Flickr: Brightworks School

As the Maker Movement starts to gain momentum, schools that are trying to find ways to foster the do-it-yourself environment can learn a few lessons from another nexus in the universe: public libraries.

Dale Dougherty, founding editor and publisher of Make Magazine — and the de factor leader of the Maker Movement — has a vision to create a network of libraries, museums, and schools with what he calls “makerspaces” that draw on common resources and experts in each community. Libraries and museums, he said, are easier places to incorporate makerspaces than schools, because they have more space flexibility and they’re trying to attract teens with their programs.

“Schools have already got the kids,” Dougherty noted wryly, at the recent American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. One day during the conference, dubbed Maker Monday, focused on the Maker Movement, which emphasizes learning by engaging in tech-related projects. Two packed sessions, one standing room only, were filled with librarians clearly fascinated by the potential of attracting teens (and even parents) to Maker activities in libraries.

Schools can learn from libraries that participated in the inaugural Maker Camps last summer. The librarians speaking at ALA proffered seven lessons that apply beyond libraries to schools and other potential makerspaces.

1)   KNOW YOUR SPACE.

“Why are you here?” That was one of the most common questions asked of the staff at the Make Magazine booth at the ALA. The answer: one of the hardest things for people interested in making is finding an appropriate physical space, and libraries actually have that space.

But not every space is alike, or even appropriate. Carla Avitabile of the Novato branch of the Marin County Free Library in California found some projects just aren’t suitable in certain activity rooms. For example, she said, they couldn’t do a glow-in-the-dark candy project because of the potential mess caused by boiling sugar directly above carpet.

Travis Good, the co-founder of the Maker City Census, said he visited 68 makerspaces to develop his criteria for readiness. At the top of list for libraries? “Tolerance for noise,” along with the willingness to establish ongoing programs, have available Making tools (even items as simple as scissors), provide dedicated-use space, and availability of “dirty” space for woodworking or other messy projects. All are considerations for schools as well.

2)   DO A PREVIEW RUN. 

Amber Creger with Arlington Heights Memorial Library in Illinois discovered it was really important to try projects ahead of time, prior to diving in as a group. In one case, they were making a do-it-yourself cardboard pinball machine.

“Who knew the glue could burn,” she said. A trial run lets you work out the bugs before involving kids.

And that helps to ensure safety remains at the forefront, which Erin Downey Howerton, Children’s Manager at Wichita Public Library, said is a focus of their Maker activity: “I don’t think we actually set fire to anything.”

3)   VERIFY SKILL LEVELS. 

Marin County’s Avitabile had one surprise as her young makers dove into a project. “Only one in four in our team of kids knew how to use a screwdriver,” she said. Don’t assume students have even the necessary knowledge of basic skills. Plan for some instruction.

4)   BE FLEXIBLE.

While Maker Camp provided descriptions for 30 projects in 30 days, libraries typically did one or two programs a week for a couple of hours each. And not every idea for a Maker project came from staff.

“I ask the teens what they want to do,” rather than dictating all projects, Avitabile said. That approach is very much in the spirit of making. And with teens who come to her with new ideas, she tells them, “You have to help me do it.” Creger added that her teens decide their monthly programs.

5)   REACH OUT FOR HELP.

Not all the knowledge required for a successful making program comes in a kit or from staff. “Don’t be afraid to make friends” with those who are experts in areas in which you’re not, Creger advised. For one electricity project, she found an expert in Wichita who was willing to help.

In the case of libraries, that expertise can also come from educators. “We’re working on developing a better relationship with our schools,” Creger said, noting that her library wants to work with the schools that have robotics clubs to do joint maker activities.

[RELATED: The Public Library, Completely Reimagined]

Steve Teeri with Detroit Public Library partners with a local makerspace for a variety of different after-school projects, from bike repair to higher tech. “We learn from their mistakes,” he said. And kids learn because they have to go online to do research and figure out how to make what they want to make.

“It’s not a difficult thing to find volunteers who know stuff,” Avitabile said. “It’s surprising how many people want to share stuff for free.”

6.   DOING BRINGS DOUBTERS ON BOARD. 

While not all involved may appreciate — or even understand — the maker approach at the start, “I was surprised at how quickly the staff bought into it,” said Creger. Those who were unsure learned with the others as they took part in creating the projects.

Though the reaction from others can sometimes be skeptical or hesitant, try different approaches. “Making? We don’t know what to do. We make crafts,” Howerton said she was told at first. So she thought of crafts as a “gateway drug” for making, such as moving to a fabric project with embedded LED lights. Ultimately, Howerton said, “We have actually built our staff capacity on Maker Camp and what Make has done for us.”

7.   IT’S THE EXPERIENCE, NOT THE OBJECT. 

Avitabile allowed that it’s hard to share or take home some maker projects (such as large collaborative efforts), so Novato Library focuses more on the process than the product. “Kids just like to make stuff,” she said. “And they don’t have to leave with the stuff they make.”

“You’re opening doors and windows” through the process, said Creger. And the positive aspects of the program have, in part, spurred Arlington Heights to plan a DIY corner where kids can check out maker kits, in addition to using a 1,700 square foot space in the center of the library for maker activities. Similarly, Wichita Public Library is in the design phase for a makerspace that Howerton hopes is built. Detroit Public Library’s HYPE makerspace is nine months old.

[RELATED: Lessons Learned: How a Progressive School Adapts to Reality]

Make’s Dougherty reminded the librarian audience that the Maker Movement, while also tied to schools because of its connection with STEM initiatives, is naturally aligned with them. “Like libraries, we’re at the intersection of information and experience.” And ultimately, he said, making is about learning — and creating evidence of that learning.

“It’s not just about getting 3D printers into libraries. It’s about getting the process of making into libraries,” Dougherty said. “Though the 3D printers are pretty cool.”

Frank Catalano is a consultant, author and veteran analyst of digital education and consumer technologies. He tweets @FrankCatalano, consults as Intrinsic Strategy, and writes a column for GeekWire for which he also sought out the tech at ALA. As a child, he used to frequent Radio Shack to find cool things to build that weren’t likely to accidentally catch on fire.

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By NPR Staff

In what may come as a pleasant surprise to people who fear the Facebook generation has given up on reading — or, at least, reading anything longer than 140 characters — a new report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project reveals the prominent role of books, libraries and technology in the lives of young readers, ages 16 to 29. Kathryn Zickuhr, the study’s main author, joins NPR’s David Greene to discuss the results.

ON THE READING HABITS OF YOUNG AMERICANS

“We found that about 8 in 10 Americans under the age of 30 have read a book in the past year. And that’s compared to about 7 in 10 adults in general, American adults. So, they’re reading — they’re more likely to read, and they’re also a little more likely to be using their library.”

ON THE USE OF E-BOOKS AMONG YOUNG READERS 

“We heard from e-book readers in general [that] they don’t want e-books to replace print books. They see them as part of the same general ecosystem; e-books supplement their general reading habits. And we heard from a lot of younger e-book readers about how e-books just fit into their lives — how they can read when they’re waiting in line for class, or waiting in line for lunch. One reader in particular told us that when he has a book that he loves, he wants to be able to access it in any format. So with the Harry Potter series and the [Song of Ice and Fire] series, he’s actually bought all of those books as print books and as e-books, just because they matter that much to him …

“We haven’t seen for younger readers that e-books are massively replacing print books. That might happen in the future, but right now we’re just seeing them sort of as a more convenient supplement.”

ON THE CHANGING ROLE OF LIBRARIES FOR YOUNG READERS 

“We found that [younger people are] very interested in the idea of preloaded e-readers — being able to check out an e-reader at a library that already has some popular titles on it. And a lot of libraries are really looking at how they can engage with this younger age group, especially with Americans in their teens and early 20s. And so a lot of libraries are looking at ways to sort of give them their own space in the libraries, have activities just for them. Some libraries even have diner-style booths for the teens where they can just socialize and hang out, and so that they can think of the library as a space of their own.”

Listen to the entire story here.

A new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Libraries, Patrons, and E-books, offers a glimpse at the current state of American libraries and finds them eager to lend e-books but struggling to do so, primarily because of budget limits and restrictions publishers place on e-book lending.

Of America’s 9,000 public library systems, 76 percent now offer e-books, up from 67 percent last year. But patrons are often unaware that libraries offer e-book lending — 62 percent of those surveyed said they didn’t know if their library lends e-books.

Twelve percent of e-book readers have tried borrowing digital books from a library, but indicate the process is cumbersome, with wait lists that can stretch for months, lack of availability for many titles, an inability to renew, and difficulty with the downloading process.

Fifty-six percent said they couldn’t find the particular e-book they wanted from their library, and 18 percent said their library’s e-books were incompatible with their e-reader.

Many patrons who borrow e-books from libraries report they don’t know how to return an e-book before it’s due, when it will simply disappear from their e-reader, and that lack of knowledge adds to wait list times. Some librarians are especially fond of e-books, however, because they never have to pester anyone about fines for overdue books.

It’s clear library patrons want to borrow e-books, and libraries want to lend them, but because e-book formats, e-readers, and agreements with publishers evolve rapidly, no one has figured out how to make it all work smoothly.

OLD SYSTEMS FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES

In some ways, publishers artificially impose limits on e-book lending to create the same scarcity and demand that exists with printed books. According to the report, “In general, publishers’ e-book lending restrictions often attempt to mirror the logistics of print lending — for instance, only allowing an e-book to be lent out to one patron at a time through a ‘one book, one user’ arrangement.”

At the same time, cuts in library budgets in recent years and publishers’ restrictions on purchasing have made it impossible for libraries to acquire enough e-books to keep up with the demand. A report released last week by the American Library Association, “Libraries Connect Communities: Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study 2011-2012,” found 56.7 percent of American libraries had reduced or flat operating budgets over the past year.

One librarian wrote in the Pew survey, “We boycott HarperCollins due to their use limitations. (Books must be repurchased after 26 checkouts.) We can only purchase one copy per title from Penguin (resulting in extremely long hold lists and disgruntled patrons). Random House has upped their prices to around $100 per copy, so we are only purchasing the top 10 bestsellers from this publisher. I fear what will happen in the next year.”

Some libraries simply can’t keep up with the rapid changes in technology due to time and budget limits on their staff. Some librarians might know their way around a Kindle or a Nook, but not an iPad. While better-funded library districts report offering e-reader training sessions and vouchers for librarians to purchase their own e-readers, many of the librarians who responded to the survey indicate their staff is more likely to be self-taught through their own use of personal tablets and e-readers than they are to receive formal training.

This mirrors how the general population is learning about e-reading. According to the report, “Many mentioned having a spouse, child, or friend who is more tech-savvy than them and serves as an inspiration or teacher.”

Several librarians indicated that there is one particular staffer who understands technology better than others and fulfills that go-ask-your-little-brother role, with less tech-comfortable librarians sending people to the resident tech guru with their questions.

Libraries’ acquisition of printed books was gradual, but many patrons expect the acquisition of e-books to be instant. Some of the surveyed e-book readers imagine a future library where every book ever published is available to patrons instantly, for free, with no wait lists or limits on checkout time.

But the ghosts of technologies past provide a warning for libraries that might rush to invest too many resources in one digital format. According to the report, some librarians “mentioned cutting increasingly obsolete resources, like collections of cassettes or VHS tapes, as well as databases that are rarely used.” Meanwhile, old-fashioned print books continue to circulate.

PUBLISHERS’ REVENUE

While librarians disagree with the publishers’ e-book policies, they seem to be working for the moment. A report from the Association of American Publishers released earlier this month showed that for the first time, American publishers are earning more revenue from e-books than hardback books. In the first quarter of 2012, e-books brought in $282.3 million, while hardbacks earned publishers $229.6 million. The revenues from paperback books still have a slight edge over those categories, but paperbacks are slipping, with earnings from adult trade paperbacks falling by 10.5 percent and adult mass-market paperbacks tumbling by 20.8 percent since last year. For publishers and writers, so far it seems the advent of e-books takes away as much as it gives.

The restrictions publishers place on library e-book lending are helping them maintain the delicate balance between what e-books are earning and what they are costing. Many of the people surveyed by the Pew Center indicate they find it much more convenient to simply purchase an e-book outright than to wait for it to become available at the library.

NOT YOUR MOTHER’S LIBRARIAN

The role of the librarian as someone eager to help patrons with their questions about the capitol of Peru or the state bird of Colorado has faded in recent years. One librarian told Pew, “Instead of print indexes or even online databases, many people just Google everything and if they find something ‘good enough,’ they don’t come to or contact the library for help.”

Many library users indicate that most of their interaction with libraries these days is via the computer, through which they either download e-books, sign up on wait lists, or request printed books which they then pick up on the hold shelf rather than visiting the library and lingering in the stacks.

But that doesn’t mean librarians have a lot of free time — on the contrary, they have become even busier answering patrons’ questions about technology. One librarian wrote, “It takes a long time to explain and walk patrons through the downloading process — about half an hour from start to finish most times — and we often feel rushed at the public assistance desk because there are often other demands on our time.”

Pew’s “Libraries, Patrons, and E-books” report makes it clear that Americans are more interested in e-books and eager to borrow them from libraries than ever before, but the expansion of the information superhighway has happened so rapidly for everyone involved — libraries, publishers and readers — that it is riddled with potholes.

Apparently, it will take a nation of little brothers to bring us all up to e-reading speed.

Jenny Shank is the author of the novel “The Ringer” (The Permanent Press, 2011), a finalist for the High Plains Book Award.

This post originally appeared on MediaShift.

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