Intentionally Backwards, the Future of Learning in Libraries

How do you get to work each day? Whether you walk, bike, drive, ride the bus or train, experience setbacks or have an easy path, at some point you set a goal to change your physical location, to get to work, and hit the road. What goals do you have for the work you do with youth? What impact would you like to have in their lives? Imagine for a moment that you could make a decision to be an agent of change in their lives and turn that vision into reality. One way to do this is to transform your library into an active learning center using progressive education theories, backwards design, and outcome measures. Becoming intentional about the change we wish to see moves our brains from what is sometimes a traditional way of looking at things--focusing on surviving--and moving to a less traditional framework--focusing on thriving. Thriving Libraries Are Community Learning Centers As e-book circulation exceeds--or is poised to exceed--print materials, and customers look to us for higher level technical support, libraries are quickly moving from storehouses of information to facilitators of learning. From Chicago Public Library's YOU media to maker spaces to libraries as publishers to connected learning, everyone's buzzing about, in the words of Joan Frye Williams, the move from "grocery store to kitchen." (1) Instead of offering customers a chance to acquire knowledge in the form of physical materials, we are offering customers the opportunity to play with information and create and share new knowledge. Beyond just supplying the ingredients needed to fulfill a pre-existing recipe, we can now offer customers the space and support to work together as chefs. This is hardly a new concept. Margaret Monroe encouraged librarians to be change agents in their communities, and noted how new technologies dramatically augmented potential for customer learning, as far back as 1976. (2) Libraries have been offering computer classes or some sort of technical assistance almost as long as they've had computers. Adults have been taking genealogy and resume writing workshops, children have been building literacy skills in storytime, and teens, well things are looking up for teens. The new era of learning in libraries perfectly aligns with teen development and the social nature of a teen's learning process. Learning In Libraries In The 21st Century Is Active Librarians have always been facilitators of learning, We have always helped people find the resources they need in order to acquire information ... to learn. What has changed is our understanding of the role of the educator. Attendees of traditional schools may identify a teacher as the font of knowledge who pontificates, and the roll of students may be to listen and absorb. In that scenario, "learning" is equated to memorization and recitation. But, if we expand our view of the role of the educator to one who facilitates learning, we can include coaches, mentors, parents, peers, and, absolutely, librarians. After over 20 years of supporting schools, the MacArthur Foundation rethought their approach and definition of where learning was really happening. In 2004 they began investigating out-of-school-time learning and the transformative power of digital media and the Internet. (3) Out of this research, Chicago's YOUmedia was born and became a national model for connected learning--learning that is social, student driven, and ongoing. After the rousing success of the initial project, the MacArthur Foundation entered phase two, which has not only clearly identified libraries as community learning institutions, but dares to suggest that schools should adopt the approaches being employed by libraries using connected learning. If you were fortunate enough to catch YALSA and connectedlearning.tv's recent series, you heard about some great strategies and examples of this trending method. (4) Connected learning is rooted in the work of progressive educators like John Dewey and Maria Montessori, who knew that to truly educate, we must provide a safe social environment for students to actively experiment and construct their own, personally relevant learning. …