Reflection Blog #2: Hyperlinked Environments

For this “Choose Your Own Adventure” module, I was most inspired and impressed by the Memphis Public Library’s Cloud901 teen learning space. It is actually similar to my Inspiration Report and I will now have to integrate some of the information from MPL into my report. I love how libraries are expanding beyond the makerspace with recording studios and other creative technologies. The bigger picture here, however, is the connections Memphis teens are making in these spaces. From the aspiring hip-hop artist, Felix, to the already award-winning 18-year-old filmmaker, they have found mentors and friends at Cloud901 who will impact their lives more than anything else. This is the heart of the Hyperlinked Library. This is the core of what the modern library is becoming. The library is about community, not just books. I appreciated that the Memphis government prioritizes libraries and literacy enough to fund them fully, even while being one of the poorest cities in the country. They understand that a community that is educated and cared for is a community that thrives. The Memphis Public Library has fully embraced its role as a community center over a book repository.

The Memphis Public Library’s approach to mobile library services is also inspiring. The recognition that “there are a lot of people in Memphis who can’t afford cars, and public transportation is limited” (Grant, 2021) and the commitment to altering library services to meet the needs of these citizens is key. This is the 2^nd time I have heard about libraries providing services at laundromats and I love it. The laundromat has so much downtime that it is the perfect place to bring unique services. I also loved that they use robots created in other library programming to occupy children during these pop-up mobile library events. This is a great way to expose community members to a library program they may not know about otherwise. The Memphis Public Library is the textbook definition of everything the hyperlinked library strives to be.