Skip to main content

We're a Makercamp!

By Anonymous

We signed up to be a Makercamp site, sponsored by Google + and Make magazine, who gave us a box of goodies ("swag") in exchange for hosting STEM programming to the public. We now have a plethora of DIY/Maker books, a Makey Makey, an Arduino and breadboard, and a grab bag full of electronic goodies like LEDS, Batteries and 2 soldering irons! FOR FREE. I really hope this continues next year because YA librarians would love this.We were already doing science programming this summer for our theme so this fits in nicely.

Each week of Makercamp is themed and can be done entirely online for FREE through Google +, YouTube videos, and links to daily projects. Since you need to be over 13 to have a Google + account some of the projects may need adult supervision and their recommended age is 10-18. They do suggest asking younger family members to ask their parents to log in with their Google + accounts. Every Friday is a virtual field trip with famous celebrities or highlighting new Google products. Libraries, as a host site, can choose to do the projects, host virtual chats on Google +, or their own interpretation. Hanging posters, handing out stickers and wearing the t-shirts around the library are a big marketing push for them in itself. You can find tons of ideas by checking out their list of signed up camps and scoping out library websites.  Some libraries like Ida Grove Library will be hosting the virtual field trips on Fridays for teens while San Jose Library is hosting the live chats from professional makers Monday-Thursday from 11-12. Ridgefield Library has their own Google + and they encourage teens to share their projects with them from scarf making to 3D printing and lastly Keene Public Library is hosting pop up makerspace time on Mondays at 5pm to work on specific projects highlighted on the website.

Based on my research in other makercamp library sites, all you need to be a Makercamp site is to host programs loosely based on the themes. Week 1 was "Makers in Motion" and we did just that hosting a Stomp Rocket Workshop for our Backyard Ballistics Tuesday with Gr. 5-8 and a 2 day Stop Motion Workshop for Gr. 3-5.

Check out our Stop Motion Videos on Vimeo:


Stop Motion Workshop July 2014 from Duxbury Free Library on Vimeo.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for commenting!

Popular posts from this blog

Makey Makey Floor Piano

By Anonymous
If you are looking for a short, low cost project to do with your Makey Makeys, this one is sure to be a big hit. It's a great small group project as well as an eye catching interactive display in some noisy area of the library (as long as you can keep library staff sane). This was made as part of our Tinkering Tuesdays lab. We had low tech cardboard construction, 3D printing, and the Makey floor piano going on simultaneously. It took us about 1.5 hours with 3 teens helping. Materials List: Aluminum Tape $12 Duct Tape (any color) $2 Makey Makey $50 CAT cable (there's one lying around your library trust me) or just use regular wire Wire strippers 12 x 12 x 1.5 in puzzle piece exercise mat $12 white 6 x 8 tarp (but could be smaller) $12 Computer with internet running Scratch This video shows a demonstration with step by step picture instructions and a more detailed video explanation. I got the idea from two sites that I used for consult: Ed Tech Junkies & Mak...
4 comments
Read more

3D Printing Signs for the Library Collection

By Anonymous
Last weekend, I went to the annual Tee-Off mini golf event at the Brookline Public Library.  As a first time visitor, I was mini-golfing with my phone at the ready. Special thanks to the AMAZING librarian rockstar Robin Brenner for so many great ideas. It truly is worth a visit just to see her teen room. Here are a few 3D printing/marketing ideas to takeaway: Having a  3D printer filtration cart would be wonderful in our library.  Look at the price if you dare.  Right now I have to go downstairs to retrieve prints because we are concerned about the fumes and little hands touching anything while the printer is on.  I have a video camera set up downstairs using an iPad 2 and the free app called Presence  for monitoring but sometimes I do forget to keep checking the presence website while I'm on the desk especially since it makes this annoying beeping sound to say, "Are you still watching?!"..As the sign reveals on the cart, the propensity to want to lean or...
29 comments
Read more

Our most popular makerspace/STEM/Library of Things

By Anonymous
As of April 2018, we did a kit circulation report.  We had 106 kits which have circulated 1,047 times since it's inception in 2015.  Here is the top 10 list of most circulated. These include hobby kits, puzzles, cake pans, instruments, science robots/STEM, and American Girl dolls. The ukulele kits (we have one soprano and one concert kit) have been around the longest and have circulated 106 times total.  Just remember someone should change the strings yearly and definitely include a tuner (we like the snark) as new strings on a uke take a while to break in. Surprisingly our meditation toolbox comes in second with 51 checkouts.  It is just some CDs and a DVD.  This one has also been around since the inception of our kits. Next up is our virtual reality headset toolbox.  It is a Homido Virtual Reality headset. If that is too pricey, I recommend Google Cardboard.  Our sewing machine comes in 5th.  Knitting is a great idea fo...
4 comments
Read more