I’ve watched the video embedded below from 37signals co-founder, Jason Fried, a few times and have enjoyed the concepts that he discusses about where do you really want to go when you want to get work done. Fried details why work (as a physical place) is not where people want to go when they need to actually “get work done.” The primary reason is that “work” has too many distractions, and people trade in their “work day” for a series of “work moments.”
One of the places that Fried mentions where people go to actually get work done is the library. This has been sticking in the back of my brain for a few weeks now about how we value “The Library” (a physical place), and the hodge-podge concepts that are attempting to move “The Library” into a more progressive place that resembles a Starbucks or Barnes & Noble store instead of the traditional quiet space.
Should the physical space of a library be a “third place” of social gathering, discussion and idea sharing… or would we benefit more if the physical space of a library reverted back to the traditional area where everyone expects it to be a quiet place to go and get work done without interruptions? As a librarian, or as a patron of a work place library, which would you prefer? I’ll be covering this topic at the February Ark Conference in New York and would love to get some suggestions to share.