Getting back to coworking: How might coworking best be implemented? Perhaps the most effective coworking happens when coworkers are given many options in how they share their talents with the community. They should choose the option that works best for them. This may require some experimentation to get right. We can't expect coworking in public libraries to blossom fully the first time it is implemented.

Coworkers would need to apply for a limited number of coworking spots at each library. They might serve a term of six months. Their term might be renewed with approval of the community.

And just as the library might reserve desks for coworkers, so too might it reserve desks for retired members of the community who wished to share their time and talents with community members. Retired community members might choose to volunteer one morning or one afternoon each week. If 20 desks were reserved for retired community members, then 40 (or more) retired time slots would be available each week. Can you picture the quantity and quality of conversations going on in the library under that scenario? As you might expect, these conversations would need to happen in separate, sound-proofed small rooms. Retired community members might also choose to teach small group classes of various sorts, using team teaching to make the teaching less stressful and more enjoyable.

Where would all the new space in a library emerge from to host these coworkers and retired community members? As library holdings become more and more digital, space will become available. We should be talking about the best uses of that space before it becomes available, not afterwards.

Can such conversations start taking place in public libraries now, or are there other, better venues for such conversations to occur?