Monday, 23 July 2007
The Third Place game
Some details re the Third Place game that was played in Caloundra recently, just prior the the Third Place Forum hosted by Caloundra City Libraries in June 2007 . An interesting and insightful exercise about third places........ More information about the game will be posted in the near future.
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When I first heard the concept I thought well we (Libraries) should be first place and then after my initial indignation I remembered my childhood and Abbott and Costello with their famous Who’s on first, What’s on second and I Don’t Know is on third baseball skit. So now we know home & family are on first, work is on second and Libraries share third with community support and recreation groups, and commercial enterprises like coffee shops and shopping centres.
So it is the stuff you are doing when you are not at work or home.
Looking back again at my wonder years I see that our Church gatherings every Sunday acted as our Third Place - being brought up on a working farm it was often our only outing for the week. We would mingle out the front after mass and chat and play.
I now go to the market every Sunday and it is one of my Third Places.
Upon further reflection our modern suburbs with their high fenced houses took the front yard away as a Third Place. Women in rollers chatting and hanging out the washing is now only seen in our comedy skits.
Third Places change along with our society.
Does the definition help us do what we do better? Or does it remind us that we will need to strive to ensure that Libraries remain as Third Places and do not get lost in our rapidly changing society - we need to be relevant. I should also add that Abbott and Costello may have been ahead of their time.
I took part in the Third Place Game and quite enjoyed it. When asked for my third place I replied the beach. However when I really thought about it starting a new book comes to mind. It sounds very much like a librarian to say this, but it is true. Most of my fondest memories involve books - my grandmother teaching me how to read, for example. You can escape into another world where you can be the heroine, villian, or somewhere in between. Libraries offer the public a chance to explore these vast new and exciting worlds, for free, through books. You could almost say that libraries are a launching pad to an interesting and new third place.
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