Python, libraries, and literacy

Python, libraries, and literacy

"The Future of Python – A Choose Your Own Adventure" Part II

(with thanks—and apologies—to Jessica McKellar)NYC Python Meetup | 6 March 2014 | Pivotal Labs

Matthew Zadrozny | @MatthewZadrozny | www.zadrozny.co

WARNINGPRESENTATION FACTSNYC / Libraries……………...……..70%Monty……………….……………..….20%Python……………….………………..10%

Minutes of lightning……………...5

The most important building in New York City

THE CENTRAL LIBRARY PLAN (CLP)

• Remove ("gut") the stacks of the 42nd St Library

• Replace them with a lending library

• Sell off the Mid-Manhattan Library and the Science, Industry & Business Library

• Cost ~$350 million (or more), including $150 million in taxes

WHY THE CLP SUCKS• Reduces public space.

• Dumbs down a world-class research institution.

• Misallocates funds / starves underfunded branch libraries.

• Misunderstands the value of libraries in the digital age: physical browsing, unique form factors, anonymous reading, information not on the internet, etc.

• Harms one of the wonders of the world: the 42nd Street Library.

• Could bankrupt or strain the NYPL system (a la Cooper Union).

THE ISSUEShould this hugely important institution• which is taxpayer-owned • and primarily taxpayer-funded • be directed• in secret• by a small board made up of the city’s elite,• several of whom may have conflicts of interest (real

estate, etc)?

See: "Clueless at Corcoran"

THE OPPORTUNITYA PEOPLE’S UNIVERSITY FOR THE DIGITAL AGE

– The library system (NYPL, BPL, and Queens) is enormous, with 209 branches all over the city.

– Branch libraries already teach a natural language (English).

– Shouldn't they also teach a programming language? Shouldn’t they offer real digital literacy?

YOUR STAKE• There are 150 of us in this room: nearly all above

or below a certain age, most of a certain sex…

• We have invested, what, over a million hours in a language?

• Languages come and go...programmers get hired and let go…

JESSICA MCKELLAR: “The Future of Python” *

• Popularity is ephemeral. • Consider the next generation.• To remain popular, remove obstacles to

acquisition and appeal to the young:– Maintain IDLE – Make Python better on Windows– Improve gaming libraries– Etc.

WHAT YOU CAN DO• Debate:

– Paper vs digital– Library funding– The role of libraries in the digital world– Literacy in the digital world– Rise and fall of programming languages

• Protest:– Email the mayor: savenypl.org/email-the-mayor– Join the work-ins: meetup.com/saveNYPL– Tweet about it: twitter.com/saveNYPL

• Volunteer: – Redesign the website– Build a back-end– Etc.

EXHORTATIONPythonistas!You have eaten from the tree of knowledge.Now go forth into the

and teach!

REFERENCES• CSNYPL: The Truth About the Central Library Plan

• Eric Gibson. 2014-02-24. Clueless at the Corcoran: What the museum's latest bad decision says about nonprofit governance. WSJ

• Michael J. Lewis. 2013-12. Philanthropic Tyrrany at the New York Public Library. The New Criterion

• Jessica McKellar. 2013. The Future of Python. Kiwi PyCon

• Scott Sherman. 2013-08-28. The Hidden History of New York City’s Central Library Plan. The Nation

• Matthew Zadrozny. 2014-01. Why you should do most of your reading on dead trees & come to the defense of a 100-year-old information retrieval system NYCPython Meetup

THANKS• NYCPython.org for the forum

• Jessica McKellar for the slides, feedback, quote

• David Prager Branner for the feedback

• Michael D.D. White for the clippings

*ADDENDUM (Courtesy of J. McKellar)The reality is that fewer than 1 in 10 students have access to computer science classes in high school*, so the vast majority of students do not have an opportunity to learn to program before college. This is unfortunate because programming is useful and fun, but it is also a problem because research shows that if you don't have exposure to programming in high school, you are very unlikely to pursue programming in college** (and this makes sense; why would you declare a major in something you've never even tried?)

The formal education system is changing, but slowly, and programming language communities have a big opportunity to bridge that access gap.

* http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84, http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/2013/Program-Summary-Report-2013.pdf** https://computinged.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/correction-and-update-on-apcs-enrollment

In general, we want to be the language people choose to learn or the language people have to learn in school, because if everyone is learning it, that's what the next generation will start their side projects and companies in and what companies will hire for. Languages that don't have an audience die, so it's important that we are proactive about staying relevant.