The Demise of School Libraries

The demise of school libraries is a problem facing schools today.  Budgets are shrinking and schools are eliminating an important part of learning. There has been a shift in elementary schools to focus on English and math, leaving other parts of a well rounded education to either be eliminated or reduced to almost nonexistent amounts of time during the educational year.

Students need access to books and libraries. We need to explore every option to continue to keep school libraries open so that students can access them for classes and research projects.

Some students don't take library time seriously. One idea I read about was to treat library time as a class- and have it be graded. I think that would instill the importance of the library to students, teachers, staff and faculty.

We need to add as many programs that allow school libraries and their programs to flourish. We need to be flexible to the needs of students so school libraries are beneficial to everyone.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is the name for people bringing their own devices with them to the library. These devices can include but are not limited to computers, smart phones, eReaders, and tablets. This provides a great deal of flexibility and comfort for patrons because they are using devices they are familiar with. It can be difficult for libraries because they have to become really familiar with many different devices and it can be a drain on wifi at the library.

Librarians may have to help consumers download ebooks just as often as they help patrons locate and check out books from the shelves. There is not one device for eBooks, there are many. Some eReaders are Kindle, Nook, Cybook, Icarus, and Kobo to name several. that is a challenge to keep track of all of these devices and how to use them.

The future is here, and patrons will "bring their own devices" to the library. We need to make sure libraries and all staff are ready to help them with their devices.

Makerspaces

Makerspaces are unique places within libraries that bring people together to share ideas.


"Makerspaces or hackerspaces are places in libraries where patrons can model and configure their innovative ideas by building or creating objects from materials and technology. Everyone is welcome to collaborate and share ideas in an unstructured, open setting." (Shaw, 193)

Online makerspaces are on the rise and allow people from all over to work together. Some people prefer to "create projects together online but prefer to post and share with each other through social networking such as Facebook." (Shaw, 196)

Makerspaces are wonderful spaces that provide comfortable locations for library patrons to interact and creativity to thrive.

Shaw, M.K. (2016) Library Technology and Digital Resources. Lanham, Maryland. Rowan and Littlefield.

Cloud Computing in Libraries

Cloud computing in libraries is a "routine way to store and back up data." (Shaw, 176)

Initially there were concerns about security and privacy, but the cloud simplifies many things and saves time and money. It allows libraries to store video, images and sound and provides access to to variety of materials such as eBooks and audiobooks that would be difficult if not impossible without the cloud.

It has many advantages including massive amount of storage space, access to our data wherever we are and a "safety net for backing up library data from fire, theft, and other disasters that would cripple library operations if the library relied only on servers to store their data in only one location or building." (Shaw, 176)

Shaw, M.K. (2016) Library Technology and Digital Resources. Lanham, Maryland. Rowman and Littlefield.

Blog Reflection

The link to our group blog is:

http://teachotherstech.blogspot.com/

At the beginning of the LT130 class, I chose to join the “teaching others technology” blog.

I was impressed with how easy it was to post messages, modify the appearance of pages and add gadgets. We used blogger.com. It’s hard to imagine a more user-friendly way to get started.

At this point, I’m not a big fan of blogging. I can see the attraction for hobbyists and students, but it seems that there are other, better ways of getting information.

I’ll keep an open mind on the subject and look for some blogs that cover topics of interest. One of my hesitations is the amount of vulgarity and vitriol I’ve seen in some political posts. Being anonymous gives some people permission to be offensive.

Subscription Gadget

I added a subscription gadget to the footer to allow our readers to easily subscribe to our blog. Subscribers will never miss any updates, and having subscribers will give our blog a touch of legitimacy.

Archive Gadget

I added a Blog Archive gadget.  Seeing that we have over 50 posts already creating a gadget to archive our posts monthly should help keep the posts organized and prevent the blog from becoming too cluttered.