Before I head off to #alaac18, I thought I’d share what my library is doing with iPads.
Right now, we are using iPads in the building in three different ways:
- Musical iPads in the art gallery! This summer, we have a music-themed exhibit in the library’s art gallery. There are “exploded instruments,” showing how they are built. There are also a couple of hands-on things, like a PVC pipe xylophone that you can play. You can also walk up to three iPads (check out the photo in this post to see them in action) and play an organ, a synthesizer, and a drumset!
- iPad catalog station. We need more library catalog computers in our Kids Library. Instead of adding a computer (and a table, and power, and drilling for a network jack), we added an iPad with the library catalog on a web browser. Kids (and parents) are actually using it. It’s on a stand like the iPads in the art gallery.
- Team Room reservations. We have eight group study rooms (we call them Team Rooms) that you can reserve for up to 7 days in advance. You can do it on our website, or you can walk up to an empty room and make the reservation on the iPad in front of the room (using software that we built).
That’s what we are doing! Actually using iPads isn’t necessary – we could do the same thing with Android tablets. Either way, they are pretty handy additions to our building – reservations, easy-to-add library catalog access, and an interactive experience in an art gallery.
How are you using iPads in your library? Please share!