LIBRARY AS MAKERSPACE

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 for a toolbox and very popular but li

The DFL currently experiments with hobby, STEAM, and Technology kits that are housed both in the adult section and the kids room. These kits include musical instruments, video equipment, puzzles, cake plans, robots, looms, and more available for checkout.  The kits are bought using our Amazon prime account, under the supervision of the head of circulation using a special makerspace kit budget and backed up by a kit committee made up of various departments to streamline the process.  The kits with the most holds by far have been the Retro Nintendo  and Super Nintendo Classic which were small batch pre-Christmas releases for the last two years.  Rather than blowing the dirt out of your old cartridges, these consoles have games built in for your playing pleasure. According to Walmart, the Nintendo "classics" are on sale as of today.  Our kit contains a small palm sized console, 2 controllers (try to upgrade wireless ones if you can), an ac adapter, and, I recommend, a carr

Sorry readers! I have been newly promoted to Head of Children's Department at my current library and have not had too much time to experiment in Makerspace land...HOWEVER.... I did go to Gamestop to drool over buying a Nintendo Switch because I love Super Mario games and noticed this.... Even Nintendo has jumped on the makerspace train with LABO . I don't think it would hold up as a checkout-able kit but if you do have a Nintendo Switch as a gaming cart or program item at your library it would be a neat thing to display or build one of the kits with a small group. If you don't want to spend the money to purchase the official kit, maybe kids can be encouraged to create their own cardboard inventions for the Switch using Makedos  instead? I actually made it out of the store without buying the Switch....FOR NOW...

roving wool We've been getting into needle felting lately at the library. It is really amazing what someone can make just by stabbing wool over and over again...talk about stress relief from crafting!! One beginners tip is using cookie cutters when you are first starting out to make easy shapes.  So why not 3D print our own cookie cutters?  Here's one of a cat face I found from Yeggi:   It took about an hour to print actual size on our Ultimaker 2. Before we get started, here are the needle felting tools you will need:  Needle Felting Kit (this one comes with roving wool too) and YES, wear those leather caps for your fingers even if they look goofy. The needle is not like a normal needle. It is barbed AND IT HURTS. For more color options you can buy bulk roving wool and if you like going with a cute animal kit Hamanka has a ton! Instructions: Grab some wool and place it in the cookie cutter shape. Hold down with your hand (just not too close to whe

I have only recently jumped into the podcast craze last summer (I know where have I been right? Thanks to Serial ) so I thought I'd take a break from makerspaces and share my favorites so far.. 99 % Invisible - Did you know that the CIA can come visit a studio set and shut down the operation if prop money used is too "realistic"?  Why aren't we on the metric system yet? These are just a few of the small things that make HUGE impacts. This is the podcast for unsung heroes and things you would never hear about otherwise. Reply All - How easy is it to hack Trumps phone? Is Facebook really listening to us through our phones? a fascinating technology podcast for all people, minus the crazy jargon, that shapes our lives whether we know it or not. Revisionist History - Malcolm Gladwell, one of my favorite non-fiction authors, talks about the little things that make a big difference throughout history.  Who knew he hated golf courses so much? Worst Best Sellers- thes

Hour of Code  is coming December 4th-11 so be sure to take part in their online activities and let your local schools know how easy it is to join up. In addition this year I will be hosting a littleBits & Lego WeDo workshops after school for drop in activities.  One of my favorite robots, Dash will probably make an appearance as well (shhhh don't tell Cozmo). littleBits has been doing a great job putting educators and technology business reps together for webinars so be sure to become a part of their email list. I recently attended: How to Host An Epic Hour of Code They are also adding lots of content to their library community blog like this post from one of their Global Chapters  including Educators Guide with lesson plans to help kick start your littleBits programming.  One in particular is a curriculum using their coding kit. One thing I took away from the webinar that I didn't know was Scratch  is also making lesson plans to guide educators in using their