PROTOTYPING A LIBRARY-HACK-MAKERSPACE NETWORK

FINAL REPORT

PREPARED BY COMMON FUTURES LTD2014

Contents

CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ 2

ABOUT US ................................................................................................................. 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................ 4

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 8

CONTEXT.......................................................................................................................8THE DRIVERS OF CHANGE IN LIBRARY SERVICES...............................................................8WIDER TRENDS IN THE DIGITAL LANDSCAPE......................................................................9RECONFIGURING LIBRARIES TO FACILITATE STEM SKILLS DEVELOPMENT............................10ENTER: COMMON LIBRARIES........................................................................................11CURRENT PROJECT RATIONALE AND FOCUS.................................................................11PROJECT AIMS & OBJECTIVES......................................................................................12METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................12KEY DELIVERABLES / OUTCOMES.................................................................................12

EXPLORE ................................................................................................................. 13

CASE STUDIES.........................................................................................................13THE WAITING ROOM, ST BOTOLPH’S, COLCHESTER......................................................13THE 4TH FLOOR, CHATTANOOGA PUBLIC LIBRARY, TENNESSEE.....................................14CONCLUSIONS..............................................................................................................17BUSINESS MODEL RESEARCH.......................................................................................18

DEVELOP ................................................................................................................. 22

HOW-TO RESOURCES.............................................................................................22MEETINGS, VISITS & PROTOTYPES......................................................................22PROTOTYPES...........................................................................................................23PROTOTYPE 1 – FRESH HORIZONS, HUDDERSFIELD..................................................23PROTOTYPE 2 – FAST FIBRE HUBS, CATERHAM........................................................25PROTOTYPE 3 - ECO COMMUNITIES, LEWISHAM.......................................................27CONCLUSIONS..............................................................................................................28

TEST ......................................................................................................................... 28

ACTION PLANS.........................................................................................................28FRESH HORIZONS.........................................................................................................30FAST FIBRE HUBS LTD.................................................................................................32ECO COMMUNITIES......................................................................................................34

CONCLUSIONS / NEXT STEPS .............................................................................. 35

APPENDIX 1 – HOW-TO RESOURCES .................................................................. 37

HOW-TO ESTABLISH A LIBRARY-HACK-MAKERSPACE...................................................37WHAT IS A LIBRARY-HACK-MAKER SPACE? - KNOW YOUR ONIONS!..............................39UNDERSTANDING THE LANDSCAPE................................................................................41MAPPING AND CATEGORISING HACKERS AND MAKERS..................................................45

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PLANNING YOUR LIBRARY-HACK-MAKER SPACE...........................................................47PROGRAMMING YOUR FIRST EVENT...............................................................................50BUILDING LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS WITH GROUPS, SPONSORS AND RETAILERS..................52GENERATING AN INCOME FROM YOUR LIBRARY-HACK-MAKERSPACE............................54DEVELOPING YOUR LIBRARY – CREATING AND COSTING HACK-MAKER KITS....................56

About Us

Common Futures is a socially conscious business working with the public, private and third sectors to explore and kick at the boundaries of the community ownership landscape. We support organisations to generate income and deliver social impact by developing and managing digital capital; engaging with digital enterprise; and applying open source business models and cooperative principles to harness local knowledge and know-how.

We’ve worked extensively with the library sector over the past few years:-

Community Libraries: Learning from Experience – directing Locality’s contribution to primary research into community involvement in library asset management and service delivery, working with Arts Council England, DCMS, DCLG, DEFRA and the LGA.

St Botolph’s Waiting Room – narrating a Carnegie UK Trust sponsored pilot to establish alibrary-hack-maker space with the Creative Coop, Colchester School of Art and Essex Libraries.

Enabling Enterprise in Libraries - directing Locality's contribution to a research project funded by Arts Council England to explore existing good practice as well as the future potential for income generation within a library context.

Income Generation for Public Libraries: A Practical Guide for Library Service Commissioners and Providers in England (forthcoming – July 2014) – directing the development of a technical guidance note prepared by Locality and funded by Arts Council England to accompany earlier research about Enabling Enterprise in Libraries.

Common Libraries – prototyping a library-hack-makerspace network with support from Arts Council England.

Assessing the Rural Impacts of Changes to Library Services (forthcoming) – overseeing Locality’s contribution to a DEFRA funded action research and learning project led by OPM.

The Future High Street: Perspectives on Living, Learning and Livelihoods in our Communities – providing expert input to the work of the Future Spaces Foundation.

If you’d like to fnd out more about our work, please visit: http://www.commonfutures.eu/

Alternatively, to talk to us about our libraries work, please get in touch via http://commonlibraries.cc/contact/

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Executive Summary

You never change things by fghting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete – Buckminster Fuller.

We believe there is an urgent and pressing need to evolve libraries so that they may serve as bastions of a 21st century knowledge commons - functioning as trusted and impartial platformsfor the production, exchange and consumption of knowledge and know-how - in both tangible locations and virtual spaces. We are therefore using our expertise in asset development, design, technology, community engagement and social enterprise to work closely with library service users and providers to that end. Our ultimate aim is to empower people to co-design and deliver new library services in our increasingly open source society, such that they are responsive to technological advancements and fast-changing local needs, as well as positioned to make the most of emergent socio-economic opportunities. The explicit intention,then, is to revitalise the public library ethos and render library services more relevant, useful and sustainable in their appeal to (and involvement of) broad-ranging audiences in our digital age - in particular, against a backdrop of ongoing austerity.

The Common Libraries initiative fows from the drivers of change in UK library services, attempts in the United States to reconfgure libraries as spaces to facilitate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills development, together with wider developments in the digital landscape in recent years. It is coloured by the endeavours of the Open Source and Creative Commons movements, community-led libraries as well as our enthusiasm for hacking and making. In the course of launching the initiative to engage a widercommunity of interest in Spring 2014, we were encouraged to also explore the potential for Common Libraries to draw upon the peer-to-peer and sharing economy movement in future – culminating in receipt of an international OuiShare Award. Helpfully, this reads across to the efforts of those who are re-imagining libraries as contemporary platforms or, else, seeking to enhance or evolve them through automated book share services and personal portable librarynetworks (PPLNs) – such that we have already begun to iterate our starting point.

We are, perhaps uniquely, persuaded that there could also be merit in exploring the potential for elements of libraries (specifcally, library staff and users) to form Distributed Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) in future – refecting upon the pioneering work of the Ethereum Project and, related to that, Eris, by Project Douglas. Early thinking, in this regard, concerns the potential to safeguard our social knowledge economy through the evolution of DAOs for the purposes of what we’ve begun to term #humansearch – an ethical and empathic stand, if you will, in the face of corporate search dominance and big data proponents; both of which are, increasingly, parasitic and de-humanising phenomena in our contemporary knowledge landscape, and fast re-engineering themselves in relation to advancements in Artifcial Intelligence, Augmented Reality as well as the Internet of Things. But, they could well be designed in such a way as to also integrate with PPLN nodes and ‘user-librarians’ in future.

Finally, we have sought from the outset to enable income generation by ‘library enterprises’. In this important respect, we recognise the challenges facing local authorities and other libraryservice providers who might wish to experiment with elements of Common Libraries, and acknowledge the place of cooperativism, community enterprise and social investment in facilitating and augmenting our otherwise open-by-default approach. As such, Common Libraries are liable to remain deeply rooted in the notion and actuality of dynamic and aspirational communities - exploring, engaging and growing with the unfolding 21st century in a playful and creative manner to contribute to the open knowledge project. They are, then, more akin to the iterative confguration processes of community development - a hopeful and, at times, speculative journey - than to a defnitive route map to a known or sought-after destination. However, they are also grounded in a recognition that we need to reappraise our approach to fnancing library service transformation and, indeed, their continual iteration, if libraries are to endure beyond the 21st century integral to our increasingly digital and community-led operating environment.

We’re eager to help prototype most things in keeping with a public library ethos - from community publishing platforms to open data access and re-mixing points and, even, libraries without shelves and walls. The learning amassed from this frst project will, nonetheless, be ofparticular interest if you’re a library service provider interested in forging links with hackers and makers in your local area; considering the introduction of a hack and/or makerspace in your library building; or want to explore how to develop an integrated library-hack-makerspace- and, all the more, if you share our belief that libraries re-imagined as community publishing

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platforms might go some way towards nurturing a more relevant, vibrant and sustainable model for library services in future.

The frst research and prototyping project undertaken to establish Common Libraries, then, built upon the learning amassed by Chattanooga Public Library in the course of establishing the 4 th Floor and, in particular, the work of the community responsible for the Waiting Room in St Botolph’s, Colchester. It was designed to inform and work with enterprising organisations toput in place measures to begin prototyping the library of the future, today – where the library of the future is taken to mean an institution that places equal emphasis upon knowledge production, exchange and consumption in the service of rendering libraries more relevant, viable and resilient.

Specifcally, the Waiting Room is founded upon an innovative ‘borrow/barter/buy/bespoke’ approach to business integration for library-hack-makerspaces. This is intended to help maintain the ethos of a public library, where its function to ‘facilitate access to all’ is concerned, at the same time as introducing an income generation or common ‘library enterprise’ dimension to operations. Simply stated, we sought to research and take steps to replicate / iterate elements of the Waiting Room initiative elsewhere over a period of three months and, with that, began to explore the potential to establish an income generating library-hack-makerspace network with a grant from Arts Council England.

We tested the potential to replicate/iterate the library-hack-makerspace model underpinning the Waiting Room with:-

1) Fresh Horizons, Huddersfeld – a community enterprise operating a library in Deighton on contract to Kirklees Council, the Yorkshire Sheet Music Library and a community cinema;

2) Fast Fibre Hubs, Caterham – a fbre installation cooperative with close ties to Tandridge District Council, the Caterham Community Partnership, CR3 Forum (a Neighbourhood Planning front-runner), and Soper Hall Community Centre – delivering community-led activities to grow creative industries activity in the area linked to digital asset and enterprise development; and

3) Eco Communities – a social enterprise operating 3 community libraries in partnership with the London Borough of Lewisham, alongside its established IT recycling and training activities.

We aimed to better understand the potential for library-hack-makerspaces to enhance the resilience and sustainability of libraries in future – in a nutshell, through the provision of integrated and income generating support for creative businesses via a standardised approach to knowledge production, capture and exchange. We also sought to co-produce the functionality specifcation for a dedicated online platform to enable the same with founder members of the network. In practice, we were only had time enough to lay the foundations for a prototype network to emerge. Nonetheless, we were successful in:

- drawing partners’ attention to the potential for hacking and making to contribute to theevolution of library services;

- engaging them in the co-design of a common process for prototyping the development of integrated library-hack-makerspaces; and

- assisting them in the preparation of related action plans to guide practical next steps.

Key Findings

It will, then, be over the weeks and months ahead that replication and iteration plans are implemented such that we are better able to draw frm conclusions in keeping with our stated ambitions and/or begin to establish any emergent network in earnest. In the interim, our project resulted in the following key fndings:

Common Libraries: there is demonstrable interest in Common Libraries as a vehicle for exploring the evolution of public library services - both at home and overseas - as a result of our having communicated the initiative to engage a wider community of interest. Already, we have entered into encouraging discussions with academics, innovation agencies, library leaders and sharing economy proponents in the UK, US, EU, South Africa and Australia.

Awareness & Understanding: proactive engagement of project partners and library authorities with whom we worked resulted in improved understanding of the hacking and

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making landscape. It also engendered an ability and willingness to co-produce practical plans to progress prototyping efforts. Without this, the combination of challenges facing public sector library service commissioners, as well as constraints affecting community-led library providers, is liable to introduce a signifcant barrier to engagement elsewhere in future.

User Need / Demand & Co-Production Value: we encountered a greater degree of comfort amongst library authorities and more immediate community interest in relation to traditional making as compared with hacking. We encountered a greater degree of interest amongst our project partners in hacking as compared with making. There is real value, then, in the processoutlined in those how-to resources developed integral to the project, because they point towards a series of steps that less confdent commissioners/providers might look to take in making a start, as well as to the importance of co-producing services with communities themselves – in particular, where the development of library enterprises is concerned.

Business Models & ‘Library Enterprises’: our project partners expressed interest in deploying the hackspace membership model to which we introduced them, as well as MakerKit development and sale, from the point of view of engaging with the Waiting Room’s income generation efforts. Whilst they proved less inclined to engage in Joint Venturing with users, we believe this is due, in part, to the real and/or perceived constraints of the buildings from which they (aim to) operate as compared with the Waiting Room. It is too early to tell whether there is real and/or signifcant enterprise potential harboured in the development and sale of MakerKits across a network of library-hack-makerspaces, such that further work with our prototypes and/or an alternative approach to practical market testing is recommended. However, early indications point towards the merits of developing a number of related income streams, as in the case of the Waiting Room, from the point of view of sustainability.

Knowledge, Skills, Capacity & Entrepreneurship: there are opportunities and challenges surrounding the knowledge, skills, capacity and entrepreneurship inherent in organisations that might wish to establish Common Libraries. We also concluded that innovation cannot fow or be followed-through in the current climate without encouragement and investment in the capacity to innovate if this is to become a more mainstream endeavour in future. Helpfully,we were in a position to offer direct support and a modest incentive to engage in knowledge and skills exchange visits as well as to innovate integral to this project. We have, therefore, made recommendations with this in mind to grow interest and involvement in Common Libraries in looking ahead to the future.

Innovation: we are persuaded that there could be merit in exploring the potential for elements of libraries (specifcally, library staff and users) to form Distributed Autonomous Organisations that are capable of generating income from micro-payments in future. Some technical aspects of the work needed to take this forward are already underway, partly, as a result of our engaging a wider community of interest over recent months. However, they will need to be supported if they are to be rendered of direct relevance and interest to library staff and users. We also think it worthwhile investigating the scope for book share services and personal portable library networks (PPLNs) to play a part in growing and augmenting more traditional library services concerned with access to information. But, one again, further work to assess the income generation potential of these micro-payment and peer-to-peer services is needed before their development can be explored in earnest.

Looking Ahead - Recommendations

Looking ahead, then, a number of interventions could help stimulate further interest in the establishment of Common Libraries – amongst them:

A series of inspire and inform events for library service commissioners and providers hosted in hack/makerspaces - to disseminate the fndings from our work, and raise awareness of the opportunities attaching to Common Libraries as one of a number of potentially forward-looking options in relation to library enterprise development.

A programme of activity to broker relationships between library service commissioners/providers and hackers/makers – a low cost, speedy option to facilitate the development of appropriate relationships (although the outcomes of an emphasis upon affliation would then depend upon activities fnanced and undertaken at the local level).

A scheme to incentivise and/or support a number of library service commissioners and providers to co-locate hack-makerspaces with libraries (although the outcomes of an emphasis upon co-location are deemed less likely to result in library enterprise development in and of themselves).

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Further investment and work to take forward development of the integrated library-hack-makerspace model with existing and/or new prototypes – acknowledging the short-time frames applied to this project and signifcant potential to invest in established interest/momentum. NB: additional investment could help to speed-up production of X MakerKits to enable market-testing in relation to the same and, with that, establish whether they are worthwhile developing further in relation to a trading platform for any emergent library-hack-makerspace network.

Forward support for Common Libraries as a platform for co-producing and prototyping innovative library services with commissioners, providers and/or users, and which could call for either match or crowd funding in the spirit of joint venturing. There is, for example, an opportunity here for libraries, staff and users to serve as a test ground for DAO's, #humansearch and the deployment of new technologies. Equally, there may be the scopeto read-across to pilot some of the recommendations in related reports concerning income generation and rural libraries respectively, where there is a technology dimension.

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Introduction

Here, we outline the context in relation to which we’ve established the Common Libraries initiative. We also explain the rationale and focus of our frst project supported by Arts CouncilEngland during the period January-March 2014, the aims and objectives which guided the work undertaken, our methodology, and those outcomes we anticipated at the outset. Subsequent sections detail the fndings and progress made during the explore, develop and test phases of the project, and point towards recommended next steps as well as the future ofthe Common Libraries initiative itself.

Context

The Common Libraries initiative fows from the drivers of change in UK library services, attempts in the United States to reconfgure libraries as spaces to facilitate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills development, together with wider developments in the digital landscape in recent years. It is coloured by the endeavours of the Open Source and Creative Commons movements, community-led libraries as well as the enthusiasm for hacking and making of the communities upon whose activities our frst project is based. In the course of launching the initiative to engage a wider community of interest in Spring 2014, we were encouraged to explore the potential for Common Libraries to draw upon the peer-to-peer and sharing economy movement in future – culminating in receipt of aninternational OuiShare Award. Helpfully, this reads across to the efforts of those who are re-imagining libraries as contemporary platforms or, else, seeking to enhance or evolve them through automated book share services and personal portable library networks (PPLNs) – such that we have already begun to iterate our starting point.

We are, perhaps uniquely, persuaded that there could also be merit in exploring the potential for elements of libraries (specifcally, library staff and users) to form Distributed Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) in future – refecting upon the pioneering work of the Ethereum Project and, related to that, Eris, by Project Douglas. Early thinking, in this regard, concerns the potential to safeguard our social knowledge economy through the evolution of DAOs for the purposes of what we’ve begun to term #humansearch – an ethical and empathic stand, if you will, in the face of corporate search dominance and big data proponents; both of which are, increasingly, parasitic and de-humanising phenomena in our contemporary knowledge landscape, and fast re-engineering themselves in relation to advancements in Artifcial Intelligence, Augmented Reality as well as the Internet of Things. But, they could well be designed in such a way as to also integrate with PPLN nodes and ‘user-librarians’ in future.

Finally, we have sought from the outset to enable income generation by common ‘library enterprises’. In this important respect, we recognise the challenges facing others who might wish to experiment with elements of Common Libraries, and acknowledge the place of cooperativism and community enterprise in facilitating (even, augmenting) our otherwise open-by-default approach. As such, Common Libraries are liable to remain deeply rooted in the notion and actuality of dynamic and aspirational communities - exploring, engaging and growing with the unfolding 21st century in a playful and creative manner to contribute to the open knowledge project. They are, then, more akin to the iterative confguration processes of community development - a hopeful and, at times, speculative journey - than to a defnitive route map to a known or sought-after destination. However, they are also grounded in a recognition that we need to reappraise our approach to fnancing library service transformation and, indeed, their continual iteration, if libraries are to endure beyond the 21st century integral to our increasingly digital operating environment.

The Drivers of Change in Library Services

Public library services in the UK continue to evolve, as in other developed countries, to respond to social trends and, in particular, the emergence of new technologies. This is againsta backdrop of falling footfall and book borrowing over the past fve years, but also refects growing interest in e-lending as well as other opportunities to enhance the library offer through innovation in our increasingly read/write world; by which we mean, our digitally enhanced operating environment, which continues to democratise the means of multi-media production and, with that, underpins the phenomenal growth in self-publishing (understood in its broadest sense).

The Future Libraries Programme saw greater collaboration between local authorities in the design and delivery of services, more imaginative use of digital technology and a new relationship with citizens/consumers through collaborative consumption (e.g. BookShare),

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self-service counters and community access points in new locations. The Library Development Initiative tested new approaches to library service delivery linked to health, employment and cultural outcomes as well as in respect of digital innovation. And, in partnership with Arts Council England and the Reading Agency, the Society of Chief Librarians has developed four universal offers for libraries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – including, a core ‘digital offer’.

However, these changes are taking place amid an unprecedented fnancial context which is forcing local government to rationalise its capital assets and reduce revenue costs. Indeed, the LGA’s Funding Outlook for Councils from 2010/11 to 2019/20 indicated that, on current trajectories, reductions in local government budgets could see spend on cultural services reduced by as much as 90% by 2020. Since 2010, then, there has been signifcant and urgentpressure on local government to reshape library services as austerity measures have impacted the public sector. Financial logic is pushing more towards the co-location of services, signifcant reductions in mobile libraries and the demise of stand-alone library buildings - as well as their transfer, in some cases, to community groups and parish councils.

Unsurprisingly, there is growing interest in the potential to enable enterprise (that is, to generate additional income) within a library context – in particular, where new/emergent ICT-based library services are concerned - and without library service commissioners and providers necessarily possessing the skills, capacity and entrepreneurship required to drive the same. All of this poses signifcant challenges for library leaders who are keen to respond to our increasingly information, knowledge and data-driven society. Nonetheless, in its response to Envisioning the Library of the Future, the Arts Council called upon library service commissioners to ‘make the most of digital technology and creative media’ such that forward-looking library services and new ways of working are now being explored in this regard.

Wider Trends in the Digital Landscape

The ‘digital landscape’ remains a relatively new, untried and untested – not to mention, broad-ranging and fast-evolving – phenomenon. Therefore, whilst it is liable to impact the functioning of the public and private sectors as well as civil society in almost every regard over the years to come, and there is the scope and indeed a requirement that library services engage with it in myriad ways, the extent and manner in which library leaders and frontline staff do so in the short, medium and longer term is liable to prove critical, along with their appetite for risk versus ‘future proofng’. The UK Government’s Digital Strategy follows the 2012 Budget commitment to digital services being the default and is supported by a cross-government approach to assisted digital provision. In addition, Government is investing signifcant funds in the roll-out of next generation broadband, as well as exploring the growth potential of big and open1 data, the Internet of Things2, cutting-edge technologies3 and Smart Cities4 (amongst many other potentially relevant initiatives where libraries are concerned). It isalso pursuing its Chief Technology Offcer’s ‘better for less’ strategy in relation to public sectorIT procurement, in tandem with the introduction of a Government IT Profession Competency and Skills Framework. DCLG has, for its part, published ‘Local Digital Today’ and is sponsoring the Local Digital Campaign where local authorities are concerned. Together, they echo much of the drive for change in central government, but also underline signifcant and persistent concerns surrounding the potential for technology to afford citizens equal access toservices (whether as a consequence of accessibility, affordability, relevant skills or, indeed, the general appeal of digital technologies and media where some socio-economic groups are concerned) as well as the scope for digital channels to enhance citizen engagement.

Therefore, the potential for libraries to reap effciency savings, undertake joint digital service commissioning and improve marketing and communications are all considered important. However, library leaders and frontline staff must also consider:

the importance attaching to digital inclusion and assisted digital interventions in tangible library locations in view of the current library user demographic;

1� For example, in the Open Data Institute: http://theodi.org/ 2 For example, through the Internet of Schools initiative: http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/government-internet-of-things-schools-125505 3� For example, through the Technology Strategy Board: https://www.innovateuk.org/ 4 For example, through the Smart Cities programme: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-initiative-to-support-40-billion-smart-cities-in-the-uk

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the requirement to better engage with ‘digital natives’ and adult technophiles to appeal to new audiences on an entrepreneurial and innovative footing, in order to maintain the broadest possible justifcation for libraries as a core cultural institution;

the provision of open access to information in the broadest possible terms (so, including open data as well as publicly funded research) in tandem with support to make use of the same; and

the zeitgeist in respect of open government and e-democracy, such that libraries retain their impartial and trusted space status in the eyes of the general public where the interface between citizen and state is concerned.

Beyond the public sector, there are signifcant digital developments underway linked to the activities of universities (in particular, where access to research and online learning opportunities are concerned) which could beneft public libraries. A number of initiatives are also seeking to digitise library content at home and overseas5. Cutting-edge digital developments being pursued by the private sector are, by contrast, the subject of many and varied contributions to contemporary thinking on the part of futurologists, showcased at signifcant international events such as SXSW, as well as featuring in industry standard press (for example, Wired Magazine). However, of particular relevance to library leaders are those developments being spear-headed by the publishing industry as well as leisure and entertainment retailers – especially where they are driving e-book lending/purchasing and the forthcoming deployment of ‘beacon’ technology in our increasingly mobile society.

Information about the digital landscape as it pertains to library services is already available in the Arts Council’s Library of the Future: Future Trends Review (2012). A wealth of online information also points to digital innovation and emergent good practice – in particular, in the United States. Moreover, the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) has commissioned work to explore the Digital Leadership Skills required to implement change in practice. At present, however, only one thing is clear: whether to adapt or change is not an option for libraries faced with unprecedented technological advancement - it is now a matter of “how”.

Reconfguring libraries to facilitate STEM skills development

When Andrew Carnegie frst made grants to public libraries at the turn of the twentieth century, he described them as ‘instruments for the elevation of the masses of the people’. Libraries were subsequently established to provide access to learning and advancement for people who would otherwise have limited opportunities for education or self-improvement. Their purpose, then, was educational and they were to be spaces open to everyone in a community who wanted access to books and learning6. The provision of access to information, knowledge and learning continues to underpin public libraries in the twenty-frst century. Nowadays, however, libraries are fast evolving to become what some have termed ‘read/write’ platforms such that they provide access to broad-ranging media as well as multi-media manipulation tools and instruction to enable the production as well as the consumption of knowledge and know-how by their users.

Unsurprisingly, then, there is a growing trend internationally toward the affliation and co-location of libraries with hacker and maker spaces. For example, in the United States, where Chattanooga Public Library has rapidly become known for its 4th Floor, and in Devon where the library service has recently introduced a FabLab to Exeter Library integral to the FabLab Devon initiative. However, in practice, this move means that some libraries have begun to co-locate traditional intellectual property with tools to generate more of the same; and, aligning themselves with the tools of traditional economic growth even has some libraries formalising that mission. Altogether less common are bona fde attempts to develop integrated library-hack-makerspaces – that is, physical spaces which not only afford knowledge production and consumption equal regard, but which function as platforms for the exchange and inter-mingling of traditional intellectual property with local knowledge and know-how published by and for communities themselves (what some commentators refer to as: the “long tail”)7.

5� For example, in Norway - http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/11/5199472/norway-is-digitizing-all-its-books-and-making-them-free-to-read-online - and in respect of EU wide and international eforts such as Europeana - http://www.europeana.eu/ - and the DPLA: http://dp.la/ 6� Carnegie UK Trust, A New Chapter: Public Library Services in the 21st Century, http://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=b04629b2-aa09-4bd0-bc3a-9b9b04b7aba1

7� http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Tail_(book)

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The emergence of library-hack-maker spaces is, of course, welcome and, not least, insofar asthey harbor the potential to facilitate STEM skills development in keeping with libraries’ educational remit at a time when there is an acknowledged labour shortage in this regard. And, yet, we’ve still to witness a thoroughgoing disruption of libraries’ twentieth century institutional boundaries to establish knowledge production on an equal footing with knowledgeconsumption in a library context. Neither have we encountered signifcant changes to the role of library staff in relation to facilitating the same. That is, we’ve yet to see twenty-frst century libraries established as bona fde peer-to-peer platforms for the purposes of facilitating knowledge exchange (production and consumption) founded upon Open Source and Creative Commons principles. There is also, understandably, a growing interest in effciency and income generation within a library context to improve the overall viability and resilience ofthe service – although, attempts to develop bona fde ‘library enterprises’ (rather than provide ‘less for less’ or cross-subsidise library service provision via adjacent / unrelated activity) remain few and far between.

So, how might we explore the potential to pull some of these emergent strands together into something coherent, in-keeping with the ethos of a public lending library, and at the same time forward-looking?

Enter: Common Libraries

We believe there is an urgent and pressing need to evolve libraries so that they may serve as bastions of a 21st century knowledge commons - functioning as trusted and impartial platformsfor the production, exchange and consumption of knowledge and know-how - in both tangible locations and virtual spaces. We are therefore using our expertise in asset development, design, technology, community engagement and social enterprise to work closely with library service users and providers to that end. Our ultimate aim is to empower people to co-design and deliver new library services in our increasingly open source society, such that they are responsive to technological advancement and fast-changing local needs, as well as positioned to make the most of emergent socio-economic opportunities. The explicit intention,then, is to revitalise the public library ethos and render library services more relevant, useful and sustainable in their appeal to (and involvement of) broad-ranging audiences in our digital age. The Common Libraries initiative builds upon the learning amassed by leaders from Chattanooga Public Library, as well as the community responsible for the Waiting Room in Colchester, in the course of developing library-hack-makerspaces. It was established to inform and work with enterprising organisations to prototype the library of the future, today – where the library of the future is taken to mean an institution that places equal emphasis uponknowledge production, exchange and consumption in the service of rendering libraries more relevant, viable and resilient.

Current Project Rationale and Focus

The current 10-year Strategic Framework for Arts Council England identifes Resilience and Sustainability as a key goal in the context of austerity, recognising that the arts and cultural sector must be able to adapt to changing circumstances, without compromising its core values and the quality of its work. The Arts Council also recognises that the sector must learn from examples of organisations that have successfully developed new sources of income. Specifcally, its Strategic Framework states that the Arts Council will “invest in research and development of new and emerging business models for library services that enable more informed decisions about how they will be delivered, learning from – and informing – our workwith arts organisations and museums”.

Common Futures worked with The Creative Coop and Colchester School of Art to develop an innovative business model in relation to the Waiting Room. Together, partners developed a ‘borrow/barter/buy/bespoke’ approach to business integration for library-hack-maker spaces, which is intended to help maintain the ethos of a library where its function to ‘facilitate access to all’ is concerned, in addition to introducing an income generation or ‘library enterprise’ dimension to operations. We sought to research and take steps to replicate / iterate elements of the Waiting Room to begin prototyping an income generating library-hack-makerspace network with a grant from Arts Council England in the course of delivering the frst project integral to the Common Libraries initiative.

Project Aims & Objectives

We aimed to better understand the potential for library-hack-makerspaces, and affliations between libraries and hack/makerspaces, to enhance the resilience and sustainability of libraries in future – specifcally, through the provision of integrated and income generating

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support for creative businesses via a standardised approach to knowledge production, capture and exchange.

Methodology

Our frst project was developed to inspire and involve prototype network participants in an effective and imaginative way, and was delivered with a view to growing the network on a sustainable footing, subject to positive outcomes and evaluation. Our approach refected the learning amassed from the establishment of the internationally renowned 4th Floor Chatt in theUnited States as well as the Waiting Room in Colchester.

Specifcally, the project:-

1. Explored the challenges and opportunities attaching to the development of a viable business model for library-hack-maker spaces, as well as affliations between libraries and hack/maker spaces, which was also sensitive to the ethos of libraries in facilitating ‘access for all’; and

2. Developed the foundations for a prototype network comprising x5 library-hack-maker spaces; documented the origins, learning to date and trajectories of participants in the form of action planning; then, refned our ‘borrow/barter/buy/bespoke’ business model in the context of a co-design exercise.

Notably, it was also intended to

Test the potential to develop a low-cost e-commerce platform to connect users and creative businesses linked to library-hack-makerspaces and, with that, facilitate income generation.

However, this time-limited project for prototyping proved insuffcient to render the development of a functional specifcation for the same meaningful.

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

As such, we proceeded to develop:

A Project Website to communicate the Project Concept and house associated resources: http://www.commonlibraries.cc/

x2 Case Studies, Business Model Research and Library-Hack-Makerspace Service Design Infographic, that outline the ‘borrow/barter/buy/bespoke’ business model for library-hack-maker spaces (existing and prospective), and assesses its strengths and weaknesses to enable co-design/refnement: see - EXPLORE

How-To Set-Up a Library-Hack-Maker Space Resource and x3 Prototype Overviews to inspire and empower library authorities and service providers and document project development activity: see - DEVELOP

X3 Action Plans to refect the co-design phase of activity and document next steps: see - TEST

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EXPLORE

Here, we outline the work undertaken during the Explore phase of the project. Specifcally, weintroduce:

- the library-hack-makerspaces upon whose activities we based our How-To Resourcesand support offer to prototypes;

- the business model assumptions underpinning activities that are being prototyped by the Waiting Room; and

- the implications of the Waiting Room business model for any library-hack-makerspace network in future.

CASE STUDIES

The Common Libraries library-hack-makerspace project commissioned by Arts Council England built upon learning from two related initiatives:-

1) St Botolph’s Waiting Room (UK) – an integrated library-hack-makerspace operatingin Colchester since Summer 2013, and affliated to Essex Libraries; and

2) The 4th Floor, Chattanooga Public Library (United States) – a hack-makerspace co-located with Chattanooga Public Library in Tennessee since Autumn 2012.

Whilst both remain at a relatively early stage in their development, they represent the best-established library-hack-makerspaces operating in the UK and US at present. Moreover, the project team felt they functioned according to suffciently different community and business logics to render them a source of important learning for prototyping efforts elsewhere.

The Waiting Room, St Botolph’s, Colchester

The Waiting Room builds upon work undertaken by peer-to-peer and sharing economy proponents, and has transformed a challenging building in the interests of prototyping an integrated hack-maker-learning space in St Botolph’s - an area located at the edge of Colchester’s town centre. It is managed by the Creative Co-op and Colchester School of Art in conjunction with a wider group of stakeholders and creative professionals who live and work in or near St Botolph’s. The mission underpinning the project is to support creativity and enterprise by uncovering and supporting development of the town’s cultural heritage. As such,the Waiting Room proactively incubates and supports creative start-ups which have, most tangibly, included a Gallery, History Archive, Community Maker Workshop and Bar/Café/Restaurant to date – and, all of this on a successful joint venture basis to aid the over-arching project’s sustainability in the medium to long-term.

Initial funding for activities associated with the Waiting Room was secured from: Arts Council England, the Government’s Portas Pilot scheme, the EU’s CURE Programme, Colchester Borough Council, and the Carnegie UK Trust. Nowadays, however, a healthy independent income is derived from the bar, kitchen, café, community workshop membership fees, short-stop-shop units and resident studio rentals to propel the project towards sustainability in its own right. The Waiting Room also facilitates the exchange of ideas and promotes lifelong learning through, for example, its ‘give-get’ library, ‘Maker Wednesdays’ and the hosting of Men in Sheds with Age UK – all of which enable local people to share their knowledge and know-how in a semi-structured yet user-friendly environment. Hence, the project is properly termed a library-hack-makerspace, albeit that the library component differs from a more conventional public lending library.

The frst wave of activity focused on recruiting and organising around 150 volunteers to make the space safe, functional, and welcoming. The Waiting Room has from the outset sought to build its reputation mainly through its actions, by hosting a large number of activities which thefounders hope will demonstrate the values and goals the project stands for. From September 2013 to February 2014, while the group of volunteer builders and decorators were still transforming the Waiting Room into a fully useable space, a programme of daily events and sessions began. There were over 200 recorded events or sessions between September 2013 and February 2014 – so, at least one every day, sometimes more.

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The visit count for the same period was 6,326 visitors, and events ranged from the weekly ‘Maker Wednesday’ sessions, to monthly Town Team meetings of local councillors and community groups, to meet-ups for digital entrepreneurs to serving as a host venue for the Colchester Film Festival. In addition, the café bar attracted a growing footfall by opening as frequently as was practicable during the renovations, and the kitchen enabled the Waiting Room to host a pop-up restaurant - with local chef, Charlie Stocker, cooking for an average 50 people each evening until he recently moved on to pastures new. Extensive use of Facebook and Twitter continues to be used to promote and create a comprehensive record of activity, and these efforts have so far gained The Waiting Room 1,362 followers on Facebook,and 582 followers on Twitter @stbotolphs_.

Crucially, the approach to the engagement and development of both online and offine communities is deemed to underpin the Waiting Room’s success thus far, to the extent that those involved are determined to build upon the fne grain, the inherent assets, of the creativecommunity in Colchester in the interests of co-producing the project with them. There is, then,no activity or equipment hosted or housed within the space, without there frst being an established desire or need and a commitment to help deliver and manage the same on the part of Waiting Room users themselves. In this important sense, the Waiting Room genuinely seeks to envision the library of the future from the ground up, prototype how that might work with its users, then build upon success as and when it is achieved.

The project represents an integrated library-hack-makerspace, to the extent that users are encouraged to contribute and exchange as well as consume knowledge and know-how in the course of using the Waiting Room. Specifcally, a template MakerBox has been developed to encourage creative users of the space to contribute information about themselves, what it is they’re prepared to offer to other users (and on what basis), their inspiration, their craft and their contact details, as well as instructions for undertaking a maker project with which they’re particularly familiar. To help develop the ‘give-get library’ element of the project, Essex CountyCouncil’s public library service agreed to enable users to access the county’s catalogue from the Waiting Room; each MakerBox now contains a related reading list.

Whilst the ‘give-get’ library remains very much in its infancy, the intention is to develop a library that is complimentary to the more traditional public library service delivered by Essex Libraries - one that is comprised of the local knowledge and know-how to be contained within the MakerBoxes. In some instances, creatives are prepared to offer basic MakerBoxes so thatothers can borrow them at no cost, in keeping with the model of a free public lending library. Others are prepared to offer their time pro bono or on a barter basis, for example, in leading aMaker Wednesday workshop. Where the creative incorporates the materials needed to take forward a project outlined in the MakerBox, there are plans to charge users for the purchase of what are properly ‘MakerKits’, and where a user would prefer to simply order the fnished item, the Waiting Room aims to facilitate peer-to-peer commissioning to further extend its business incubation and support offer to creatives in future.

Some of those who have led Maker Wednesday sessions have also done so as part of testingan enterprise idea. For example, one session led to a designer making a simple computer game console using a Rasberry Pi. He has since prepared a MakerKit for the Waiting Room which contains all the parts; he has also produced an accompanying booklet of the instructions, based on the session he led, so that the Waiting Room can lend a related MakerBox. In doing all of this, he is eager to test the market for this type of game console kit. This, then, serves to underpin the ‘borrow/barter/buy/bespoke’ business model upon which the Common Libraries project for Arts Council England is premised.

The Waiting Room opened in July 2013, and a full account of the origins, ambitions and inspiration for the Waiting Room can be found here: http://commonfutures.eu/on-the-origins-of-st-botolphs-libraryhackmaker-space/.

A more detailed case study about the project and activities organized since then can be accessed: (forthcoming – July 2014 – Carnegie).

The 4th Floor, Chattanooga Public Library, Tennessee

The 4th Floor came into being in Autumn 2012, and accounts of its origins and initial plans can be accessed here. Early proponents began with a view to empowering young people, helping to overcome the digital divide, and seeking to offer young entrepreneurs a rationale for engaging with the public library service in the face of diminishing user interest. It nowadays serves as a public laboratory and educational facility co-located within the Downtown Chattanooga Public Library, focusing upon information, design, technology and the

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applied arts. After 18 months, the 12,000+ square foot space is open 5 days a week and hosts equipment, expertise, programs, events and meetings that work within this scope.

The 4th Floor has transformed the Chattanooga Public Library into an open, collaborative, co-creative, fexible, participatory system. Through the interaction with 3D printers, a vinyl cutter, a laser cutter, home grown electronic objects and a diverse mix of people at work, the space fosters an environment of learning by doing. A commitment to iterative design means the layout and collection of resources change all the time, in response to and in cooperation with the users. But, the overarching educational goal is for the process of making and hacking to engage users in the critical processes of problem-solving, enhancing their ability to improve themselves and their community.

A signifcant partner from the outset has been The Company Lab – an initiative launched in September 2010 that offers a creative business start-up and mentor-driven accelerator programme – Co.Starters and the Co.Lab Accelerator. However, staff from the 4th Floor have also worked hard to forge relationships to establish links with other local and national initiatives, including:

Open Chattanooga - which advocates grassroots access to local public data with a view to solving challenges identifed by the community, such as insuffcient affordable housing, and supports enthusiasts who can render it useful for other citizens;

Hackanooga – a series of community-led events, supported by Mozilla through its Gigabit Communities Fund, during which digitally aware, civic-minded designers and developers collaborate to exploit Chattanooga’s gigabit network for the public good (for example, to address education and workforce development needs); and

Gigabit Libraries – a US network that campaigns for fbre-connected libraries as natural and vital community technology hubs committed to global standards for free, open access to information.

While traditional library spaces support the consumption of knowledge by offering access to multimedia, the 4th Floor is designed to support the production, connection and sharing of knowledge in offering access to tools and instruction. In some respects, then, its ethos mirrorsthat of the Waiting Room in Colchester. However, there are currently no plans for an integrated library-hack-makerspace - i.e. where a standardised approach to knowledge curation, exchange and enterprise in the form of MakerBoxes or MakerKits for the 4th Floor is concerned – although, library leaders are open to future conversations where international links might conceivably add value to their efforts. Instead, staff working at the 4th Floor encourage entrepreneurs to explore the potential to generate income for themselves from their creative efforts via established online platforms – for example, Etsy – or, else, signpost them to other business support agencies that operate in the area.

This is due, in part, to the comparatively healthy budget that benefts the public library service in the US as compared with the UK (although, it should be emphasised that Chattanooga Public Library’s success has greatly assisted regard and funding for the same at the local level). In short, interest in income generation, ‘library enterprises’ and/or joint venturing with creative industries proponents to improve the viability and sustainability of (in particular, community-led) libraries differs beyond the UK context.

Library leaders in Chattanooga are also concerned not to exacerbate the digital divide through the introduction of charges, and to establish new services that are in keeping with theestablished library ethos – a fundamental issue with which interested libraries operating in theUK will need to grapple in due course, as per Locality’s recent Enabling Enterprise in Libraries report. Nonetheless, they are exploring the value of electronic donation stations located proximate to key pieces of equipment – a recognition, perhaps, that libraries everywhere may yet need to approach investment in and funding for maintenance of the equipment and consumables that are needed for hacking and making on a different footing to the more traditional media they stock.

The types of creative businesses that currently use The 4th Floor include:

AIGA – the local chapter of the professional design association, meet, work and hold events on the 4th Floor. The AIGA partnered with the 4th Floor for a Creative Citizenship initiative, connecting designers with public issues for a get out the vote campaign, a candidate forum and an event featuring the lead design team from President Obama’s 2012 campaign.

Engage 3D - a non-proft start-up building education programs and applications advocating technology-driven creation that got extended access to the 4th Floor.

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Artists – e.g. Tim Hinck, a composer and intermedia artist who’s intent fnds expression in the disciplines of sound, light, digital media, physical materials, movement and speech. Hinck’s Lucid Streaming composition and performance was incubated and presented on the 4th Floor during GIGTANK’s Demo Day last summer.

Notably, the 4th Floor has placed greater emphasis upon digital hacking and making or STEMskills development than the Waiting Room – both from the point of view of the equipment it houses and the types of activity it hosts. This is, in part, a function of library leaders’ aspirations for and community interest in the space. However, it also fows from the 4th Floor’s relationship with Chattanooga’s Electric Power Board (EPB).

EPB is Chattanooga’s municipal electric power distributor and fber optic based communications provider. EPB owns and operates the largest network of its kind in the US; the fber optic network is both the communications backbone for EPB’s smart electric powergrid and the foundation for EPB’s advanced communications services. Active learning spaces featuring access to tools and specialised computing resources are being built in public libraries across the globe. The diference where the 4th Floor is concerned is that EPB’s gigabit network gives library users a competitive advantage. The gig network means the 4th Floor can provide its community with more knowledge and opportunities than anywhere else. As a result, the library has been able to:

Begin implementation of a next generation wireless network, with access points using the 802.11AC standard.

Ofer public access to gigabit connectivity for application development. Act as a public test space for social and civic entrepreneurs developing and

deploying media-heavy, educational applications. Experiment with and explore (with local, national, and international partners)

emerging practices and trends like: the internet of things / connected appliances; citizen science and crowd-sourced data collection; open government data - serving data sets as library collections; and distributed manufacturing.

Shift the perception of what type of resource the public library can be in the digital information ecosystem.

Position the 4th Floor internationally as a ‘library of the future’ and, with that, attract atalented workforce to Chattanooga.

The nature of the space itself is also considered important, to the extent that the 4 th Floor is considerably larger than the Waiting Room (and, with that, the vast majority of public branch libraries in the UK) and functions with children and young adults, rather than a broad spectrum of groups, borne frmly in mind. There is important learning here, then, for public libraries in the UK that may seek to engage diferent audiences and/or be housed within very diferent locations and buildings. That is, library-hack-makerspaces are unlikely to fow from a formulaic or standardised approach if they are to truly refect the needs, interests and expectations of the communities they serve and, in doing so, galvanise consistent commitment from users to access and maintain them as the vibrant, functioning community-led spaces that otherwise characterise the hackspace and makerspace movement respectively.

Finally, in a short video interview made by the Carnegie UK Trust, Nate Hill acknowledges thechallenges associated with referring to what might more readily be termed a library co-located with a hack-makerspace: ‘the library’. But, to the extent that the 4th Floor ‘brand’ stands distinct yet ‘beneath’ that of Chattanooga Public Library, its marketing and communications point to the space ‘belonging’ to the library, rather than a hack-makerspacethat might more loosely be afliated with the same. There is, nonetheless, an ongoing issue faced here – as in relation to the Waiting Room – where cultural ‘baggage’ about what is properly a library and what amounts to the evolution of a library is concerned.

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Conclusions

The Waiting Room and the 4th Floor constitute very diferent initiatives.

The former is an entrepreneurial community-led library-hack-makerspace, operating from a formerly derelict building on a ‘shoe-string’ budget and temporary basis. It is the product of diverse, well-networked and proactive users driving grass-root attempts to integrate knowledge production, exchange and consumption. Their aim is to breathe creative life into a relatively quiet area in the East of England that is in need of regeneration and harness a community around hacking and, in particular, making whilst also nurturing related start-ups.

The latter, by contrast, is a well-resourced and publicly managed library-hack-makerspace. Itis co-located with a traditional public library and benefts from a staf team with an entrepreneurial mind-set and considerable digital prowess. It also has a clear aim to develop digital skills amongst young people that reads across to the gigabit broadband infrastructure from which Chattanooga benefts.

There are, then, diferent business and community engagement/involvement logics at work inboth cases, and although we’d anticipated a better ft between the 4th Floor and most publicly managed lending libraries in England at the outset, in addition to seeking synergies between the Waiting Room and the scope to develop community-led common ‘library enterprises’, we would wish to underline:

1) The very diferent funding environment for public libraries in the US as compared with England - rendering questionable the extent to which straightforward replicationattempts are liable to succeed (save in major urban libraries managed by the public sector) unless and until concerted eforts to explore new ways in which to raise investment and support innovation are actioned – for example, through dedicated ‘library investment and innovation’ vehicles.

2) The contrasting ethos and skills-set amongst public sector library commissioners and providers in England - their ability and willingness to reach out and act entrepreneurially as well as to engage enthusiastically with new technologies and theSTEAM agenda.

3) The growing number of community-led library providers in England - with implications for their capacity as well as their appetite and aptitude to drive STEAM-related innovation without appropriate support and investment.

4) The rural impacts of changes to library services in recent years, calling for bespoke input in relation to the development of hacking/making facilities or services – for example, fresh thinking linked to innovation in mobile library services and/or alternative routes to broadband provision (in particular, if there is to be an emphasis upon digital library activities in rural areas going forward).

5) The concerns that are liable to surround an emphasis upon the development of new services underpinned by or related to ‘library enterprises’ amongst some commissioners, providers and users.

The challenges attaching to the establishment of library-hack-makerspaces are not, then, inconsiderable. However, recent work undertaken by Locality and OPM working with library leaders recommends ways in which to address some of the issues that are outlined above. Moreover, our business model research points toward a practical way forward which, we believe, takes into account the importance of maintaining and, even, revitalising the library ethos through the prototyping of library-hack-makerspaces with local communities.

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Business Model Research

We have from the outset sought to enable income generation by ‘library enterprises’ in the course of developing the Common Libraries initiative. In this important respect, we recognise the challenges facing others who might wish to experiment with elements of Common Libraries, and acknowledge the place of cooperativism and community enterprise in facilitating (even, augmenting) our otherwise open-by-default approach.

Here, we provide an overview of the business model being prototyped at the Waiting Room, which we sought to replicate / iterate working with our project partners, because the 4th Floorbenefts from signifcant public funds and has been highly successful in its partnering arrangements to co-locate hacking/making activities alongside the more traditional ofer of the Chattanooga Public Library and we aimed, instead, to lay the foundations of an integrated library-hack-makerspace network underpinned by ‘library enterprises’.

The Waiting Room’s business model comprises a number of related elements with the potential for income generation:

1) space for community hire – the venue is ofered at diferent rates, including for free in many instances, to deliver particular outcomes and generate income (albeit, indirectly, at times). Notably, free ‘hire’ includes Maker Wednesdays, when individual creatives are encouraged to lead workshops (free of charge) and, in efect, barter their knowledge and know-how on a ‘loss leader’ basis – i.e. to promote their skills and any MakerKits / commissions they might wish to ofer for sale (see: below);

2) bar/café/restaurant – the project has tested a number of diferent approaches, including proft-share arrangements, rented access and joint venturing, to complement particular activities, share responsibilities for stafng the building duringthe day, and directly support young entrepreneurs starting out.

3) membership based hack/maker workshop facilities – the project has recently introduced low-cost resident and fexible membership opportunities, drawing upon learning from established hack/makerspaces, for example the London Hackspace.

4) joint venturing with creative start-ups – the project has nurtured start-ups that range from an arts/craft gallery to a micro social history archive as well as a photography business, in addition to its close working relationship with those responsible for developing its hack/maker workshop scheme, ofering discounted space hire/proft-share arrangements as well as practical support for mutual beneft.

5) micro-enterprise development with creative users - we outlined the Waiting Room’s ‘borrow/barter/buy/bespoke’ approach above, and there is further information concerning MakerBoxes and MakerKits in the How-To Resources at Appendix A. NB: MakerBoxes can be regarded (in outline terms) as give-get contributions to the project library – that is, as ‘loss leading’ promotional platforms for individual creatives and the Waiting Room - until such time as MakerKits are produced and translate into sales on a proft-share basis for both parties OR the creative solicits a bespoke commission.

These are summarized below in diagrammatic form to highlight those free, negotiable, chargeable and consumer-oriented aspects of the business model. Crucially, however, each element is highly dependent upon:

(a) the building in and of itself (i.e. the spaces of which it is comprised); (b) the strength of the user community it continues to develop and service; (c) the provision of appropriate tools/facilities at an afordable / competitive rate where its hacking/making user community is concerned;

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(d) the cultivation and close working with a core group of creatives for joint venturing purposes; and(e) a commitment to driving attendance and contributions to Maker Wednesdays and, with that, identifcation and support for creatives who are able and willing to develop MakerBoxes and MakerKits and/or content to negotiate a proft-share arrangement in relation to commissions/sales.

Moreover, without MakerBoxes/MakerKits, it could be argued that the ‘enterprise’ component of the project ought not to be referred to as a ‘library enterprise’ since the model points in efect to other, adjacent, routes to income generation. However, it is in the integrated approach to support for borrowing (knowledge and know-how), bartering (knowledge, know-how and skilled input), buying (instructions and ‘ingredients’) and bespoke (product/service) ordering - underpinned by a combination of open-by-default, mutual beneft and community enterprise principles - that the project can be deemed to represent a bona fde ‘library enterprise’ when viewed as a whole. It is, then, modeled upon acombination of other open source hardware/software enterprises – as per Open Desk – and part-informed by the thinking that underpins Creative Commons and Peer Production licensing.

Notably, project partners expressed interest in deploying the hackspace membership model to which we introduced them, as well as MakerKit development and sale. Whilst they proved less inclined to engage in Joint Venturing with creative users, we believe this is due to the real and/or perceived constraints of the buildings from which they (aim to) operate as compared with the Waiting Room. It was also, perhaps, too early for them to consider, given that the priority at start-up is a focus upon community engagement and development.

Only time will tell whether there is real and/or signifcant enterprise potential harboured inthe development and sale of MakerKits across a network of library-hack-makerspaces,because the Waiting Room’s own give-get library remains nascent at the time of writing, and our work in the course of this project only permitted us to lay the foundations for a prototype network in practice. However, early indications point towards the merits of developing a number of related income streams, as in the case of the Waiting Room, from the point of view of developing a sustainable library enterprise – as it is on track to become self-sustaining in its frst year of operation, albeit in the absence of paid staf, and on the basis of a peppercorn rent at the time of writing.

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Looking Ahead

In the course of launching the Common Libraries initiative to engage a wider community of interest in Spring 2014, we were encouraged to explore the potential for Common Libraries to draw upon the peer-to-peer and sharing economy movement in future. This fts well with our emphasis upon sharing knowledge and know-how, in particular, where the so-called ‘long-tail’ is concerned. We are, nonetheless, conscious of the not inconsiderable challenges implied bya business model which must simultaneously scale demand and supply, in addition to establishing innovative physical and virtual library platforms if it is to underpin the production, exchange and consumption of knowledge and know-how through integrated library-hack-makerspaces. Helpfully, however, this reads across to the efforts of those who are re-imagining libraries as contemporary platforms or, else, seeking to enhance or evolve them in a more ‘obvious’ manner from the point of view of the library ‘brand’ – principally, through automated book share services and personal portable library networks (PPLNs).

Common Libraries could, then, iterate our prototype business model to also incorporate optional value add services in relation to e-book sharing (where legitimate). In particular, we are persuaded that there might be merit in exploring the potential for elements of libraries (specifcally, library staff and users) to form Distributed Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) in future in relation to what we’ve begun to term #humansearch. Notionally, such DAOs could bedesigned to integrate with PPLN nodes to safeguard the open and free exchange of knowledge and know-how, whilst deriving micro-payments for value add or ‘personal knowledge assistance’ - a step beyond, for example, Ask NYPL (which answered a staggering 3.5m questions in 2013) or, else, engineered through deployment of the blockchain to re-introduce a trust device to established online search engines. So, these are innovative ways forward about which we’ve made recommendations below. Looking ahead, however, further prototyping activity is required to explore such options in greater depth.

DEVELOP

Here, we outline the work undertaken during the Develop phase of the project. Specifcally, we introduce:

- the resources we developed to help our prototypes and other interested parties establish library-hack-makerspaces; and

- the starting point for each of our prototypes in the form of outline case studies produced following site visits and meetings with the project team.

HOW-TO RESOURCES

We developed the following resources to help interested parties build rich, vibrant library-hack-makerspaces, drawing upon the lessons learned from establishing the Waiting Room:

1. What is a Library-Hack-Makerspace? – affliation, co-location and integration models

2. Understanding the Landscape – getting to know the area that you operate in, its hacking and making “scene”

3. Mapping and Categorising Hackers and Makers – building a directory of local hackers and makers

4. Planning your Library-Hack-Makerspace – organising the space you have available to best effect

5. Programming your frst Event – programming, scheduling and promotion6. Building Local Partnerships with Groups, Sponsors and Retailers – working with

existing groups, local retailers and sponsors to make your events a success7. Generating an Income from your Library-Hack-Makerspace – business models,

membership bodies, joint ventures and hack-maker boxes8. Developing your Library – creating and costing hack-maker boxes

The How-to Resources are provided in full at Appendix A and, in future, we hope that by sharing them online under a Creative Commons license, we can enable people right around the world to use, learn from and be inspired by them. However, they remain a work in progress and we would welcome further feedback - in particular, from public sector library providers - to ensure that the contents meet peoples’ needs; because, notably, we have drawn upon learning amassed by a community-led initiative which started life without a building, without a traditional library and enmeshed in the ‘creative scene’ within its locale andacknowledge that that has coloured both their shape and content.

MEETINGS, VISITS & PROTOTYPES

We convened a virtual inception meeting to introduce project partners to one another and, in particular, to ensure all concerned had an opportunity to hear from and ask questions of representatives of the 4th Floor and Waiting Room at the very outset.

We then visited our 3 prototypes to solicit background information about the organisations and their aspirations in seeking to establish library-hack-makerspaces, as well as to outline our proposed approach to replication, and agree a timetable for the completion of bespoke action plans. We also arranged visits for our prototypes to both the Waiting Room in Colchester and the London Hackspace.

PROTOTYPES

The Common Libraries library-hack-makerspace project sought to test the potential to replicate and/or iterate the library-hack-makerspace models underpinning the Waiting Room and the 4th Floor working with:-

1) Fresh Horizons, Huddersfeld – a community enterprise operating a library in Deighton on contract to Kirklees Council, the Yorkshire Sheet Music Library and a community cinema;

2) Fast Fibre Hubs, Caterham – a fbre installation cooperative with close ties to Tandridge District Council, the Caterham Community Partnership, CR3 Forum (a Neighbourhood Planning front-runner), and Soper Hall Community Centre – delivering community-led activities to grow creative industries activity in the area linked to digital asset and enterprise development; and

3) Eco Communities – a social enterprise operating 3 community libraries in partnership with the London Borough of Lewisham, alongside its established IT recycling and training activities.

An introduction to the local context in each instance, together with a summary of the activities undertaken January-March 2014, is provided below.

PROTOTYPE 1 – Fresh Horizons, Huddersfeld

Context

Fresh Horizons is a community enterprise based in a deprived residential area two miles fromthe centre of Huddersfeld; the local Super Output Area is ranked in the bottom 3% in the country. Fresh Horizons acts as a community anchor organisation in an urban environment with a diverse but cohesive community of white, Afro-Caribbean and Pakistani residents. Its community-managed library sits within a managed multi-agency building providing childcare, library and information services, community cinema, housing advice, a base for community policing team, health visitors, a Sure Start team (including family support workers), and a base for community activity and events. The local area has a tradition in textiles and manufacturing but this has now largely declined, and there is a reliance on jobs in nearby Huddersfeld and other surrounding towns.

Establishing a Library-Hack-Makerspace: Activities & Progress to Date

Initially, Fresh Horizons sought to explore the feasibility of establishing a library-hack-makerspace in Deighton. To test local interest, representatives used their informal community networks to explore what would attract the community to get involved at a dedicated Open Day. The Open Day resulted in the adoption of a project theme - Your Library, Your Choice - and an event inviting local residents to say how they might use the library, not just as a place to learn from books and ICT, but also as a space to share local knowledge through teaching and learning from one other on a peer-to-peer basis with a focus upon sewing, painting and puppet making. At the subsequent event, there were activities arranged for the whole family toget involved with - including workshops about nail art, soft toy making, cake decoration and some fun arts and crafts with people over 60 keen to participate.

The organisers asked event attendees to tell them what activity they would use the library space for if they could use it for any purpose, and the responses solicited were as follows:

Arts & Crafts (13) Nail Art (8) Beauty (2) Baking (5) Cooking (1) Family activities (6) Activities for older people (1) Performing Arts (2)

Sewing (1)

Notably, 12 participants felt they had skills that they would be prepared to share with others atfuture events including Art & Design, Cooking, Henna, Sewing, Knitting, Face painting, Hand embroidery, Cheer leading, Folk and Ballroom Dancing.

The organisers ran a concurrent project concerned with improving confdence and employability. Specifcally, they engaged local people to develop their writing and editing skills. They were also eager to create a product which could be sold by the library in relation to the same. By engaging residents in bespoke workshops, participants chose ‘Proud’ as the theme of the book - with people writing about what makes them proud; this included everything from their children and wider families (mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, husbands). People also wrote about the Chestnut Centre (Fresh Horizons’ multi-purpose building), their own connections to places and people, as well as dramatic moments in their lives.

Many participants had no expectation that their work would be published as part of a book. They were working outside their comfort zone, as many participants did not like writing when they were at school. Nonetheless, they persisted. One man said, ‘I used to hate writing when Iwas at school. Now after the Book of Proud, I just can’t stop!’ And the end result is a book with wonderful photos of those who took part, edited by Debi Carr, a local woman with no previous experience of editing. The completed book includes stories and poems, some very funny and some sad, and brings together many of the memories and values that local people share and which underpin their community. The published book is now on sale at the Library and more books are likely to follow, with a view to revealing more of the community’s creative talents, such that the organisation plans to evaluate whether a viable business model can be established in future could generate both fnancial and social outcomes. This chimes with calls for libraries to become platforms to facilitate self-publishing in a fairly traditional sense. However, in addition, nurturing improved confdence, a willingness to return to learning and employability could generate additional income for the Fresh Horizons and its library from public sector commissioners.

This is activity that Fresh Horizons staff would wish to explore further in developing a library-hack-makerspace, whereby people with the right level of support can unleash hidden talents and develop new skills, with the potential to generate income from mutually benefcial sales and through funding generated by the social impact of the process of creation. Going forward,then, Fresh Horizons is keen to establish a library-hack-makerspace through regular structured events - widening the range of activities on offer and developing MakerBoxes and MakerKits as per St Botolph’s Waiting Room.

Project Staff have begun to create a Maker Directory - approaching local people and businesses in Deighton and Huddersfeld via its established networks, in the frst instance. Approximately 60 people from the local community in Deighton attended an Open Day on Saturday 29th March, some of whom were existing library users, and the aim is to invite them to participate in a variety of activities as “tasters” of potential Maker Events in the future. A number of attendees have since come forward to offer their support as local makers/talented people to help populate a series of events as a replication of the St Botolph’s Waiting Room “Maker Wednesday” programme. It is envisaged that the types of activities best suited to the space(s) and to the local community will be a variety of experiential education events linked tothe strong musical culture, information needs of parents, as well as simple construction skills development activities led by local businesses and residents.

Fresh Horizons is also building links with a local app developer group with a view to hosting a hackathon that focuses on producing an app that local residents can use to get digital information about services and events for their children. They aspire to setting up a Gaming Club for teenagers at some stage in the future.

Allocation of a dedicated space within the library and curation of the follow-up maker events isnow the focus at Fresh Horizons. A team of volunteers from the frst Open Day is emerging to help with arrangement and delivery of the events. Identifying Deighton-based makers, some of whom operate from home, proved diffcult at frst. However, a number of talented local makers came forward during the Open Day and this is now assisting with the population of a local Maker Directory and creating partnerships with local businesses.

The main obstacles to setting up the library hack-maker space have included the lack of staff time and ‘investment to innovate’ beyond the initial furry of activity, but this will hopefully be mitigated by volunteer support from the local community akin to the set-up at the Waiting Room going forward.

PROTOTYPE 2 – Fast Fibre Hubs, Caterham

Context

Caterham is a small town in Surrey approximately 15 miles south of London. Due to its proximity to London it is a commuter town with small to medium sized businesses of its own. It has a population of 8,348 working largely in the creative industries (design) and a signifcantarea of retail and restaurants in the Caterham Valley area. Fast Fibre Hubs, a locally based digital fbre cooperative has been working with a number of local agencies to enable technology and design companies to thrive in the local area, linked to the development of a Neighbourhood Plan; the Caterham Area Plan provides for a hack/maker space locally as partof these regeneration plans.

Fast Fibre Hubs and Surrey Libraries agreed to partner to set up a library-hack-makerspace in Caterham Valley library, a well-used library in the heart of the valley area.

Library-Hack-Makerspace

In addition to the groups using the community arts centre and Miller Centre, there are two Parish Councils, CO9, The Bourne Society and the Digital Caterham group that will be invited to get involved. There are also a small number of local business people operating graphic design and computer repair businesses that have been approached to help drive forward the hack-maker space. Crucially, an agreement with Surrey Libraries was reached during the initial prototyping phase, and a partnership is now being created to establish a hack-maker space in conjunction with the Library Service. Helen Leech of Surrey Libraries stated:

Surrey Library Service is committed to a programme of development which will widen the range of services available in our buildings, move down the route of co-design with library users, support local community needs, and encourage local economic development, particularly around the creative industries. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with community partners in the Caterham area to develop a maker space in the library.

Surrey library staff are in the process of identifying suitable spaces in the Caterham Valley Library where, in the longer term, a variety of different activities could be housed. In the short-term, however, a space on the 2nd foor of the building will be utilised for an Open Day to illicit response and support from library users and local residents. Surrey Libraries are also in the process of identifying human resource to allocate for coordination and management of hacking and making activities.

The space is unlikely to boast several work and event spaces as per St Botolph’s, and more likely to operate from one smaller space in the Soper Hall, or ideally from the existing Caterham Valley Library which can then be moved to Soper Hall in due course. Together, FastFibre Hubs and Surrey Libraries will seek to build a local network to help drive forward the hack-maker events and develop MakerBoxes and Kits within this context.

How has it gone so far?

After initial investigations by Fast Fibre Hubs to locate the hack-maker space in the Soper Hall and maintain links with the library service, an agreement was made with Surrey Libraries that the hack-maker space would in fact be located within Caterham Valley Library itself.

Following a successful meeting with the Surrey Library Service, adequate space has now been identifed, along with human resource to enable the hack-maker space to be launched. Plans are now in train to hold an Open Day in July and build a directory of local Makers. A coordinator from the Library team will be allocated to lead the project from Surrey Libraries working together with Fast Fibres, current library users, interested local groups and local residents – the aim: to begin curating regular maker events. Surrey Libraries are keen to begin co-designing with their library users across the county and see the hack-maker space inCaterham Valley Library as a test-bed for this.

It is likely that the longer term focus of the hack-maker space in Surrey Libraries will focus on digital making, which sits in line with Fast Fibre Hubs’ mission and the digital inclusion focus

that Surrey Libraries has adopted, although early interest is expected to relate to more traditional making activities.

The project is evolving through the formation of a Steering Group which will include local people who can introduce different awareness and expertise to the programme. There will be the experience too from the activities in the wider range of Surrey County Council libraries. There are number of local being considered and contacted for what they can bring to the programme - the Steering Group inviting different people over time working through different topics to keep the programme dynamic and interesting. People are enthusiastically looking forward to this programme fourishing and continuing to establish itself.

PROTOTYPE 3 - Eco Communities, Lewisham

Context

The basis of Eco Communities’ participation as a library-hack-makerspace prototype is as a way of using the organisation’s experience and knowledge of delivering digital inclusion projects to provide a useful resource in DIY IT upgrade and maintenance. The organisation aims to begin by utilising space in one of its community libraries to run a series of workshops to inform people how they can upgrade and maintain their PCs and laptops, as well as providing them with the tools to do so.

Who is it aimed at?

The project will be aimed at anyone who owns a PC or laptop and who wants to save on the costs of keeping it running and upgrading its capability.

What are the reasons for this focus?

Eco Communities has focused on IT refurbishment because of it benefts from considerable experience of running digital inclusion projects – including, basic IT skills training, getting online and becoming a Digital Champion.

Where will the project be focused?

Eco Communities has decided to focus the project at Sydenham Community Library, initially, because it has a separate training room which can be used to run the maker workshops. Once it has been trialled, the project can be run at other community libraries it operates in Lewisham. The MakerKits developed will also be able to be sold and promoted elsewhere.

How will the project work?

An open day will be held so people can engage in ‘taster’ sessions in PC/laptop upgrading and maintenance e.g. how to back up your data. At the open day, individuals will be invited to sign up for a workshop series which will include adding memory, basic maintenance, avoiding viruses, backing up data and cleaning the hardware. At these sessions participants will be able to buy components which together will comprise the ‘box’ of tools to maintain and upgrade a PC or laptop. Participants will also be able to socialise in the cafés located within those community libraries Eco Communities operates. Funding has been secured for a ‘High Tea with IT’ project for seniors, and one of the sessions will be used to promote the makerspace within the library.

Current activity

Eco Communities has launched a survey of users of Sydenham Library to gauge interest in the project as well as to assess what it will be able to charge for MakerKits. The next stage will be to hold the open day and begin running workshops. In the interim, a frst ‘taster’ workshop was held in one of the community libraries which was intended as a ‘dummy run’ to allow any glitches to be ironed out. A recent meeting with Lewisham Library Service has resulted in representatives expressing signifcant interested in the project. As a result, the Council’s Library Service has encouraged Eco Communities to host a workshop session in the LB Lewisham marquee on Lewisham People’s Day (LPD) which will take place on 12th July. LPD is an annual event which attracts around 30,000 people. A leafet is currently beingproduced which will allow individuals to book places at the workshop.

Conclusions

Our prototypes are based in diferent locations and serve very diferent communities. Although the process to which we adhered and accompanying how-to resources appeared to work well in each instance, then, practical progress will be subject to local ambitions, capacity and skill-sets, distinctive starting points, greater or lesser reliance upon the local authorities with whom project partners work, as well as community engagement going forward. Notably, in every instance, we encountered a greater degree of comfort amongst library authorities and more immediate community interest in relation to traditional making ascompared with hacking. Moreover, we encountered a greater degree of interest amongst our project partners in hacking as compared with making. There is real value, then, in the process outlined in those how-to resources developed integral to the project, because they point towards a series of steps that less confdent commissioners/providers might look to take in making a start, as well as to the importance of co-producing services with communities themselves – in particular, where the development of library enterprises is concerned (in other words, ‘library enterprises’ are predicated upon harnessing demand for particular platforms/activities).

There are opportunities and challenges surrounding the knowledge, skills, capacity and entrepreneurship inherent in organisations that might wish to establish Common Libraries. Wealso concluded, in discussion with project partners, that innovation cannot fow from or be followed-through in the current climate without encouragement and investment in the capacityto innovate, if this is to become a more mainstream endeavour in future. Helpfully, we were in a position to offer direct support and a modest incentive to engage in knowledge and skills exchange visits as well as to innovate integral to this project. We have, therefore, made recommendations with this in mind to grow interest and involvement in Common Libraries in looking ahead to the future.

TEST

Here, we outline the work undertaken during the Test phase of the project. Specifcally, we introduce the action plans produced in discussion with our prototypes that confrm the next steps to be undertaken at the local level in Kirklees, Caterham and Lewisham respectively.

ACTION PLANS

The three prototypes supported were encouraged to plan forward activities in keeping with theprocess outlined in the How-To Resources developed for the project and, to that end, detailedaction plans are provided below. We are unable to guarantee what further steps will be taken, and all actions are subject to forward capacity and, crucially, resourcing decisions and continued local interest, but we were encouraged by local enthusiasm at the end of March.

Fresh Horizons

ACTION STEPS

BY WHOM

BY WHEN

RESOURCES/ SUPPORT

COMMUNICATION PLAN

REVIEW

What needs to be done?

Who will take the action

By what date will the action bedone?

Resources Needed (fnancial, human etc.)

What individuals and organisations should be informedabout / involved with these actions?

What happened/ What didn't happen? / Whatwould you do differently?

Identify your local cultural heritage

Dani Maloney

March 5th Human hours x2

Fresh Horizons

Kirklees Library Service

Preferred types of activities and areas of interestwere identifed after discussion with library visitors.

Identify space(s) for your Hack/Make Space

Dani Maloney

March 1st Fresh Horizons

Kirklees Library Service

Chestnut CentreLibrary and Information Centre has been chosen as the ideal venue.

Open Day

Dani Maloney

LIC Staff

March 29th

Human hours x4

LIC Staff x3 x3 hours

Materials £tbc

Fresh Horizons

Kirklees Library Service

A family fun open day has been organised at Chestnut Centre Library to introduce the maker space to our local community. We will be running some of the activities suggested during our focusgroup on March 5th by our library visitors as “tasters” and will gather information about the types of maker eventsthat the local community are particularly interested in coming along to and supporting.

Set up a regular hack/make event

Dani Maloney

LIC Staff

Monthly from April30th

Human hours x4

LIC Staff x2 x2 hours

Materials £tbc

Fresh Horizons

Kirklees Library Service

We will be running our Events once a month starting in April. A schedule will be produced post Open Day.

Identify alocal Maker

Dani Maloney

LIC Staff

March 29th

Human hours x4

Fresh Horizons

Kirklees Library Service

We are currentlyresearching local makers & making contact with makers we already know in the area. In addition we will conduct a survey of the attendees of ourOpen Day on 29th March and create a maker directory from this information.

Produce a “How to” Kit

Dani Maloney

LIC Staff

April 30th Human hours x6

Materials £?

Fresh Horizons

Kirklees Library Service

Once our schedule of events is produced we will be in a position to produce a Maker Kit.

Fast Fibre Hubs Ltd

ACTION STEPS

BY WHOM

BY WHEN RESOURCES / SUPPORT

COMMUNICATION PLAN

REVIEW

What needsto be done?

Who will take the action

By what date will the action be done?

Resources Needed (fnancial, human etc.)

What individuals andorganisations should be informed about / involved with these actions?

What happened / What didn't happen? / What would you do differently?

Identify your local cultural heritage

CW 03/03/14 Email GDC Research into the area was conducted and information about demographics ofthe local population was found.

Identify space(s) foryour Hack/Make Space

CW/GD 21/03/14 Permission fromLibrary (Valley) as that is the intended location

Staff time

Surrey County Council Library Service

Digital Caterham contacts

We had a meeting with Surrey County Council Library Services to discuss the integration of thehack-maker space into Caterham Valley library.

Two possible fxed areas wereidentifed by library staff. However whilst these spaces are made ready it was decided that the upper foor which has moveable shelving units would be used for the frst Maker event(s).

SCC are interested in howthis pilot performs with a view to potentially adopting the model across all Surreys community libraries

Open Day CW/GD TBD Staff

Volunteers

Marketing

Surrey County Council / Caterham Valley Library

Caterham and surrounding area local groups

We will move forward with organising an Open Day event in partnership with Caterham Valley Library in the coming weeks.

Set up a regular hack/make event

CW/GD/Library

TBD Staff time

Marketing

As above A suitable regular day and time will be identifed in partnership with library service staff.

Identify a local Maker

CW/GD/Library Staff

07/03/14 Staff / Volunteers

Marketing

As above Library staff were able to identify existing library users thatcould be approached to become potential Makers/Teachers

Produce a “How to” Kit

GD/CW/Library Staff/Local maker

End of frstsessions

Staff Caterham Valley Library

This will be developed and be clearer once agreement is made by a local creative

Eco Communities

ACTION STEPS

BY WHOM

BY WHEN RESOURCES / SUPPORT

COMMUNICATION PLAN

REVIEW

What needsto be done?

Who will take the action

By what date will the action be done?

Resources Needed (fnancial, human etc.)

What individuals and organisations should be informed about / involved with these actions?

What happened / What didn't happen? / What would you do differently?

Identify yourlocal culturalheritage

TR/DT 14/3 Staff time We will be utilising the existing communication channels via Sydenham Society and Friends of the Library in order to ensure that local people are made aware of the IT training and tool kits.

Senior citizens and unemployed individuals

We decided to take advantage of our existing USP at Eco Communities and integrate the LHM into the IT training offer that we already provide.

We consulted with Eco Communities’ IT trainers whoidentifed people who had been through the training but were not able to fx their IT hardware when it went wrong due to cost/lack of transport.

We decided that a series ofrepair and teach sessionsaround the IT provision would be a sensible offer. So have identifed a kit of tools to go along with the training which will be offered at the Maker Events/ Workshops.

Identify TR/DT 14/3 Space in library Staff in Sydenham IT training

space(s) for your Hack/Make Space

library

Staff at ‘Here for Good’ -a shop unit in Sydenham which runs activities for seniors

LBL to promote on website

suite is available at Sydenham Library. We willbe running the sessions at Sydenham Library with a view to rolling across all 4 Lewisham libraries we manage.

Open Day DB, CM, TR, DT

Mid April Space at Sydenham Library

Staff time – Eco and LBL

Marketing

LBL to promote the open day

Staff at Sydenham library

Set up a regular hack/make event

CM, BD,DT and TR

1/5/14 Space at Sydenham Library

Staff time – Eco and LBL

Marketing

LBL to promote the regular sessions

Staff at Sydenham library

Identify a local Maker

IT trainers at Eco or other org that refurbs PCs

14/3/14 Staff time/funding to pay staff at an outside organisation

Survey for Sydenham Library users to test demandfor the kits andhow much people might be prepared topay.

Produce a “How to” Kit

DB/TR 3`/5/14 Staff time

Production materials

CONCLUSIONS / NEXT STEPS

It will be over the weeks and months ahead that replication and iteration plans are implemented such that we are better able to draw frm conclusions in keeping with our stated ambitions and/or begin to establish any emergent network in earnest.

In the interim, our project resulted in the following key fndings:

Common Libraries: there is demonstrable interest in Common Libraries as a vehicle for exploring the evolution of public library services - both at home and overseas - as a result of our having communicated the initiative to engage a wider community of interest. Already, we have entered into encouraging discussions with academics, innovation agencies, library leaders and sharing economy proponents in the UK, US, EU, South Africa and Australia.

Awareness & Understanding: proactive engagement of project partners and library authorities with whom we worked resulted in improved understanding of the hacking and making landscape. It also engendered an ability and willingness to co-produce practical plans to progress prototyping efforts. Without this, the combination of challenges facing public sector library service commissioners, as well as constraints affecting community-led library providers, is liable to introduce a signifcant barrier to engagement elsewhere in future.

User Need / Demand & Co-Production Value: we encountered a greater degree of comfort amongst library authorities and more immediate community interest in relation to traditional making as compared with hacking. This is considered important where the co-location of off-the-shelf hack/makerspace models with libraries might more readily appeal to public sector library providers. It might also point towards what could better suit rural and/or smaller community-led libraries. There are, nonetheless, two open days still to be held in respect of our three prototypes at the time of writing. Moreover, the success of efforts on the part of Burnage Library renders the extent to which this fnding may be deemed representative uncertain. We are also conscious that we’ve as yet to explore the potential for mobile library-hack-makerspaces in any depth, which could read across to recommendations in the forthcoming report from OPM concerning the rural impacts of changes to library services.

We encountered a greater degree of interest amongst our project partners in hacking as compared with making. There is real value, then, in the process outlined in those how-to resources developed integral to the project, because they point towards a series of steps that less confdent commissioners/providers might look to take in making a start, as well as to the importance of co-producing services with communities themselves – in particular, where the development of library enterprises is concerned (in other words, ‘library enterprises’ are predicated upon harnessing demand for particular platforms/activities).

Business Models & ‘Library Enterprises’: our project partners expressed interest in deploying the hackspace membership model to which we introduced them, as well as MakerKit development and sale, from the point of view of engaging with the Waiting Room’s income generation efforts. Whilst they proved less inclined to engage in Joint Venturing with users, we believe this is due, in part, to the real and/or perceived constraints of the buildings from which they (aim to) operate as compared with the Waiting Room. It is too early to tell whether there is real and/or signifcant enterprise potential harboured in the development and sale of MakerKits across a network of library-hack-makerspaces, such that further work with our prototypes and/or an alternative approach to practical market testing is recommended. However, early indications point towards the merits of developing a number of related income streams, as in the case of the Waiting Room, from the point of view of sustainability.

Knowledge, Skills, Capacity & Entrepreneurship: there are opportunities and challenges surrounding the knowledge, skills, capacity and entrepreneurship inherent in organisations that might wish to establish Common Libraries. We also concluded that innovation cannot fow or be followed-through in the current climate without encouragement and investment in the capacity to innovate if this is to become a more mainstream endeavour in future. Helpfully,we were in a position to offer direct support and a modest incentive to engage in knowledge and skills exchange visits as well as to innovate integral to this project. We have, therefore, made recommendations with this in mind to grow interest and involvement in Common Libraries in looking ahead to the future.

Innovation: we are persuaded that there could be merit in exploring the potential for elements of libraries (specifcally, library staff and users) to form Distributed Autonomous Organisations that are capable of generating income from micro-payments in future. Some technical aspects of the work needed to take this forward are already underway, partly, as a result of our engaging a wider community of interest over recent months. However, they will need to be supported if they are to be rendered of direct relevance and interest to library staff and users. We also think it worthwhile investigating the scope for book share services and personal portable library networks (PPLNs) to play a part in growing and augmenting more traditional library services concerned with access to information. But, one again, further work to assess the income generation potential of these micro-payment and peer-to-peer services is needed before their development can be explored in earnest.

Looking Ahead - Recommendations

Looking ahead, then, a number of interventions could help stimulate further interest in the establishment of Common Libraries – amongst them:

A series of inspire and inform events for library service commissioners and providers hosted in hack/makerspaces - to disseminate the fndings from our work, and raise

awareness of the opportunities attaching to Common Libraries as one of a number of potentially forward-looking options in relation to library enterprise development.

A programme of activity to broker relationships between library service commissioners/providers and hackers/makers – a low cost, speedy option to facilitate the development of appropriate relationships (although the outcomes of an emphasis upon affliation would then depend upon activities fnanced and undertaken at the local level).

A scheme to incentivise and/or support a number of library service commissioners and providers to co-locate hack-makerspaces with libraries (although the outcomes of an emphasis upon co-location are deemed less likely to result in library enterprise development in and of themselves).

Further investment and work to take forward development of the integrated library-hack-makerspace model with existing and/or new prototypes – acknowledging the short-time frames applied to this project and signifcant potential to invest in established interest/momentum. NB: additional investment could help to speed-up production of X MakerKits to enable market-testing in relation to the same and, with that, establish whether they are worthwhile developing further in relation to a trading platform for any emergent library-hack-makerspace network.

Forward support for Common Libraries as a platform for co-producing and prototyping innovative library services with commissioners, providers and/or users, and which could call for either match or crowd funding in the spirit of joint venturing. There is, for example, an opportunity here for libraries, staff and users to serve as a test ground for DAO's, #humansearch and the deployment of new technologies. Equally, there may be the scopeto read-across to pilot some of the recommendations in related reports concerning income generation and rural libraries respectively, where there is a technology dimension.

Appendix 1 – How-To Resources

How-To Establish a Library-Hack-Makerspace

Introduction

We have developed the following resources to help you establish a library-hack-makerspace in your area:

1. What is a Library-Hack-Makerspace? – know your Onions!2. Understanding the Landscape – getting to know the area that you operate in,

its hacking and making “scene”3. Mapping and Categorising Hackers and Makers – building a directory of local

hackers and makers4. Planning your Library-Hack-Makerspace – organising the space you have

available to best effect5. Programming your frst Event – programming, scheduling and promotion6. Building Local Partnerships with Groups, Sponsors and Retailers – working

with existing groups, local retailers and sponsors to make your events a success7. Generating an Income from your Library-Hack-Makerspace – business

models, membership bodies, joint ventures and hack-maker boxes8. Developing your Library – creating and costing hack-maker boxes

Before you Begin…

The tool-kit serves as a beginner’s guide to help you get started - whether you’re a:

- library service provider interested in forging links with hackers and makers in your local area;

- considering the introduction of a hack and/or makerspace in your library building; or - want to explore how to establish an integrated library-hack-makerspace.

We recommend you read the resources in order to get the most out of the tool-kit.

What is a Library-Hack-Maker Space? - know your onions!

The Basics

Hacking

Ordinarily, ‘hacker’ is understood as a computing term and refers to people who circumvent security systems, apply innovative customisations or combine disparate elements in the course of undertaking computer programming activities; hence, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) interest in identifying and employing them. However, according to Wikipedia, hacking also refers to people who “combine excellence, playfulness, cleverness and exploration”; this goes some way towards explaining our own rather broad defnition of the term - for example, you will fnd activities that range from ‘food’ to ‘place’ hacking at the Waiting Room. Hacker and Makerspaces offer access to tools (both contemporary and traditional), advice and support to use them, and opportunities to socialise and share related knowledge and know-how with fellow users.

Hackspaces frst emerged in Germany during the 1990s and there are nowadays more than a1,750 located all over the world. In simple terms, they are informal computer clubs, but a growing number are more akin to organized computer labs and offer AV equipment, access tohardware and games consoles, as well as sometimes benefting from tool and component libraries. They are most commonly operated on a not-for-private-proft basis and are sustained by an independent community paying membership fees (although there are also commercial hack-spaces and “Tech Shops” operating in the US today). The majority retain their collectivist roots as well as their occasionally subversive undertones, and whilst they boast similarities and cross-over with the 'maker' movement, appeal to the ‘digitally minded’ as well as those with an interest in ‘radical democracy’.

Hackspaces function as centres for peer learning and knowledge sharing, provide a space forpeople to work on individual projects or collaborate to suit them, and ordinarily offer a range ofsocial activities to help defne and galvanise their respective memberships. This is well-illustrated by Hackanooga – a series of community-led events facilitated by the 4th Floor which enable digitally aware, civic-minded designers and developers to collaborate and make full use of Chattanooga’s gigabit fbre broadband network for the public good; for example, to address education and workforce development needs.

Making

Making, by contrast, is more broadly related to the ‘arts’ and ‘crafts’ – defnitions of which abound: see, for example, the Institute of Making and, on craftsmanship, Richard Sennett. As such, makerspaces tend to function more akin to “community workshops” and give rise to artisan businesses, as compared with hack-spaces that operate on more of a ‘digital edge’.

Commercial maker-spaces have grown up in the US in the form of branded “FabLabs” where the mix of equipment on offer is prescribed for research grade facilities as compared with theirgrass-root counterparts. Like independent hack-spaces, community-led maker-spaces encourage shared access to tools, small group discussion, collaboration and participation. They are ordinarily project-based with an emphasis upon curiosity, inquiry, experimentation and play, but also encourage peer-to-peer learning, learning by doing and making - not by clicking.

Ultimately, makerspaces are underpinned by a make-share-learn ethos, and although there are those who advocate for them in place of public libraries, there is considerable scope for their affliation, co-location or, indeed, integration with public libraries where their role in relation to lifelong learning and enterprise support / incubation is concerned.

So, what has all of this got to do with libraries?

The scope for symbiosis between hackspaces, makerspaces and libraries is considerable, and we have identifed three functioning models:

1. Affliation or partnership working can enable public libraries to tap into established communities of interest and pool resources and hacker/maker expertise. For example, at the Waiting Room, Essex Libraries has agreed to offer users access to the library catalogue on-site, whilst creatives have themselves agreed to incorporate pertinent reading lists in MakerBoxes. Elsewhere, in Gateshead, the library service has organised E-Days in collaboration with Makerspace.

2. Co-location has the potential to reduce overheads for both parties (unless the library opts to manage the hack-makerspace itself), as well as increasing footfall for each; the 4th Floor has successfully demonstrated as much, as has Boston Public Library, but this is also something to watch where Exeter FabLab and Burnage Library are concerned in future.

3. Integration is, in many respects, the lesser known quantity. The term is used here to refer to activities at the Waiting Room, as well as in relation to our prototypes, that approach hacking and making as having the potential to evolve libraries in a more fundamental sense than either affliation or co-location. Drawing upon the success of libraries that facilitate self-publishing on the part of the communities they serve, integrated library-hack-makerspaces are designed to invite contributions of knowledge and know-how from library users. Specifcally, this is with a view to distinguishing the library offer, including the stock held, in one branch from another, such that they might underpin the development of joint ventures andlibrary enterprises in the future in relation to a USP.

The Library-Hack-Maker Space Tool-Kit is designed to enable organisations to develop and manage an integrated library-hack-makerspace, but will also be of interest and use to those interested in affliation and straightforward co-location. In particular, the How-To Resources are designed to help you develop a thriving hub that accurately refects the needs and desiresof your local community.

Understanding the Landscape - getting to know the area that you operate in, its hacking and making “scene”

Introduction

Hack/Makerspaces are growing in number year-on-year. The temptation is to take a “cookie-cutter” approach to replication, and build from the top down where design is concerned – the very opposite of the approach taken by grass-root groups. Instead, we recommend you encourage diversity so that library-hack-makerspaces celebrate a community’s local design and manufacturing heritage, harness their unique identity, and better serve individual needs and interests – what is sometimes referred to as building upon the fne grain.

Understanding your landscape will allow you to develop a space with rather than for your community, and afford your library-hack-makerspace greater resilience as well as help you to develop an extended network of support – this, in turn, will reduce the burden placed upon central resources over time. People will respect, use and help maintain facilities and equipment if you nurture a genuine sense of ownership amongst them when trying to establish a peer-to-peer or give-get style platform for knowledge exchange.

Key Issues to Consider

What is the local area like?

What type of hacking/making activities are most appropriate / of most interest to your local community?

Are there organizations already operating within your area that the library-hack-makerspace could build upon?

Our heritage is all around us in buildings, institutions and most importantly our communities, and should be used to guide and inspire the development of your library-hack-maker space toensure it retains a local ethos, identity and vitality.

Method

The process outlined below will help you to decide what types of events your local communityis interested in developing with you and, crucially, will help you fnd the people who are able and willing to get involved.

1: Set up a Facebook Group

Start by setting up a dedicated Facebook Group. Facebook groups let you share things with people that care about a particular topic. You can control who joins the group and also create an online directory of local makers using this method. Instructions about how to set up a Facebook Group are available here. In the “About” section of your Facebook Group, you should aim to be clear about the purpose of the group and the type of people you want to join.For example, “Whether you're an artist, graphic designer, poet, tailor, milliner, musician, flm-maker, cook, thespian or any other creative living in or around Colchester, this page is for you! This Facebook page, is a bulletin board for Makers, for you to post links to the things you're involved in, things you've seen that you like, or events that you are planning to go to...”

2: Survey Your Local Community

Plan your survey. Think carefully about the information you will be collecting and your reasonsfor approaching the community before tailoring your message to suit your purpose. Try to fnd a format that suits most people; online tools that you might want to use include: Survey Monkey and Kwik Surveys. You should approach a number of organisations to help promote your survey – local businesses, colleges and places where people congregate. You could alsoform a team of volunteers to survey passers-by.

Topics you might want to cover could include:

- About You- Contact Details (inc. social media)- Areas of Interest – for example, arts, crafts, making, digital, technology.- Current Creative Activities / Endeavours- Local Group Membership / Afliations- Knowledge, Know-How, Skills – informal, formal, current, aspirational- Interest in Involvement – space and activity development, animation, curation,

learning, sharing, self-publishing, joint venturing, performing, etc.- Availability- Access Requirements- Your Ideas: Think Big!

3: Desktop Research

Desktop research can contribute greatly to the process of setting up a library-hack-makerspace. It enables you to build a picture of the manufacturing heritage of your local community, in relation to which you might want to develop your USP, as well as to start to identify existing groups and organisations that may become partners.

Some ideas for areas to research include:

Researching the history of manufacturing, agriculture and crafts, etc. in your area;

Collecting cuttings from local newspapers or details of the history of your village, townor city (try town and county archives and local libraries);

Collecting old photographs which show how the landscape or area looked in the past;

Undertaking a general or themed oral history project, by writing or recording reminiscences of local people on tape.

Contacting local history groups and societies can also be very helpful. Often, they have the information you need already or can, at least, sign-post you to interesting people/ resources that can save considerable time and effort.

A directory of registered local history groups can be found here;

HistoryPin is a Heritage Lottery Funded project that may contain helpful links to localnews and groups. It can be found here

There are a number of voice recording apps that you could use if you have a smartphone or similar device. All of these voice-recording apps are simple to use. Alternatively, if you like, you can use a Dictaphone. A call out for information about the history of manufacturing might also be a good frst post on the new Facebook Group.

4: Community Engagement Events and Open Days

Run free Open Days and ask your local community what they imagine the space could be used for. It is important to clarify collective aims and objectives (what you all hope to achieve) from the outset, so that you have a shared vision. It is not necessary for all of your communityengagement events to happen on-site to begin with. Take some photographs and create a mini-presentation about the space/vision on a laptop, then go into the spaces where your target audience(s) already gather, such as university and college bars, local clubs and associations and known enthusiasts. It is important to time your events to suit your audience.

Helpful Hints

Remember - you will need to be proactive in identifying local makers and hackers - create a paper form that people can add themselves to during the event;

Be clear from the outset about any Volunteer Opportunities that may be available - tohelp you launch your space, create some defned roles to which people can immediately sign up. For example, bloggers, Twitter users, Facebookers, history enthusiasts, partnership recruiters, workshop leaders, workshop assistants, 'leafeteers' and an Events Manager; and

To increase awareness of your project, ask people 'how' when you survey them.

Mailing Lists

You should create a dedicated mailing list and ensure that you're able to contact the people that attend your events who seem most engaged. Create a paper mailing list for the event that people can sign when providing you with their contact details. Online Mailing List Managers such as Mailchimp, which can create mass emails shots, are also very useful. But, remember to be very careful how you use, store and share people's details, to ensure you comply with the Data Protection Act (DPA).

Mapping and Categorising Hackers and Makers – building a directory of local hackers and makers

Introduction

A key step in establishing any library-hack-makerspace is to build a directory of local hackers and makers already operating in the area concerned, where required, categorising these according to skill-set and, possibly, availability and willingness to get involved.

In developing such a directory, you will:

1. Have an easy to access list of people who might have skills to share/lead workshops;2. Understand what scale and scope of creative activity is already underway in your

area which could, in turn, help you to identify and develop a niche offer;3. Beneft from an evidence base to help justify any decisions you might take about your

target audience, the space you develop, any equipment you might consider acquiring;4. Have a ready-made list of potential members for the future; and5. People who can entrust their knowledge and develop MakerBoxes and Kits.

Although clearly a matter of local needs and preferences, such a directory would usually include:

- Names & Contact Details – inc. workspace location- Websites / Social Media Channels - Skill-set(s)

and/or answers to those questions you posed in conducting your initial survey.

Key Questions to Consider

- What group(s), if any, are you particularly keen to target? Why? Is there an identifed need or desire amongst a particular group to facilitate/participate in hacking and making activities? Are you in receipt, or liable to receive funding to support your activities by virtue of your target audience(s)? If not, to what extent are you able to develop hacking and making activities on a social enterprise footing by virtue of your target audience(s)?

- Is your choice of target audience(s) liable to impact the manner and extent to which they are able/willing to get involved in all aspects of your library-hack-makerspace’s development and operation in the future?

- How might other local stakeholders help you to engage your target audience(s)?

- Are there proportionately more people amongst your target audience who are able and willing to engage in hacking OR making activities? How does that breakdown?

How-To

Acquiring the data needed to populate such a directory can be challenging, because many creatives are self-employed and/or work from home and/or pursue their interests part-time or in their spare time; for an indication of the former, ward level data from the census can be instructive in this regard.

Nonetheless, pertinent sources of information, subject to your focus, could include:

1) An initial survey you undertake2) Local hobby, activity and voluntary groups3) Local Listings – Yell.com4) Schools and Colleges5) Local Authorities6) Companies House

Consideration could also be given to using:

- Press/Media Articles, Appeals and Advertisements- Posters and Leafets- Web and Social Media Channels- Business Card Drop Box

Useful Links

In addition, why not look up your nearest hack / maker space and make frst contact –

Mapping the UK Digital Maker Scene (NESTA) Hackerspace Wiki (international) The Maker Map Make Things Do Stuff The UK Hackspace Foundation

Planning your Library-Hack-Maker Space – organising the space you have available to best effect

Introduction

Before you begin setting up a library-hack-makerspace, you will need to decide where to house it in your building. It is worth planning this carefully to ensure that you are able to provide the right type of space, one which encourages people to come in and get involved, buy the right type of equipment, keep costs to a minimum and run an effcient social enterprise. Additional considerations, subject to your operating model, are liable to include: relevant policy and regulatory frameworks; legal and fnancial issues; senior management or Trustee support and approval.

Contents

The Library-Hack-Maker Space Tool-Kit is designed to enable organisations to develop andmanage an integrated library-hack-maker space. This fact-sheet will help you organise thespace you have to best effect, and because this is intended as a practical guide, there are keyquestions for you to consider. NB: if you are a community-led project starting out without abuilding, you can access advice and support from the My Community Rights Support Servicenationally, or talk in the frst instance to your Council for Voluntary Services.

Key Questions to Consider

What is your building / space like? What space would be most appropriate for hacking and/or making activities? What opportunities and resources could the organisation offer to people who might be

interested in using the space?

Types of Spaces

Ideally, a library-hack-makerspace should offer the local community a place or places for making and hacking, for informal educational events and for knowledge exchange. The size and availability of the space will dictate how big and messy your activity can get – as will any constraints imposed by your Estates Department or landlord – and, this is usually dictated by whether it’s necessary to clear up and pack away after use when hosted in a multifunction rather than dedicated space.

It is not always possible to offer separate spaces for each of these activities. So, if the building itself restricts what is possible, choose the best ft - a space that offers as much fexibility as possible to accommodate the hacking and making events that are of interest to your community, individual making and the sale of materials, kits and products.

A Neutral Area

Because different people experience space differently, consider allocating a neutrally decorated area for the library-hack-makerspace. Public spaces matter: those that are easy to use and accessible for all encourage local community members to use them in different ways and for different types of activity. A neutral space also allows for fexibility as the space evolves.

Workshop Space

Make the most of what the building offers. The workshop space and tools it contains will vary in response to the differing interests and needs of users, the resources available and the requirements of health and safety (and public safety).

Here is an example: Nottingham Hack / Makerspace

How much space should I allocate for the Library-Hack-Maker Space?

This is entirely dependant on the type of building that you have. At the Waiting Room, there are a series of separate spaces in the building: a main informal event and education space, workshop space and small cubicle-style selling spaces. As a minimum, though, we recommend you identify enough space to be able to hack / make small objects and accommodate a shelving unit for knowledge exchange.

What kind of tools should we buy?

The tools you opt to purchase will depend upon the interests of your local community. In someinstances, you might fnd that you already have the tools needed to set up your project. You might decide to purchase others and could ask the local community to help fundraise for them(e.g. via a crowd-funding or voluntary donation scheme).What are the insurance implications of setting up a library-hack-maker space?

You will need comprehensive public liability insurance in order to establish a library-hack-makerspace and provide your organisation with cover for events and making activities with the general public. You should speak to your insurers once you are clear about the type of activities you will be promoting.

You will also need:

A Risk Assessment; A Fire Assessment; A Health and Safety Policy; Parental Permission Forms, a Working with Children Policy and CRB checks as

appropriate; and Induction processes/forms for members who want to use the space unsupervised.

Programming your frst Event – programming, scheduling and promotion

Introduction

Now that you have learned about the cultural/manufacturing heritage of your local community,and you’ve identifed some people who might be willing to help, as well as people whom you’dideally like to cater for, you can start to programme your frst Events.

1. Set a regular date and time

Setting a regular day(s) and times for your events in advance will help you to devise a schedule and will enable people to plan their participation properly. Hint: Call your regular event 'Maker Monday', 'Maker Tuesday' or 'Maker Wednesday' etc. after the regular day(s) of the week. If the day is in the title, it will be easier for people to remember. You can add the theme/maker's name to the title later if you wish.

2. Create an online advance publicity framework

To stimulate interest and participation, publish details of events online as well as in prominent physical locations as much in advance as you possibly can - e.g. on your new Facebook page or on Eventbrite (to create one go to http://www.eventbrite.com/).

To begin with, your posts can be just generic text, including an overview of the ethos, purposeand shape of the event. You can go back and edit each event when you have more detailed information about it, in terms of its leader, venue, timings and equipment needed etc. Hint: See an example here from The Waiting Room

3. Find your makers/teachers

Begin by approaching makers and hackers from your research and community engagement events, and book those who are able and willing to run events in exchange for the opportunityto promote themselves and their area of interest. Try to programme at least 3-6 months in advance, subject to the intended frequency of your events. Makers should be given the optionof doing either an Interactive Lesson or a Show & Tell event. A Show & Tell event is just a presentation, whereas an Interactive Lesson will be a workshop where people 'get their handsdirty' by making something. Once you have appointed your teachers, you can edit your online publicity and distribute any printed posters etc. for individual or multiple events, if required.

Hint: Consider making each teacher a co-host of the Facebook event concerned so that theycan help edit and publicise it as well.

4. Help your teachers to plan good lessons

Ask each teacher to plan their workshops at least one month in advance. For interactive workshops, create a lesson plan or workshop structure for your makers to follow. You will fnd that this puts them at ease, improves the quality of delivery, and can prevent avoidable problems where members of your community have little or no prior experience of presenting in public to an audience.

Generally, a maker/teacher's interactive workshop plan should always include the following steps/items:

A list of equipment and materials, including any necessary personal protective clothing and equipment (and state who provides it);

A list of any hand-outs required; An introduction to what he/she makes; An introduction to his/her work; An overview of what the group will be doing and achieving in the workshop; An example of the end product; Phases and key steps - identify key points to walk round the room, stop and talk to

people and take questions; A schedule of breaks if the workshop session will be more than 2 hours long; A description of how the workshop will be concluded; and Information about how participants can stay in touch, learn more or access

advice/support afterwards.

5. Follow-up publicity

After the event is over, publicise how it went as widely as possible. Share pictures on your website, blog or Facebook page and write a blog post. If appropriate, contact stakeholders and the media. Remember to get the consent of those whose pictures you plan to use.

Hint: If a workshop series is particularly successful, you might also want to to invite local media to provide coverage.

Building Local Partnerships with groups, sponsors and retailers – how to utilise existing groups, local retailers and potential sponsors to support your events

Introduction

Ensuring that your library-hack-makerspace fourishes and is sustainable is an essential objective and should be considered central to your planning efforts. One dimension of this involves developing productive and enduring relationships with relevant interest groups, local retailers, key public sector stakeholders and potential sponsors.

The precise nature and combination will depend on the needs of prospective users and the nature of your local community. This fact-sheet will help you build local partnerships with groups, sponsors and retailers to support your events, and because this is intended as a practical guide, there are key questions for you to consider.

Key questions to consider:

Have you identifed potential partners who share your aims and objectives and/or might be in a position to help you achieve them?

Have you honed your pitch or prepared stock text to readily describe your new venture for people who may not have come across hacking or making before?

Have you given due consideration to the potential for mutual beneft in approaching prospective partners?

Are there any gaps from the point of view of, for example, the promotional, creative industries, equipment, materials and/or fnancial support you are liable to need? How do you propose to address them?

How?

This overview will help you to forge partnerships with existing groups, businesses and stakeholders in your area that may be interested in collaborating with you in a number of different ways.

In particular, if there is an existing hack/makerspace proximate to your library, you should begin by reaching out to the organisers to assess the potential for affliation and/or interest in pursuing a more formal collaboration, which may or may not lead to discussions concerning co-location. If you’re unsure whether such a group exists in your locale, you might usefully consult one of the following sources of information:

Mapping the UK Digital Maker Scene (NESTA) Hackerspace Wiki (international) The Maker Map Make Things Do Stuff The UK Hackspace Foundation

It will be particularly important to build relationships with the private sector in your locale, if you plan to generate income for/from your library-hack-makerspace. You might consider asking them to:

Promote – partnerships with local businesses incentivises them to help promote whatyou are doing;

Donate – if you have a workshop space that requires certain materials, a local supplier may be willing to work closely with you and donate or, else, offer a discount on some of those goods; and

Partner – try to fnd some local retailers willing to supply some of the tools/materials in the MakerKits you move to develop with your users. For example, a local craft shopmay be able to supply swathes of fabric or wool for boxes related to those types of activities. In this way, your activities will also contribute to the local economy from the outset, and this can also help to allay any concerns local businesses might have regarding direct competition for customers/users.

You should also undertake a public sector stakeholder mapping exercise, once you have completed your initial survey, desktop research and begun developing your directory of local creative. This will enable you to target your approach towards potentially interested parties, already having determined your USP in outline, although this is liable to develop over time as your users come and go, and you identify core groups and clusters of interest amongst regulars. For example, you might determined that you should orient your library-hack-makerspace towards young people, in which case it would make sense to identify prominent youth leaders, relevant charities and youth service commissioners/providers at an early stage.

Be Clear!

Whether you are offering a sale space or the opportunity to contribute towards a “MakerKit” (e.g. “how to make gloves” may require wool and knitting needles from a local retailer), it is important to be clear from the outset. So, you should spend time honing your message / pitch – in particular, where you are approaching people who are unfamiliar with hacking/making.

Spread the Word!

The success of your library-hack-makerspace hinges upon USAGE – so, you should plan to devote considerable time and energy to promotional efforts, via a range of appropriate channels. Self-advocacy is essential.

Generating an Income from your Library-Hack-Makerspace– business models, membership bodies, joint ventures and hack-maker kits

Introduction

Unless fully funded by grant, subsidy or through sponsorship, your library-hack-makerspace will need to generate suffcient revenue to fully cover the costs implied, refresh and enhance your offer over time, and ensure that the space remains sustainable. The costs associated with your project will vary according to your ambition, aims and objectives, proposed approach, space, equipment, user numbers, material deployment and the level of volunteer involvement you succeed in securing. But, you will almost certainly need to consider income generation integral to your plans.

Income generation within a public library context is permitted or constrained according to a number of different factors. For further information about Income Generation in Public Libraries, see: INSERT LINK TO FORTHCOMING REPORT.

Key Questions

- What is your project’s fnancial position at start-up?- Have you developed a business plan? Does it contain realistic budget projections

based upon sound costings?- Do you have any existing or confrmed sources of revenue that could enable start-up?- How do you intend to secure the project’s short-term viability and long-term

sustainability? Have you factored staff time and/or volunteer input into your planning?- What sources of additional revenue have you identifed?- If you operate from a public building or integral to a public sector operated library

service, is income generation permissible, welcome and readily accommodated in terms of existing legal and fnancial arrangements?

- Have you undertaken market research to assess your target audience(s) ability/willingness to engage with any paid elements of your service?

How?

Establishing a library-hack-makerspace can be underpinned by income generation for libraries through one or more of the following:

Membership: you might sell membership access to any managed workspace you offer or, alternatively, establish a premium club for peak users of equipment in your space if you’re prevented from charging for certain types of activity as a public library. This model is deployed in one form or another by the vast majority of hack-makerspaces, and has proven particularly successful where the London Hackspace is concerned.

Joint Ventures: you might broker a rental or proft-share agreement with local enterprises you opt to joint venture with to manage any co-located bar/café or discreet space / element of your service. For example, the Waiting Room has so far supported three new enterprises directly. In some instances, this has involved the provision of space and/or equipment use at no or low cost in exchange for a proportion of bar or product sale revenues. This approach can enable you to share fnancial risk with others, as well as grow your community indirectly through joint endeavour for mutual beneft. In addition, it can help you to secure interest and curiosity if you also opt to introduce an element of challenge or competition that directly involves existing/prospective partners; see: It Could Be You!

Sales of Materials and/or Kits: you might seek to generate income from the sale of materials for use in the space and/or MakerKits produced by your hacker/maker community (see: Creating and Costing MakerKits). Once again, it will be important to approach relevant local businesses, if the intention is to foster a spirit of collaboration with others from the outset in this regard.

Developing your Library – creating and costing hack-maker kits

Introduction

This resource will introduce MakerKits and help you work in collaboration with your newly established community of hackers and makers to produce your frst one for sale.

Why is this step important?

In simple terms, MakerKits include the following elements in a branded template format to provide a sense of genuine value – such that people will be willing to pay for them:

1. A personal profle of a local Hacker or Maker (see template profle form here);2. A recommended reading list comprising books, links and resources available

from within your library system and externally;3. Some easy-to-follow instructions for an activity that provides a snippet of the

hacker or maker’s own practice and some handy hints and tips;4. A shopping list and recommended supplier of any addition equipment you might

need to complete/repeat this task;5. Some/all of the equipment you need to undertake the activity; and6. A labelled/branding box/packaging.

Within the Common Libraries suggested framework, items 1-4 should be made freely available to borrow from your give-get library in the form of MakerBoxes. However, when packaged with items 5 and 6, the boxes should become chargeable with prices being determined by the equipment included within the box and a suggested minimum mark-up of 50% + P&P – at which point, we refer to them here as MakerKits.

Crucially, the value of MakerKits does not fow from the materials themselves but, instead, from that added by the individual Hacker or Maker – that is, the intention here is to harness the unique knowledge and know-how of your community in such a way as to position you to market a value added product.Members of the public who purchase the box should be invited to attend and work on the activities at your new ‘Maker’ events where support can be on hand should the need it.

How?

- Find your authors to create your frst box - candidate hackers and makers should be sourced from your desk-based research and newly formed community. Your collectionshould naturally refect any theme, specialism or identity that begins to emerge from taking your previous steps.

- Download and send a template questionnaire to your candidate.- Find a friendly editor to improve any incoming copy.- Find a friendly designer to drop the fnal text into your template; a starter template

from St Botolph’s is available (below) should you require it.- Source the parts/equipment with your maker and consider at this stage the potential

for local businesses to also contribute/derive value from the micro-enterprise.- Assemble your box.- Label and price you box, place on display and market accordingly.

You should fnd the more boxes you create, the easier it becomes to attract new self-publishers, as peoples’ interest is stimulated by what others have made.

MakerKit – Template Contents

About Me:

Name Photo 3 materials I use (inc. photos) 3 tools I use (inc. photos if available) How do I describe what I do in no more than 3 words My Craft My studio/workshop My experience and background

What I Offer (inc. detail):

BORROW: free resources to borrow (books, reference materials and instructions I have donated to the library)

BARTER: free/bartered workshops I am running BUY: things you can buy from me including workshops, ‘kit boxes’ & products

(including stockist information) BESPOKE: commission me details (if they take custom commission)

Follow me:

Twitter Facebook Instagram Blog Website Email Telephone

Learn:

Kit Activity Summary What's in the Kit Shopping List (included recommended suppliers) Step-by-Step Instructions (with photographs)

Extra reading & resources:

Augment Reality/ QR Link to Film Interview with Maker (if exists) Recommended Reading List (including info about how to obtain from Essex

Libraries) Inspirational Designer/Makers/Artists

Other information:

Standard text about Maker Wednesday The Reading Room Waiting Room information Funder/Partner Logos Sponsor Information

EXAMPLE: Clare Sams - MakerKit #1

Name: Clare Sams

What's in the kit?The opportunity to create 3 cross-stitch works of art that celebrate the great and good of our town - St Botolph’s priory, FirstSite and The Waiting Room.

3 Materials I Use

Fabrics Yarn Graph paper

3 Tools I Use

Sewing Machines Knitting machines An array of felt tip pens An assortment of needles

How do I describe what I do in 3 words: stitching and sewing

Defning My CraftMy work as a textile artist documents people and places on the fringes of society, generally focusing on urban environments. I use knit to tell gritty tales because it conjures up feelings ofwarmth and security, probably because it's one of the frst textiles we come into contact with as babies. It brings to mind unthreatening and familiar qualities, prompting us to think of home and domesticity. When I use knit, I utilise these emotions and juxtapose them with the tragic or uncomfortable elements of my narratives to cause an unnerving collision.

What Lights My Creative Fire? My interest and inspirations lie in life’s journeys, and how the choices a person makes, or events that occur, can have dramatic consequences on where and how people live. The frst knitted tapestry I created was ‘Hackney Siege” which documented the two week siege in which Eli Hall took a hostage and the police attempted to contain the situation. Using knit to portray this story drew people in, encouraging them initially to believe it was a quirky, friendly homespun tale. In fact, the grim reality incorporated violence and urban desperation, fre, guns and death.

Soundtrack to my Creativity: I mostly switch between Radio 4 and Radio 6. Radio 4 is a fantastic way to keep up with current affairs. Radio 6 is the Radio 2 for the Indie generation; it encourages that teenage enthusiasm for music and is great for discovering unusual new sounds too.

My Studio/Workshop: I have a designated work space, but always end up working in the house anyway. It's a complete mess which, at times, overtakes the whole house! It is uncontainable.

My Experience and Background: I trained as a tailor at the London College of Fashion. I then worked freelance as a pattern cutter for both High Street brands and designers. Now I split my time between working as a stitch technician at Central St Martins and as a textile artist.

Who inspires me? Tracy Emin because I admire the way she is unafraid to be herself as a woman, and yet not feel confned by the socially expected parameters of femininity.

What do I do to get over any creative blocks? Time is my biggest block to creativity. In an attempt to conquer this, I stay up far too late and neglect the housework.

SO, WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

10cm embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Stranded embroidery cotton Instruction Sheet 3 design charts Plain Grid paper

Shopping List and Suppliers

Larger embroidery hoop Aida Fabric, available in a range of 12 - 18 ,holes per inch Binca embroidery fabric for junior embroiderers Stranded embroidery cotton Thread storage box

Franklins, 13-15 St Botolph’s Street, Colchester CO2 7DU Tel: 01206 563955/574758 Open Monday - Saturday 9:00am until 5:30pm http://franklins.directknitting.co.uk/

Fabric8, 12-14 Head Street, Colchester CO1 1NY Tel: 01206 763432 Hours Mon – Sat 9am until 5.30pm http://www.fabric8online.co.uk/

Further / Recommended Reading

_The cross stitch book_ - Mary Gostelow 1982 Batsford _Manga *cross*-*stitch*_* - Helen McCarthy* *Steve Kyte* 2009 Ilex _Picture it in *cross* *stitch* today - _Jo Verso, 2008 David & Charle

BARTER: come and get crafty with me as I will be running a stitching St Botolph’s project workshop at The Waiting Room on a monthly basis from February until May.

Where to Find Fellow Embroiderers: Colne and Colchester Embroideries Guild hold regularmeetings and exhibitions in the area, website: http://www.embroiderersguildeast.org.uk/branches/branches-a-j/colne-colchester/

You can fnd me at:

Twitter - @claresams Facebook Clare Sams Website www.claresams.co.uk Email: Phone:

Find Out More About My Work:

http://www.ukhandknitting.com/register_of_knitting_artists.php#Clare http://www.colchesterhistoricbuildingsforum.org.uk/drupal/ http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bourne-mill/ http://www.amillionminutes.org/projects/Clare-Sams/

Box Activity Summary: Cross stitch is an embroidery style where each stitch forms a letter “X”. The embroidery canvas is an open weave and the stitches are formed by stitching over the mesh to create designs. Patterns are drawn on squared paper and this is used as a chart to guide the stitching. Stranded embroidery cotton is used to embroider the design, and a blunt ended tapestry needle is best. The cotton has six strands, which are cut to about 50cm, then thread three strands through the needle. If the fabric is a very open weave all six strandsare used, if the fabric is very fne, just one thread would be used.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. To begin, thread the needle with cotton and knot the end. Pass the needle up throughthe fabric and pull the tread through.

2. Pass the needle into the hole to the right and below, then push the needle up through the hole above.

3. This forms a back slash stitch “\”. Build up a line of these following the chart carefully to get the stitches in the right place.

4. Now work back the other way, bringing the needle to the left and up to form the “X”. All the stitches should cross over in the same direction to create a smooth professional fnish.

5. Build up one colour at a time following the chart carefully. Thread through the back of a few stitches to secure the ends of each colour.

6. Once you have mastered this following my charts, why not try designing your own piece of Colchester inspired embroidery.

Makers WednesdaysMaker Wednesdays are weekly, free and informal workshop sessions held at the St Botolph’s Waiting Room. They are open to everyone of all ages, backgrounds and skills. For those who have caught the ‘making’ bug, Maker Wednesdays provide a favour of what’s on offer at our Hack/Maker/Library/Space. A shared workshop environment accessed via a pay what you canmembership scheme. From wiring your own circuit to learning how to use a knitting machine, with access to new tools, knowledge and resources, we want to encourage local people to

share or learn new creative skills. Maker Wednesdays will rotate on a four week programme. You can check our online calendar or Facebook group to fnd what’s coming up.

Attendees should be aware, as a participants of an interactive lesson, you will need to bring materials from the pre-published list in order to join the workshop. Where ever possible we will have tools and materials for people to borrow, but please consult the event details before attending to be sure. Visitors to Maker Wednesdays do not have to participate in the structured events and are always free bring their own project along and work in a shared environment.

We are also interested in hearing from people who have something to teach.

Our format makes it easy to participate and allows for peer-to-peer knowledge exchange in a fun light hearted environment.