A Librarian's Guide to Makerspaces: 16 Resources

"There were more than 135 million adult makers, more than half of the total adult population in America, in 2015." What is a makerspace? You’ve no doubt been hearing that word more than a few times over the past several years. Makerspaces, also called hackerspaces, hackspaces, and fablabs, are collaborative spaces where people gather to get creative with DIY projects, invent new ones, and share ideas. Since the first official makerspace convened six years ago in a library in upstate New York, libraries have remained an ideal setting for makerspace events across the country. Many offer community resources like 3D printers, software, electronics, craft and hardware supplies, and more. There were more than 135 million adult makers, more than half of the total adult population in America, in 2015. Articles & Blog Posts on Makerspaces 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) 7.) 8.) 9.) 12.) Maker Faire Makerspaces Directories 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) Revitalizing Community Spaces

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Related: Maker Education • Makerspaces • Makerspace Reference Info • Makerspaces • Makerspace

School Libraries and Makerspaces: Can They Coexist? More and more schools are coming to value maker education and exploring ways to create makerspaces in their schools. Many schools are discussing how they might utilize their library to facilitate this. As my school has increased our commitment to constructionist learning and maker education over the last few years, we have done so in close collaboration with our school library.

Makerspace Starter Kit Makerspace Starter Kit Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a Makerspace. The Makerspace Starter Kit includes:Makerspace Welcome Letter (pdf)Makerspace Starter Kit (pdf)Mini Maker Notebook (pdf) If the links above don’t work , please try these alternate Dropbox Download Links: Makerspace Welcome Letter, Makerspace Starter Kit, MiniMaker Notebook. Directions: Please read the Makerspace Welcome Letter then download and print the Makerspace Starter Kit (pdf) and the Mini Maker Notebook.

Creating a Makerspace at Your School In this webinar for the edWeb.net Leadership 3.0 community, New Jersey Library Media Specialist Laura Fleming introduced the Maker Movement and provided tips on how you can create a makerspace in your own school. An overview of makerspaces and how they foster experimentation, invention, creation, exploration, and STEM/STEAM-related concepts were examined. Attendees learned about the Maker Movement and the role libraries are playing in it. Makerspace Resources and Programming ideas (Updated post from my Podbean Site) Summer 2014 I was asked to present a webinar to Ohio School Librarians for InfOhio. The recording is available here. I also created a resource list (adapted from a collaborative presentation with LISD librarian, Leah Mann) and year long programming ideas that I will continue to update on this page. WEBINAR RECORDING:

Tinkering Space Interview: Megan Schiller Today I’m joined by Megan Schiller of The Art Pantry, as part of our ongoing series of inspiring conversations that center on how to set up creativity hubs, or tinkerspaces. If you’re scratching your head because you can’t figure out where to put your child’s art materials, want to turn your laundry room into an art zone, or tend to shift furniture to make room for creative supplies, these interviews are sure to give you food for thought. Megan Schiller is a creative parent with an impressive background in art education, who now runs an amazing online kid-friendly art store called The Art Pantry where she also consults families on how to set up their very own Art Pantry (check out her very generous giveaway at the end of this post). I’ve drooled over pictures of Megan’s child-friendly tinkering space in her Instagram feed and also on her blog, and I asked her if she’d be so kind to share it with us today.

Creating School Library Makerspaces While there is no clear, single definition to the term makerspaces (Burke, 2013; Fontichiaro, as cited in Bell, 2015), there are commonalities existing in terms of features, functions, goals and activities that makerspaces provide. A makerspace is a place where people gather as communities to be innovative, create and collaborate, to share knowledge, tools and resources (Britton, 2012). Makerspaces have transpired from the maker movement which has been popularised by Make magazine and Maker Faire founder Dale Dougherty. These creative spaces emphasise the ‘do-it-yourself’ philosophy while promoting a richer engagement and curiosity within the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) disciplines (Dougherty, 2013) and encourages students to pursue careers in these fields, but also to create their own jobs and industries (Peppler and Bender, 2013) that may not exist yet in a rapidly changing information and technological world.

Arduino + Chromebook With over 5 Million units sold in 2014 alone, Chromebooks are a growing trend among schools and homes. One of the biggest drawbacks to Chromebooks has been the inability to connect it to any hardware (i.e. Arduino) -- until now. Favorited Favorite 2 Where EdTech meets TechEd How Librarians are Rockin’ the Makerspace Movement Shhh! You’re in the library! As the great-granddaughter of a librarian, I was brought up to know that the quiet of the library was sacred space.