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1nandadevi
This is a Topic area for discussions relating to the Section titled Activity in the Library Space in the member-created LibraryThing Wiki document The Personal Library Guide.
Readers can use the above links to jump backward and forward between this discussion area and the related Section in 'The Personal Library Guide'. All LibraryThing members have access which allows them to edit text in The Personal Library Guide. However, it is anticipated that members will use the discussion Topic area here to ask questions, relate personal stories and debate the merits of edits and additions to the actual Guide before implementing them. Readers are particularly invited to share stories of their real experience of activities that they have hosted in their personal libraries.
There are some existing Topic discussions and posts relating to the human dimensions of personal libraries:
Link to Discussion Topic in LT about Book reading ambiance
Link to Discussion Topic in LT about Book-Related Board & Trivia Games
Link to Discussion Group in LT about the game of Chess
Link to Discussion Group in LT about the game of Go
Readers can use the above links to jump backward and forward between this discussion area and the related Section in 'The Personal Library Guide'. All LibraryThing members have access which allows them to edit text in The Personal Library Guide. However, it is anticipated that members will use the discussion Topic area here to ask questions, relate personal stories and debate the merits of edits and additions to the actual Guide before implementing them. Readers are particularly invited to share stories of their real experience of activities that they have hosted in their personal libraries.
There are some existing Topic discussions and posts relating to the human dimensions of personal libraries:
Link to Discussion Topic in LT about Book reading ambiance
Link to Discussion Topic in LT about Book-Related Board & Trivia Games
Link to Discussion Group in LT about the game of Chess
Link to Discussion Group in LT about the game of Go
2nandadevi
My initial impression of this Section was that it was going to be about 'social' (and unexpected) activities, because that contrasted so strongly with the 'taken for granted' notion that the other natural activities in a library were reading, writing and research (all largely solitary activities).
Except that the 'taken for granted' notions also deserve a place in the sun, and there's a lot to be said about research and writing (and reading). The Section titled 'The Human Dimensions of a Library' talks about writing desks and study areas, and children's spaces in libraries, but it doesn't talk about what writers, researchers, children and readers 'do' in those spaces. There's some aspects of 'activity' which don't involve furniture.
The activity that interests me at the moment is 'learning and inspiration', particularly as it applies to children and young adults in the library. I'm reminded of Hermann Hesse talking about his grandfather's library (which included a lot of Asian material) setting him on the path of an interest in Eastern mysticism. But that's just anecdotal, is there some research that backs up the notion that 'growing up surrounded by books is good (better) for children than not (or better than growing up with the internet or TV)'? It sort of ties in with Home Schooling (and that deserves a discussion area in its own right), but it is more about 'extending' imagination and interest rather than responding to the requirements of the curriculum. Of course home schooling offers the possibility of extending the curriculum to wherever imagination 'takes it' - but again that's a discussion for elsewhere in this document.
So the 'libraries as inspiration for children and young adults' will pop up in various Sections of the document:
Growing A Library: In the sense of acquiring those books (and objects) that will educate and inspire. If there is still a place for books (and objects) in the internet age, has the internet at least made some changes to what we'd recommend for such a library? For instance, is there still an argument for having atlases and dictionaries and encyclopaedias? Or does the 'tactile' advantage of books still exist even in those areas which are so well served by the internet? And to what degree can you anticipate what books and objects should be acquired in order to inspire or educate anyway? Especially if part of the power of a library is to take someone to some place they hadn't previously imagined? Is part of the power of a collection of books and objects not just the items themselves, but their association with where they have come from, that the library draws power (and the power to influence and inspire) from its associations as well as its content. If that is the case, then a collection of your grandparent's books might be 'as important' as a new copy of 'great books of the world' (or indeed as having access to the internet) in inspiring the next generation. This begins to suggest that the (one of the) most powerful combination (in terms of inspiration at least) are objects with personal associations with people the child knows (or knows of...) and then books about those objects (or the places where they came from). Also noting the power of maps and charts.
The Human Dimensions of a Library: In the sense that children and young adults will have a 'place' in the library, both physically and spiritually. Especially as there is a tendency as the library becomes larger for it to become the 'owners' particular space. And at a certain point, if other things share the library space there will be conflict between the physical (space) requirements of certain activities (eg exercise and study might be incompatible - but not necessarily...). And what does a 'children's space' look like anyway? We are looking at provision for children (eg desks, shelf height etc), but also 'attractors' for children. A Russian novelist talked about being inspired to travel by simple jars of water that had been placed on a shelf, each jar labelled with the name of an exotic place. There are also inhibitors for children, eg "Don't touch that!", and "Don't be so noisy!". The advantage of having their own space, versus knowing that they are 'trusted' in the adult space, or a combination of both those approaches. This brings in the notion of having books in the 'living spaces' of the house rather than in (or instead of 'only in') a dedicated library room.
Activity in the Library Space: In the sense that 'inspiration' and 'education' are major activities that take place in the library space. AND Activity in the Virtual Library Space: In the sense that this activity spills over into the virtual library space. How this ties in with Home education, and adult reading/writing/research. Collaborating in these spaces (with adults and other children). Here is the place to address the questions, has growing up surrounded by books ever really made a difference? And if so, is this still true in an internet age?
There's some research (and opinions") on some of these issues out there (and much of it contestable and controversial) which I'll need to read and listen to before I set about writing all of this up.
Except that the 'taken for granted' notions also deserve a place in the sun, and there's a lot to be said about research and writing (and reading). The Section titled 'The Human Dimensions of a Library' talks about writing desks and study areas, and children's spaces in libraries, but it doesn't talk about what writers, researchers, children and readers 'do' in those spaces. There's some aspects of 'activity' which don't involve furniture.
The activity that interests me at the moment is 'learning and inspiration', particularly as it applies to children and young adults in the library. I'm reminded of Hermann Hesse talking about his grandfather's library (which included a lot of Asian material) setting him on the path of an interest in Eastern mysticism. But that's just anecdotal, is there some research that backs up the notion that 'growing up surrounded by books is good (better) for children than not (or better than growing up with the internet or TV)'? It sort of ties in with Home Schooling (and that deserves a discussion area in its own right), but it is more about 'extending' imagination and interest rather than responding to the requirements of the curriculum. Of course home schooling offers the possibility of extending the curriculum to wherever imagination 'takes it' - but again that's a discussion for elsewhere in this document.
So the 'libraries as inspiration for children and young adults' will pop up in various Sections of the document:
Growing A Library: In the sense of acquiring those books (and objects) that will educate and inspire. If there is still a place for books (and objects) in the internet age, has the internet at least made some changes to what we'd recommend for such a library? For instance, is there still an argument for having atlases and dictionaries and encyclopaedias? Or does the 'tactile' advantage of books still exist even in those areas which are so well served by the internet? And to what degree can you anticipate what books and objects should be acquired in order to inspire or educate anyway? Especially if part of the power of a library is to take someone to some place they hadn't previously imagined? Is part of the power of a collection of books and objects not just the items themselves, but their association with where they have come from, that the library draws power (and the power to influence and inspire) from its associations as well as its content. If that is the case, then a collection of your grandparent's books might be 'as important' as a new copy of 'great books of the world' (or indeed as having access to the internet) in inspiring the next generation. This begins to suggest that the (one of the) most powerful combination (in terms of inspiration at least) are objects with personal associations with people the child knows (or knows of...) and then books about those objects (or the places where they came from). Also noting the power of maps and charts.
The Human Dimensions of a Library: In the sense that children and young adults will have a 'place' in the library, both physically and spiritually. Especially as there is a tendency as the library becomes larger for it to become the 'owners' particular space. And at a certain point, if other things share the library space there will be conflict between the physical (space) requirements of certain activities (eg exercise and study might be incompatible - but not necessarily...). And what does a 'children's space' look like anyway? We are looking at provision for children (eg desks, shelf height etc), but also 'attractors' for children. A Russian novelist talked about being inspired to travel by simple jars of water that had been placed on a shelf, each jar labelled with the name of an exotic place. There are also inhibitors for children, eg "Don't touch that!", and "Don't be so noisy!". The advantage of having their own space, versus knowing that they are 'trusted' in the adult space, or a combination of both those approaches. This brings in the notion of having books in the 'living spaces' of the house rather than in (or instead of 'only in') a dedicated library room.
Activity in the Library Space: In the sense that 'inspiration' and 'education' are major activities that take place in the library space. AND Activity in the Virtual Library Space: In the sense that this activity spills over into the virtual library space. How this ties in with Home education, and adult reading/writing/research. Collaborating in these spaces (with adults and other children). Here is the place to address the questions, has growing up surrounded by books ever really made a difference? And if so, is this still true in an internet age?
There's some research (and opinions") on some of these issues out there (and much of it contestable and controversial) which I'll need to read and listen to before I set about writing all of this up.
