title: Can public libraries still be public? A case study of the introduction of maker education as a new educational activity in the makerspaces of the Amsterdam Public Library
Creators: name: Sjollema, Sonia
Publisher: name: The University of Edinburgh
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: role of public libraries
subject: Amsterdam Public Library
subject: makerspace
subject: makerspace coaches
subject: democratising society
subject: market-driven approaches
subject: promoting basic skills
subject: budget cuts
subject: public values
subject: citizen participation
subject: non-formal education in libraries
subject: libraries’ public mission

description: This thesis presents a case study on the introduction of maker education as a new educational activity in the makerspaces of the Amsterdam Public Library. In these newly established makerspaces, children can use crafts and modern technologies like 3D printers and laser cutters to create artefacts. This research aims to better understand the changing educational and public roles of public libraries in the Netherlands and discuss what introducing new activities means for their future development. The research used a case study design, including a historical and socio-political context analysis and an empirical study. The empirical study involved ten in-depth interviews with maker space coaches to illuminate their educational perceptions and ambitions. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analysed using thematic analysis. In this study, Habermas’ (1991) public sphere concept was used to examine the public role of libraries in conjunction with the triadic model of educational aims (Aspin &amp; Chapman, 2001, 2012; Biesta, 2006) and Regmi's (2017) educational processes of meaning-making, opinion-formation and intersubjective deliberation. From this perspective, public libraries can be perceived as institutions that contribute to the common good based on democratic values of equality and social justice and are responsive to diverse societal needs. Additionally, public libraries function as intermediate institutions in deliberative democracy, thematising societal issues via collections, exhibitions, and events to facilitate opinion-formation processes in civil society. Finally, they can be seen as public institutions from their educational role if emancipatory and democratic aims are part of their educational mission. The historical analysis showed that libraries have played a vital public role in various eras. However, recent socio-political changes indicate that the public role of libraries is declining. Library policies focus on lifelong learning, citizenship, and active social participation, emphasising individual skill development as solutions for structural, social, and economic problems. In addition, the recent introduction of accountability systems and output measurement on preset policy goals poses the risk of top-down control of public institutions. These systems impede professional judgment and responsiveness to the context-specific needs of library users and the democratic participation of the public in library policy. Analysing the narratives of makerspace coaches revealed that coaches do not adhere to the agenda of lifelong learning and active and responsible citizenship. Instead, they address broader educational aims, including ‘agency and voice’. Their educational role involves thematising relevant societal issues closely related to children's daily experiences. Moreover, the coaches have a social and political awareness that reflects the public values of the library. They describe an educational practice not standardised or regulated by narrow, measurable objectives. Their approach varied depending on the location, the children's backgrounds and the coaches’ interests. The research shows that if educational activities are developed outside the policy of schooling and without interference from accountability systems, there is still an opportunity to resist the neoliberal agenda of individual skill development and reconnect to the library's history as an educational and public institution. The research indicates that, under specific circumstances, small-scale bottom-up initiatives involving professionals, partners, and social movements can develop. These initiatives enrich educational discourses and potentially strengthen the library as a public educational good. Nevertheless, the future of these makerspaces is ambiguous. Further institutionalisation may lead to a loss of the qualities observed in this research. Future research should explore the sustainability of makerspaces within the Amsterdam Public Library. Furthermore, new case studies should determine if the case in Amsterdam is unique or if more initiatives reimagine the library as a public educational good. Additionally, systematic research is needed to understand the conditions and support systems fostering librarians as normative educational professionals and education as a context-based practice.