Metaphors of Privilege: Public Library Makerspace Rhetoric

This discourse analysis examines the professional conversation about public library makerspaces. Articles describe makerspaces filled with advanced technological gadgets and high-tech users. This discourse brushes past familiar ways of making, such as fiber crafts or painting, to emphasize novel forms of digitally-mediated creativity. Interviews with public librarians offering makerspace services describe a more gradual evolution from long-standing library activities and creative programming to include some digital tools and some traditional tools. This research examines the tropes in the discourse, to identify legitimated ideologies or interpretive schemes. It further considers how the rhetoric might impede or facilitate public library principles such as equal access. The analysis identifies strategies and tactics for institutional control and individual agency in the process of structuring the makerspaces, revealing dissonance between the printed texts and interview discourse. As more librarians create makerspaces, this institutional discourse shapes a path for others to follow.ye