American Library Association benadrukt belang makerspaces in bibliotheken

Vanmiddag werd ons driemaal gevraagd wat nu de reden is waarom wij met FryskLab insteken op de combinatie van bibliotheek en FabLab. Daarvoor hebben we natuurlijk ons eigen (lokale) verhaal, maar uitgerekend tijdens een presentatie voor medewerkers van Zorggroep Alliade rolde onderstaande tweet van Frank Huysmans binnen:

https://twitter.com/fhuysmans/status/476711348345507840

Wat een prachtige ontwikkeling voor bibliotheken die graag met makerspaces en FabLabs aan de gang willen. ALA-voorzitter Barbara Stripling verwoordt de reden daarvoor perfect:

“It’s enabling libraries to transform their relationship with communities and to empower community members of all ages to be creators of information, not just consumers.”

De volledige tekst van het persbericht:

CHICAGO — Libraries of all types (academic, public, school, and special) are increasingly transforming their library spaces, resources and programming to offer makerspaces that provide opportunities for library patrons to engage with others in hands-on learning and creation.

Reflecting this rising interest in the making movement, the White House plans to host its first Maker Faire later this year.

The American Library Association would like to show library support for making in our communities. You and your institution may already be answering President Obama’s call for, “an all-hands-on-deck approach to science, technology, engineering, and math…to make sure that all of us as a country are lifting up these subjects for the respect that they deserve.”

Makerspaces in libraries allow everyone to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills; they facilitate opportunities for collaboration and community engagement that will aid in entrepreneurial thinking as well as the next generation of STEM jobs. They provide access to tools (from books to 3D printers) and, most importantly, “access to each other.”  Library makerspaces are powerful informal learning spaces that give local community members the ability to create, hack, and make their future.

American Library Association President Barbara Stripling has noted the value of makerspaces in libraries, saying, “It’s enabling libraries to transform their relationship with communities and to empower community members of all ages to be creators of information, not just consumers.”

If you would like to express your library’s support for makerspaces in libraries, please email Lauren Britton a tlmbritto@syr.edu, who is serving as the American Library Association’s representative for this effort.  Time is running out and ALA would love to have your library represented!

For more ways to get involved, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/webform/white-house-makerfaire-interest-form.

Dat ook onze eigen minister Bussemaker de link met bibliotheekwerk signaleert bleek afgelopen week tijdens het debat over de Bibliotheekwet. Goede ontwikkelingen.