Great, insightful interview. Getting people interested in coming to the library, esp for learning instead of web surfing, is something I wonder about periodically. Local libraries seem to use group activities for young people or rent out conference rooms. One thing going on that you might find interesting is merging libraries with maker spaces. It seems to be getting some results with added benefit of letting people apply their learning in creative, hands-on ways:
In smalltown Vermont libraries, we definitely see this as a win-win as long as there is funding for it. The big deal with hackerspaces is making sure they're accessible to everyone (sometimes tricky but a mandate of what a public library needs to do) and inclusive (so not just technically possible for people to use but welcoming to everyone as much as possible).
We've seen people do this well by combining things that are more like toolshops with things that are more like craft and home ec-type spaces (hey it's all about making things) and also recording/video studios. Anything where pooling community resources makes a lot of sense. The big deal is finding the funding and the right people working there to make it all work within library culture as well as within makerspace culture. The two cultures share a lot but there are some non-overlap areas that need to be negotiated well.
In Vermont there are a lot of older people with deep "knowledge of tools" who can find a great slot for them as they may age out of the work-all-day world but can be great mentors to younger folks who might not otherwise have these options. There's also a lot of tech ed where I am, so kids can learn some of this is school which is excellent as well.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/03/every...
http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/a-librarians-guide-to-makerspaces...
What do you think about this development? And have you noticed any other ways libraries are generating interest that aren't one-off in nature?