Transformation Lab - Prototyping the Future

Great, and ansome job! Well done. I looove it!!

Aina. Barcelona, Catalonia. Spain

I'm very invested in the idea of a library as a social space in which information can be transmitted, so I liked a lot of what you discussed in the video. But some ideas (the "clapping screen" and other ways for users to "leave a trace of themselves," for instance) seemed much more like they belonged in an art museum. At what level were such elements of the installation promoting the library's fundamental duty of disseminating information?

A library as a quiet place of study is more important to me. Although this 'other' library seems to have its appeal too. But, these two places should not have to share the same space.

I saw this video last night at a meeting of a library trustee board on which I serve. It's an interesting approach to making libraries more appealing to a wider audience, which I heartily endorse. I'm not sure how much staying power some of the features have, but it's great to open up library land to as many people as possible.

It used to be that I would find a video like this inspiring, but now that I work in a library with no where near the budget of this one and one that is facing more budget cuts. One that is in a urban low income area, we face so many challenges and seem so far away from this. We worry if we have to cut staff and cut collections. We can't even afford a shelver... So far away from this sort of thing....

Hi! I'd like to know more about the role the librarians play in this future library

The role of the librarian is changing to a focus on re-thinking the library
and establishing a learning dialogue with the user. During the project guidance was defined as four separate "roles": the
role of disseminator, the role of hostess, the role of facilitator and the role of
adviser. The project has created consciousness of the necessity of developing the guidance competence, but it has also created consciousness of the difficulty of
this process since guidance is a personal expression.

Also, the role of protector of freedoms. When the FBI wanted to get lists of what people read, it was the librarians who fought them to a standstill.

So this is what the Gates Foundation is up to - frightening. Let's hope it stays confined to freewheeling Denmark. Call me conservative or Luddite, but I like the traditional library for its original mission: to encourage reading and good citizenship. Much of the technology shown in this video is not compatible with that original mission. If Bill Gates wants to impose this vision on publicly-funded libraries in the US, Yahweh help us all.