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An article about a Maker Space at the Westport, Connecticut library, which includes a 3D printing project. 3-D printing is one of the waves of the future and I know the MST library looked at one; hosting the Maker Space in the middle of the library is a good way to promote it but I wonder if the noise and activity will end up distracting to the other patrons.

This is epic. Someday soon libraries will be repositories of genetic information and in addition to 3D printers they will have biological printers. Even though libraries lending seeds is fairly new, in the not so distant future that function will be obsolete as patrons are able to come into the library and print the genetic materials needed to grow any plant species on record.

Newer 3D printers coming on the market are much larger in size, able to "print" objects 2-3 feet in dimension, or about the size of a bicycle frame. Printers of these size would be something to consider for a Maker Space as they would unlikely be affordable to an individual and would require a community use to justify the cost.

Really cool article that looks at : "Espresso Book Machines can offer two kinds of services: print-on-demand of any title available through the EspressNet database (which includes Google Books, the Internet Archive, all of Ingram's partnered publishers, and more) and self-­publishing services for authors and small publishers."

I sincerely love the idea of these book machines and have ever since they've become available. I don't know why every library doesn't have one (aside from cost).

"The main floor looks more like a sleek Apple showroom than a stuffy library. And instead of a Genius Bar, there's an Ask Me alcove, where you can get help on everything from laptops to flash drives. Rather than the Dewey system, color-coded walls, stairs and elevators help you find not just books and research papers, but also media rooms, video game collections and even a 3-D printing lab to create plastic models. But the best part? Built with state funds and private donations, it's open to the public. Welcome to the library of the future."

An article that mainly repeats many current trends in libraries but is notable for appearing in a mainstream publication (Time Magazine) and being surprisingly aware of some new developments such as maker culture.

An interesting article that may spell bad news for makers of e-readers and particular E Ink. I would tend to agree with the assessment that dedicate e-readers are transition devices--much the same as electronic PDA's have been almost entirely replaced by smartphones. However, I would go further and say it's a format issue; people would tend to devices that are multifunction more often than one dedicated to a single purpose.

"The makers of the POD Espresso Book Machine currently installed in fewer than a hundred bookstores nationwide, have announced new partnerships with Eastman Kodak and ReaderLink Distribution Services. Under the arrangement, the company's POD technology will be made available to retailers who have Kodak Picture Kiosks, currently installed in 105,000 locations according to Publishers Weekly, including drugstores and supermarkets. "

With the recent interest in Maker Spaces for libraries it's worth noting that the prices on the printers have dropped into the $2,000, which is much better than the $10-$30,000 a few years ago.

I'm just surprised that it took academic libraries so long to catch on-- public libraries were really at the forefront of this movement.

Even better than LittleBits (IMHO). The main board plugs right into an Arduino and they have much more interesting bits. Still, at this point of circuit design it seems like you may as well just build it on the breadboard.

FREE Virtual Conference! October 18-19, 2013 One of the speakers is our teacher from the MOOC (David Lankes). I'll be attending! The dates are set for the Library 2.013 Worldwide Virtual Conference. The third annual global conversation about the future of libraries is scheduled for To be kept informed of the latest conference news and updates, please Altogether, there will be eight conference strands covering a wide variety of timely topics, such as, MOOCs, e-books, maker spaces, mobile services, embedded librarians, green libraries, and more!