the library’s existence to widely held values, makerspace rhetoric describes access to tools and skills as instrumental for a stronger economy or democracy, social justice, and/or individual happiness. The rhetoric generally frames these places as empowering. Yet the concept of power has been neither well-theorized within the library makerspace literature nor explored in previous studies. This study fills the gap between the rhetoric and the reality of power, as described by the stakeholders, including staff, trustees, and users of the library. Potentially, library creative places could be what Ivan Illich calls convivial tools: tools that manifest social relations involving equitable distributions of power and decision-making. A convivial tool ensures that users may decide to which end they would like to apply the tool, and thus are constitutive of human capabilities and social justice. However, the characterization of library makerspaces in the literature evokes a technologically deterministic entrepreneurialism that marginalizes many types of making, and reduces the power of individuals to choose the ends to which they put this tool. This multi-site ethnographic study seeks to unravel the currents of power within three public library creative places. Through participant observation, document analysis, and interviews, the study traces the mechanisms and processes by which power is distributed, as enacted by institutional practices—the spaces, policies, tools, and programs—or through individual practices. The study finds seven key tensions that coalesce around the concept of conviviality, and also reveals seven capabilities of convivial tools that the users and providers of these spaces identify as crucial to their successful and satisfying implementation. As a user-centered exploration of the interactions of power in a public institution, this study can benefit a range of organizations that aim to further inclusion, equity, and social justice