I thought I would do a little retrospective look at the Media lab.
This is not the well known Media Lab at MIT but still widely known throughout the library world. In 1973 some innovative thinkers created the Library Media lab. It was just a small room that the library patrons could use to make movies and slide shows, use a darkroom or check out camera equipment. The Media Lab continued to grow and after 22 years it offered to the library patron, 2 photo Darkrooms, a sound proof recording booth and Audio Production station, Audio and Video tape duplicating including international standards, Film and Slide to video transfer, Photo copy tables and slide show production. In addition to in house services the media lab checked out Video and Film Cameras, Slide projectors and dissolve units, Photo Lighting Kits, Microphones mixers and Multi-track recorders. Media Lab Staff, I became one of them in 1984, were there to assist and train the patrons in producing their projects and also instructed occasional workshops in Photography and archiving photos. The media Lab was part of the Library AV department that included a TV production studio that produced several library programs for Cable Television and was a community access center for Cable production.
In 1996 nonlinear video editing and Apple computers for graphic production were set to be added to the Media labs capabilities along with the newer 8mm video cameras and equipment to replace the older VHS units. The Labs Video capability included Beta, VHS, 3/4, 8mm, Pal /Secam/NTSC conversion and film/slide/photo to video conversion.
In 1995 the use of the lab was over 10,000 patrons a year and growing.
In 1995 citing budgets and a view that cable was no longer viable the AV department was shut down entirely. Most of the Cable studio was sold off to the local cable companies and most of the Media Lab went to the Edina Art Center and the library no longer had any AV department, Cable TV production or Media Lab. It was a very controversial closing as noted by the local newspaper and the ALA American Libraries.
Now it is 2009, almost a full 14 years since it was shut down. I just completed the second round of the 23 things on a Stick and learning about Library 2.0 applications.
The Edina Art center has continued to thrive and expand to include the Peggy Kelly Media Arts Center from where the Media Lab left off.
In the library world the push for 2.0 uses the methods for producing and sharing documents, Videos, Photos grows more prevalent every day. The Media Lab was in essence providing what the current technology allowed it to do. It turns out it was exactly what the Library World is screaming to provide today. The Media Lab was set to be among the first in libraries in the country to offer a computer lab, with the closing it took another 10 years for the library to reach that point.
In many ways when the library eliminated the AV department the library fell behind. Instead of AV being the backbone of what and how the library was used outside of traditional book services these services were delayed until the libraries came online and had a robust enough network. The Library was itself transforming from a printed catalog to an online catalog at the time of the close. It has been only within the last several years that the online functionality has been able to support and provide the Web 2.0 needs.
I am amazed at the irony of how what was once a unique and trendy lab that visitors from around the world visited was closed and now the very services it offered are what is now in demand with the 2.0 needs. It is amazing how a simple decision can affect things down the road. It is a dynamic illustration of decision making. I can only imagine what we would be offering our patrons today had the decision reflected forward thinking that took into account the customers and staff wishes over a simple budgetary cut.
The Aarhus Library in Denmark now has The Transformation Lab that has produced new visions for the physical library of the future. I saw real similar foundations between what the Media lab was and what the Transformation Lab does. It is very possible that had the Media Lab been allowed to remain it too would be offering this type of function as an integral part of the library.
