Future of Libraries

What’s the future for libraries?

Minecraft and makerspaces are transforming the traditional library in one city

Nancy Flores | August 18, 2015

“It’s about to get loud,” a Twin Oaks Branch librarian warned patrons on a recent afternoon just before the start of Minecraft Club, where more than a dozen kids gathered to play the popular video game at the South Austin library.
When the children trickled in, they buzzed around the cluster of computers, cutting the stillness with the sounds of their giggles and excited chatter. For those patrons seeking silence, the librarian signaled to a quiet room nearby.

Source: https://booleangal.wordpress.com/

“Libraries aren’t that place where an old lady wearing a bun is telling you to ‘Shh!’ anymore,” says Mindy Reed, managing librarian and bookstore manager at Recycled Reads, a zero-waste retail store that is part of and directly benefits the Austin library system.

<more at http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/08/18/future-for-libraries-457/; related links: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/fear-future-libraries/story-27684815-detail/story.html (First Person: 'Why I fear for the future of our libraries'. August 27, 2015) and http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/ct-washpost-libraries-check-out-the-future-20150710-story.html#page=1 (Libraries check out the future. July 12, 2105); further: http://news.ubc.ca/2015/09/01/libraries-evolve-to-keep-pace-in-rapidly-changing-world-of-technology/ (Libraries evolve to keep pace in rapidly changing world of technology. September 1, 2015)>