Library 2.016: Library as Classroom

Date

June 15, 2016 

Location

Online

Details

Website: http://www.library20.com/classroom

In A New Culture of Learning, authors Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown write, “Where imaginations play, learning happens.” This could and should define our services for now and in the future. The library as creative classroom means we approach the learning opportunities we create with thought, user-directed planning, and insights from research. This classroom may include physical spaces for instruction and discovery as well as online, multi-scale platforms aimed at social learning and participation.

Libraries of all kinds serve as formal and informal creative classrooms, supporting learners by employing emerging strategies in learning and engagement. These include: play, collaborative exploration of ideas and technologies, and other innovations. There are notable examples of academic, public, and K-12 library spaces that have become creative classrooms. These feature community learning spaces to help learners achieve, game-focused initiatives that make the library a laboratory for exploration, creation zones with requisite digital and 3-D hardware for building things, and potentially endless opportunities to connect virtually with people worldwide.

The library as classroom requires inspired and insightful management that can do those things and more. The library as classroom also requires well-trained, user-focused staff who understand how people of all ages can learn socially. Art programs, DIY tinkering, locally sourced expert forums, and LOOCs (local open online courses) are all part of this ­curriculum.