The Idea+Space is a small space for your BIG ideas. Opening October 20, 2014 at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, in Tucson Arizona. A project of the Pima County Public Library with funding from the Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records (a division of the Secretary of State) with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Innovation is a literacy that can be taught, and that has many applications. At its heart, innovation startup systems teach how to test a new idea for value and usefulness.

Photo: "School for Startup" at CoLab Workspace, August 2013. School for Startup was an intensive weekend where 11 to 15-year-olds were taught a curriculum that combined the lean startup methodology with Junior Achievement. Photo credit: Lisa Bunker.

Libraries across the U.S. are re-thinking how they serve the continuum of businesses, as well as their ability to provide high-end equipment for digital arts and fabrication.

Pictured is the THINKspot at Mesa Public Library's Red Mountain Branch. The THINKspot has a sound stage, 3D-modeling software and printers, and smartboard conferencing equipment. It is part of the Phoenix-based system of Alexandria Network Libraries created by ASU.

Photo credit: Lisa Bunker

When you see the fire department on the road do you still assume there's a fire? It's more likely a car accident, right? The truth is, there are fewer fires these days. Libraries are adapting in a similar way.

At our core, I believe we stand for as-needed help, literacy, and community sharing. We are asking ourselves: "What if we weren't just a place of consumption, but also a place where people create things? What if we look beyond traditional literacy to other literacies crucial to life in the 21st-Century? What if we shared more than books, music and movies?"

The Chattanooga Public Library took the fourth floor, which had been used just for storage, and converted it into a 12,000 sq ft. experimental space for "production, connection, and sharing of knowledge."

Read more here:
http://chattlibrary.org/4th-floor
and here:
http://www.natehill.net/4thfloor.html

Photo: Nate Hill
http://www.natehill.net/4thfloor.html

The Chattanooga Public Library took the fourth floor, which had been used just for storage, and converted it into a 12,000 sq ft. experimental space for "production, connection, and sharing of knowledge."

Read more here:
http://chattlibrary.org/4th-floor
and here:
http://www.natehill.net/4thfloor.html

Photo: Nate Hill
http://www.natehill.net/4thfloor.html

The Chattanooga Public Library took the fourth floor, which had been used just for storage, and converted it into a 12,000 sq ft. experimental space for "production, connection, and sharing of knowledge."

Read more here:
http://chattlibrary.org/4th-floor
and here:
http://www.natehill.net/4thfloor.html

Photo: Nate Hill
http://www.natehill.net/4thfloor.html

The Oak Park Public Library (Oak Park , IL) converted their 9x13' cafe into an experimental space they named the Idea Box. For the last 2 years they have had a wide variety of exhibits: artists in residence, collaborative poetry, technology demonstrations, community brainstorming and more.

Read more here:
http://oppl.org/events-classes/idea-box
and here:
https://www.flickr.com/search/?tags=ideabox&sort=relevance&user_id=8420521%...

The Oak Park Public Library (Oak Park , IL) converted their 9x13' cafe into an experimental space they named the Idea Box. For the last 2 years they have had a wide variety of exhibits: artists in residence, collaborative poetry, technology demonstrations, community brainstorming and more.

Read more here:
http://oppl.org/events-classes/idea-box
and here:
https://www.flickr.com/search/?tags=ideabox&sort=relevance&user_id=8420521%...

Photo source: Library as Incubator (blog)

The Oak Park Public Library (Oak Park , IL) converted their 9x13' cafe into an experimental space they named the Idea Box. For the last 2 years they have had a wide variety of exhibits: artists in residence, collaborative poetry, technology demonstrations, community brainstorming and more.

Read more here:
http://oppl.org/events-classes/idea-box
and here:
https://www.flickr.com/search/?tags=ideabox&sort=relevance&user_id=8420521%...

Three years ago the Westport Library in Westport, CT removed shelving and built a "house" for projects they call the MakerSpace.

Read more here: http://westportlibrary.org/services/maker-space

With help from the MacArthur Foundation, the Chicago Public Library constructed a drop-in space for teens where they are mentored in digital media. It has become the model for other teen digital media spaces in libraries across the country.

More information: http://youmediachicago.org/

HYPE stands for "Helping Young People Excel" and it was started in 2012. They took a traditional teen room, and at in chicago, added classes and mentorship in digital media and life skills. here teens are learning how to repair their bicycles.

The Idea+Space opens October 20, 2014, and is a space where library staff will experiment with programming for businesses, nonprofits, and jobseekers. The project was funded wi8th a grant from the Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Pictured: Node Chairs created by Steelcase, and designed for collaboration with the Stanford School of Design.

Photo credit: Steelcase Corp.

Class and meetup offerings we will be experimenting with:

COMING
Meetups
Networking
Innovation training
Lean In Circle
Entrepreneurs-In-Residence
Mentorships
Catalyst Cafe
Laid-Off Camp

Faith, 15, Phoebe, 18, and Izzy, 15, attended our "GrowUP and Get RICH" startup workshops in October of 2014, and ended up starting a curriculum that will be used by the YWCA to teach financial literacy to teens. They were awarded $750.00 seed money to test the concepts they developed at the workshop at the library.

Photo credit: Lisa Bunker.

At the October Catalyst Cafe Phoebe, Faith, and Izzy shared their experience of innovation training, and what it meant to them. Listening are Robin Breault and Brooke McDonald from LeadLocal, who taught the workshop for the library.

Photo credit: Debbie Gubernick.