An Imaginaire: Makerspaces as Radical Change in the Library Faith

<div>Dewey introduced the concept of “library faith,” a belief that libraries could positively impact society. In the early years of public libraries, this library faith “consisted in a belief in the value of the printed word, especially of the book, the reading of which is held to be good in itself or from its reading flows that which is good” (Leigh, 1950, p. 12). </div><div><br></div><div>The library faith acts as an imaginaire (Flichy, 2007), a collective vision about a sociotechnical system, which is necessary to its implementation and continuation. A library faith imaginaire maintains that public libraries can beneficially impact society through the provision of publicly funded services. How libraries may benefit society changes over the years, and with new social goals, values and technologies.</div><div><br></div><div>Dresang’s (2013) radical change theory is a new imaginaire, in which connectivity, interactivity, and access act as modes of transmission for this new type of library service: makerspaces and other library creative places.