Harvard Library Test Kitchen

Harvard's Graduate School of Design offers the seminar Library Test Kitchen:

Part class, part funded research, we're fabricating library futures.

We're an Advanced Seminar in the Harvard Graduate School of Design. We have a working budget, a defined client, and a desire for impact. And we want to have fun while we're at it.

Our goal is real-world impact inside and outside the walls of Harvard. We make things that contribute to the library discourse. We collaborate with the Harvard Library, and academic and public libraries from across the U.S.

Knowledge, public space, the internet, education, these are massive contemporary forces libraries bear. We see libraries as an untapped creative domain for architects, designers -- folks of all kinds -- to dig into. Their program is the convergence of knowledge, space, community, and relationships. 

November-December 2012, they have a pop-up Labrary with installations open to the public to explore and discuss library opportunities and futures.

...I want one, too.

Effective Library Management

1. Be a mensch (Josh credits his father in Minnesota with teaching him this)
2. 
   

• Care… at least a little 
• Don’t lie (you may not always be able to convey the entire truth, but do not lie)
• Don’t be a coward (you don’t have to be stalwartly brave—just don’t be a coward)

-Not Dead Yet, LJ

1001 Books Before Kindergarten

"Literacy is one of the greatest gifts a parent can give a child, and learning the skills needed for reading and writing begins at infancy into childhood.

...
1,001 Books Before Kindergarten is a reading program for families with children from birth through age 5. It was designed to get parents actively involved in reading to their children from birth and help foster a lifelong love of reading as children gain pre-literacy skills.
...
At registration, families receive information about the program and the Library, the children's collection and recommended reads, early literacy skills and early literacy practices, and a book log for the first 100 titles recorded in 1,001 Books Before Kindergarten.
After each set of 100 books are read and logged, parents and children return to the Youth Services Desk to pick up a prize and pages for the next 100 books and receive additional information about upcoming events.
When 1,001 books are reached, each child will get a graduation ceremony, a book, and his or her picture on the Library's wall of stars.
...
1,001 books read over the years makes reading together a special time and becomes part of a daily routine.  Every time a parent reads a book to a child, it counts in this program, and there will be favorite books children will want to hear over and over again. It is truly about having fun and enjoying the adventure along the way!"

Could be cool to see if Evanced or another online reading program tracker could help keep track of the 100(s of) books.

-From the RAILS press release about Algonquin's new program. 

Scavenger Hunt with Friends

Teen Tech Week idea from YALSA YALS Winter 2013

For tweens/teens, for adults, or for whoever wants to participate? Just in the library or all around town... lots of options! Maybe have the list of items on a bookmark or the website for those who want to participate and don't have a smart phone.

App mentioned by YALSA: http://scavengerhuntwithfriends.com/

(also fun for staff aka "trial run")