Tempe Public Library

The library has a lovely cafe, with with some book sales taking place there too


and nice labelling for the service desks

You can see more photographs of the library here.

Burton Barr Central Library

This library has a new makerspace.


There is also a space for business entrepreneurs


You can see more photographs of the library here.

Sedona Public Library

You can see more photographs here.

Harmon Library

This library was hard to photograph as the launch for the summer reading program was taking place and the library was packed.

The outdoor reading space is lovely

There are more photographs of this library.

May Library

Ecollections were promoted in the library


The tech bar was working too
You can see more photographs of this library here.

Sheridan Library

Members of the public can request 3D prints (and these are free). The printer was working on one of these requests


The had a display of staff picks See more photographs here.

Koelbel Library

The blue and white cylinders look like sculptures, but are sound proofing

3D printing choices

You can see more photographs here.

Southglenn Library

This library has a studio, and you can also see the 3D printer (printing requests from the public - this is a free service).

You can also borrow an impressive range of technology
You can see more photographs here.

Castlewood Library

This library has a makerspace, which is staffed for about 4 hours a day.


with a lovely range of tools You can see more photographs here.

Smoky Hill Library

The library has a sound proof studio



and drop in tech demos You can see more photographs here.

Anythink Wright Farms

This has lovely indoor

and outdoor spaces

You can see more photographs here.

Anythink Brighton

This has a studio space





There is a lovely outdoor space which is well used
You can see more photographs here.

Anythink Huron Street

These stylised trees in the library are very beautiful.


The maker space in the library is open plan, as this green wall shows
You can see more photographs here.

Anythink Perl Mack

This is a lovely library



This table has noodles on it to encourage people to make things.

You can see more photographs here.

Douglas County Libraries in Parker

This library has a media lab

Part of the purpose of this is for ebook creation. You can see more photographs here.

Douglas County Libraries in Highlands Ranch

This had some interesting on shelf readers advisory suggestions (which look like this)

and some helpful advice on public computers You can see more photographs here.

Library 21C, CO

This is at Colorado Springs, and is one year old.  It is in a refurbished building, and shows a great commitment to making and learning.

with nice service desks You can see more photographs here.

Main Library, Denver Public Library

Ecollections were visible in the library - with different ways of connecting.

You could browse for ebooks


You can also listen to current local music (this is brilliant)
You can see more photographs here.

My review of The library innovation toolkit

The Library Innovation Toolkit: Ideas, Strategies, and Programs by Anthony Molaro
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First up, I really wanted to like this book. I know that the three star rating does not show that I liked it a lot, but it is okay (and I seem to read a lot of books with a three star rating). It is a solid book, with some chapters deserving a 5 star rating (the work by Parkes Library is amongst these), but other chapters were not as strong. It has some good ideas and some useful library examples, and there ideas which can be used from each chapter. Maybe the timing of me reading it was wrong. There were ideas people could use in their libraries, not as many as I was expecting.

My three star rating may also be about the interpretation of the word innovation, but that is a tough idea to correctly position (for example, playing catch up is rarely innovation).

View all my reviews

Denver Art Museum

This museum was impressive, not simply for its collections, but how interactivity was being encouraged for adults as well as children.  There were several spaces for reading and thinking about exhibitions, but there were also things to do.

This show some of the set up for children for the Miro exhibition


This space was next to a textile exhibition You can see more photographs here.

Museo Textil de Oaxaca

This group was crocheting items for display at the museum (and I asked their permission before photographing)

It was nice fit for this museum. You can see more photographs here.

Hatch, by Watertown Free Public Library

Hatch is in a mall, near an innovation space. The day I visited it, I could not photograph it all as there was a coding class held out the back.
It was promoted through the mall You can see more photographs here.

Robbins Library, Arlington, MA

This was a very nice library, with a recent addition to an earlier library.  They were promoting the Massachusetts wide ebooks collaboration,


which interestingly was not being promoted in other libraries I visited there.
They are also in the growing number of libraries with bees

You can see more photographs of the library here.

My review of The subversive stitch

The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine by Rozsika Parker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had read this many years ago, but had decided it would be timely to reread this since I have been reading books like Craftivism, Bibliocraft, Strange material and the Bayeaux Tapestry. This one really did come first, and those other titles follow very worthily. It is a bit dated, but still a very strong book to read, and much of the anger over historical depictions is still very valid. It is still necessary reading (well, at least very strongly suggested reading) after reading some of the titles listed earlier in the review.

We still need to be angry about mis-depictions of women, and what we do, and what the history says has been done.

View all my reviews

Biblioteca Publica Central, Oaxaca, Mexico

The library has been in this building for a couple of decades.  It was put here as part of urban renewal.

This shows the events for June on the noticeboard outside the library.
There are lovely reading spaces in this library