The Original Sharing Economy
Uber, Airbnb, Lyft…are all companies that come to mind when talk turns to a sharing economy. However, each of these companies are in business to turn a profit. When an Uber or Lyft driver takes someone to the airport in their car or an Airbnb host rents out part of their house, is that really sharing? The definition of sharing is the joint use of a resource or space. When you drive a friend to the airport or let them stay with you, it is done as a favor to someone you know without charging a fee. Accepting payment for such services undermines the sharing aspect.
Public, school and academic libraries are really the “sharing” originators. A new trend in libraries is the lending or sharing of items other than books. For example, there are Libraries of Things in Sacramento, Oregon, Massachusetts, Canada and Europe. They are part of the public library in those cities and patrons can borrow items such as musical instruments or tools. Other libraries lend out kitchen gadgets or even artwork to hang on your wall for a month.
At LJCDS, we are always trying to identify ways to support and share with students. Two years ago, we started providing an extremely popular charging station for mobile phones. We also serve as the students' pseudo-office. We provide the usual office supplies—staplers, paper, paper clips, tape, glue, three-hole punches, and occasionally ribbon and wrapping paper. We also have options for copiers, printers and a scanner. Our library glassroom (coined as such by Upper School teacher Jonathan Shulman) and our seminar rooms also serve as collaborative work, study and meeting spaces.
Librarians are missing out when we insist that patrons borrow books. We are sharing— sharing the physical book, yes, but also sharing our love of reading, of literature, of a particular author, and sharing intangibles like opportunities for author visits. We’ve been so fortunate to welcome recent authors such as Mina Javaherbin (The Secret Message), Brian Floca (Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11) and Robin Preiss Glasser (illustrator of Fancy Nancy) to our campus. These author visits occur a few times a year and parents are always welcome.
The intangibles also now include e-books and e-audiobooks. Lower, Middle and Upper School students, plus faculty and staff, have access to OverDrive eBooks. And now, we’re excited to announce parents can have their own OverDrive account as well. Please stop by and ask any of the librarians to assist you in setting up an OverDrive account. Susan Middleton in Lower School, Rafael Eaton in Middle School and I in Upper School would be happy to help with this or any other library needs.
