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Full-Text Articles in Library and Information Science
Convivial Making: Power In Public Library Creative Places, Shannon Crawford Barniskis
Convivial Making: Power In Public Library Creative Places, Shannon Crawford Barniskis
Theses and Dissertations
In 2011, public libraries began to provide access to collaborative creative places, frequently called “makerspaces.” The professional literature portrays these as beneficial for communities and individuals through their support of creativity, innovation, learning, and access to high-tech tools such as 3D printers. As in longstanding “library faith” narratives, which pin the library’s existence to widely held values, makerspace rhetoric describes access to tools and skills as instrumental for a stronger economy or democracy, social justice, and/or individual happiness. The rhetoric generally frames these places as empowering. Yet the concept of power has been neither well-theorized within the library makerspace literature …
"Neighborhood Library Modernization": Public Library Expansion In Milwaukee During The 1960s And 1970s, Madeline Brenner
"Neighborhood Library Modernization": Public Library Expansion In Milwaukee During The 1960s And 1970s, Madeline Brenner
Theses and Dissertations
By the second half of the 20th century, public libraries expanded their reach across American cities and transformed the urban landscape. With almost 10,000 libraries in U.S. cities by 1960, new library development was at an all-time high. Despite this success, few scholars have analyzed these critical changes. Since the historical scholarship on library development is limited, this thesis analyzes the history of public library development in Milwaukee during the 1960s and 1970s. The goals of community engagement and partnership through city-wide circulation of material guided the development of branch library construction under the Ten-Year Library Plan of 1962 to …