littleBits is an opensource library of electronic modules that snap together with tiny magnets for prototyping and play. We spend more than 7.5 hours with technological devices every day, but most us don’t know how they work, or how to make our own. For all the interactivity of these devices, we are bound to passive consumption. At littleBits, we believe we need to create scientific thinkers and problem-solvers, and interventions need to occur early. The time is ripe to create the pipe cleaner and the popsicle stick of the 21st century. littleBits consists of tiny circuit-boards with simple, unique functions engineered to snap together with magnets. No soldering, no wiring, no programming, just snap and play.

One of the points of my talk at CiL 2012 was that we are “…bound to passive consumption…”, and this includes librarians. Our ability to interrogate the technologies we surround ourselves with is vital, so I hope to see librarians buying this kit for their programs and also, most importantly, using it themselves and applying the hacking/tinkering mindset to their daily technological interactions, instruction and purchasing.