Features in the Madison Capital Times and another in Governing magazine are the most recent exploration of libraries as places going beyond their "books" brand, where you'll find people playing Nintendo Wii and other video games, searching the Internet, and yes, reading. ALA President Loriene Roy points out that books are still the top reason people go to libraries. But for the teen population, the social aspect of going to the library to game is increasing their visits.
A related article in Governing, "Revolution in the Stacks," discusses how some libraries are becoming places to create content, not just find content, as part of the Web 2.0 revolution. They refer to libraries that have turned their Web sites into blogs (like our very own Menasha Public!) and turned to retailers for best practices on arrangement of materials (bye, bye Dewey) and added services that position the library as the "third place."
What are you doing to create the "third place" in your community - whether that be an academic institution, small town or corporation?
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19 minutes ago
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Thanks for the shout-out Lisa! Yes, we are happily blogging away at the library, plus this summer with our LSTA grant funding we are doing podcasting programs for tweens and in the fall we will start podcasting classes with adults.
I know several of the library systems are doing gaming equipment now, and we can't wait to do another gaming session with teens and are going to attempt something with younger kids as well. We find pizza is the crowning touch to any gaming program. Feed them and they will play.
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