LIBRARY AS MAKERSPACE

One of the challenges of using a multi-purpose room is that we have to clean up after 1 1/2 hours. Either we disassemble things to store away or we try to choose projects that are quickly finished. But we still want to challenge folks in new ways and not give them busy work. Smaller projects like the following ones are opportunities to learn a new skill that might lead a youth or adult to explore further on their own. Bristle Bots   Solo cup w/ DC motor Solder a Maker Badge Franken-Elmo Take Apart Programming with Scratch or Hopscotch Skyping with an expert Soldering a Drawdio Take Apart Table Wearable electronics - sparkle bow Knitting squares to make a blanket Building with Keva planks Stop motion with iPad and iStopMotion Resources include: Make Magazine littleBits Keva planks Adafruit kits Duxbury Transfer Station MaKey MaKey Instructables DIY.org ...

For four Mondays this summer, the DFL children's room transformed into a place to create and experiment with innovative STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) themes as part of our library Makerspace.   This was our first experiment with Makerspace programming in the children's department. On our first Monday, we set out KEVA planks for families to use their imagination to build structures. A simple instruction handout is given with each set of 200 which provides examples and a short tutorial on proper building techniques. KEVA planks are perfectly balanced. They require no glue or other assembly assistance.  Most structures can be built with 50-100 planks but it is handy to have multiple boxes.  Buildings, trees, and even a marble run was created over the course of our 2 hour drop in program.  We now have a set of planks out among our various board games to encourage free play.  It was inspiring to see everyone dive right in and work on bal...