Jessamyn West, Technology Lady (2015)

In smalltown Vermont libraries, we definitely see this as a win-win as long as there is funding for it. The big deal with hackerspaces is making sure they're accessible to everyone (sometimes tricky but a mandate of what a public library needs to do) and inclusive (so not just technically possible for people to use but welcoming to everyone as much as possible).

We've seen people do this well by combining things that are more like toolshops with things that are more like craft and home ec-type spaces (hey it's all about making things) and also recording/video studios. Anything where pooling community resources makes a lot of sense. The big deal is finding the funding and the right people working there to make it all work within library culture as well as within makerspace culture. The two cultures share a lot but there are some non-overlap areas that need to be negotiated well.

In Vermont there are a lot of older people with deep "knowledge of tools" who can find a great slot for them as they may age out of the work-all-day world but can be great mentors to younger folks who might not otherwise have these options. There's also a lot of tech ed where I am, so kids can learn some of this is school which is excellent as well.

IronMouth I think? I don't mod there anymore and haven't in a while but I still see some of the respected conservative commenters there but fewer than in the past.

Thanks -- I feel very strongly that you can't deal with digital divide issues without dealing with people's emotional issues surrounding technology.

Also, everything I learned about teaching tech I feel like I got from Phil Agre.

http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/how-to-help.html

Count me as part of the strange group that is dismayed at the quality but for some reason I can't fully explain, keeps showing up.

I've had an account since late 2000 (yes, 17 years). I still read Metafilter pretty much every day, but I have gotten to where I will not comment, because I recognize that I do not think the "right" way. I've made perhaps two comments in the last 6 years. I frequently will type up a comment but then erase it without clicking save, because I know my thoughts would not be welcome.

For example, when the thread[1] about the Democratic National Convention was underway last summer, I noticed the thread was up for 48 hours, had over 3000 comments, and barely any mention of the resignation of the DNC chair (Debbie Wasserman Schultz), which had occurred just a few days prior. Go ahead and look through that that thread now (it's long since closed). There are a grand total of four mentions of Schultz's name. That's it, out of more than 3000 total comments. That's really strange, isn't it? The chair of one of the two major US party resigning a few days before their presidential convention is highly unusual and really should garner a bit more conversation, one would think. I'm sure if the chair of the RNC had resigned a few days before the Republican convention, there would have been more than just four comments about it. I was about to point this out, but then I realized that if they wanted to talk about it, they already would have. No one wanted to hear it. The groupthink is just that strong. Shut up and toe the party line (in every sense).

I also see other folks commenting here saying Metafilter's moderation is good and that poor comments are removed, but then I frequently see things like this comment, which is the first response to a post[2] about the recently-leaked climate change report:

> thank god i'll be dead by then. enjoy your eternal life on a cinder, peter thiel

That was allowed to remain (and has multiple "favorites"), because it's apparently okay if the Earth is ruined and everyone dies, as long as some techbro Metafilter doesn't like gets what's coming to him. That's what passes for "quality" on Metafilter these days, along with near-daily posts about how horrible white people are.[3]

And yet I can't look away. I'm still there reading it every day. Don't ask me why.

[1] http://www.metafilter.com/161201/Chase-the-Clouds-Away

[2] http://www.metafilter.com/168710/Very-High-Confidence

[3] http://www.metafilter.com/168715/White-Americans-are-probabl...

You missed this part of the interview:

People have moral panics about bedbugs in their library or perverts in the library or — you’ll catch a cold from the library, like, whatever the thing is. And there’s a shred of truth to that, but realistically people are afraid of their own public, I think, in a lot of ways. And so being kind of matter-of-fact about the fact that, “Well, these really are who your neighbors are. Like, you can choose just to ignore that that’s how the world works, but you know, these are all your neighbors, and you see them all at the public library. You’re welcome.