LIBRARY AS MAKERSPACE

Just in time for the release of the new movie The Boxtrolls , done entirely in claymation stop motion, we finished up a month long after school Lego stop motion program on Tuesdays for students in Gr. 6-8. Ellen thought it would be a good idea to talk about the structure of the program and some tips we have learned along the way. Material Must Haves: iStopMotion ($5.99), iMovie ($9.99), and DropBox (free) app iPads Bins of Legos and figures *Note: This can also be done though the camera in a phone or tablet (regular camera phone app that comes free) and downloaded into iMove for a Mac or Windows Movie Maker for a PC (bearing in mind you have laptops or free computers handy) if you are on a shoestring budget. It's just less streamlined that way.  The key to stopmotion is FRAMES PER SECOND which can be changed in any of these editing programs as long as the students have taken enough photos. Preparation Tip : Make sure to separate out weapons, costumes, and Lego f...

While primarily being a resource for individuals to do their projects, we also plan to run group sessions using Lynda.com as a great teaching tool for groups as well as individuals. We did a soft launch over the summer for our new Digital Media Lab with well-attended sessions on Windows 8 and how to buy and sell of Ebay. We had advertised in the traditional way: in the building, on Facebook, on the web site, in the local newspaper. Now, with the start of school year, we are eager to reach out beyond the usual library patrons and people who read the local newspaper to find new patrons of the library who may not realize we have something they might need. Hence, having paid for an initial 6 month Meetup membership to try it out and using it for an Adult Board Game Meetup group and a Crafting group, we thought creating a Duxbury Adobe Explorers Meetup group might be a good idea. Almost as soon as we posted our first Meetup for last night, we got 19 members. Eight of them came to ou...

After a brief hiatus, we are back to tackle all the ins and outs of building new uses for libraries. Here are some great new voices in the library-as-center-for-innovation:

Just when I thought they couldn't surprise me any more, my Middle School group did it again. We held an Electronics Open House this afternoon to show the world the kinds of projects and areas of discovery we have been exploring this year in our Makerspace. They rose to the occasion by being ambassadors of making things and seemed to have fun, too. Soldering badges, Stop Motion with our ipads and iStop Motion software, Scratch programming, MaKeyMaKey goofiness (asparagus game controllers anyone?), how to build a basic electrical motor, and the ever-present "Take Apart Table"rounded out the activities. We had parents, kids, staff members, librarian friends from other towns come to see what we were doing.  Of course we hung our club banner by the door. Now if we could only interest some girls to join us.  But I'm working on a plan......!

I had one of those eureka moments at a meeting a few weeks ago, when a fellow staff member was talking about her writing group and the importance of having open ended free writing components. I thought, "Hey that's tinkering too!" I think if we all look hard enough we can find lots of examples of tinkering that we do in our everyday lives or in already established library groups that doesn't have to involve electronics. I've always been a "don't read directions first" kind of person, which was tough during my schooling years but that's the beginning of my tinkering. Can I figure it out without looking at the directions? We all develop educational and life strategies based in part by our personalities. For me, this tinkering led me to always jump head first into technology. I was never afraid of "breaking it." I'm the kind of person that purchases Adobe Photoshop and just begins by pressing all the buttons before I crack open a tu...

Adult and teen explore wearable electronics together. Sometimes I feel we have let our passion run amok in terms of "developmentally appropriate" sensitivity in planning programs.  Isn't it just as much fun to have excited adults join turned on teens and enthusiastic elementary students in exploring the possibilities of Little Bits electronics, sewing, soldering, cardboard construction? Why can't we have more intergenerational experiences in our Makerspaces? Do we have to segregate by age so finely? Dad and son explore the Hour of Code together...  At the Duxbury Free Library, some of the push back is going to be driven by our new effort to have more experiences available casually and not so much in a program format. Having a "Little Bits" Bar and table with Legos and other construction experiences available for the casual library visitor could be an enticement to sign up for a class or Tinkering session. We have lots of teens and childre...

Here at the DFL we do a lot of programming - for kids, teens and adults. Now that we are re-focusing our programming energy to become a Makerspace, we are discussing the value of single, one-shot programs vs. on-going week by week or month by month programs. I think we have to do both. In many ways, single, one-shot programs can be very satisfying. Someone comes in and gives a lecture, a performance, a workshop. Everyone enjoys it, gives great feedback and goes home. With Dale Doughtery's challenge in mind, "If they build it (a tinkering, exploring, discovering space) they will come," we are trying to fathom how to build sustainable, interesting, patron-driven, creation opportunities. Bookmarks Syping with YA author at Cedar Hill The models I am leaning on are both my 15 year weekly teen discussion group, which sustains itself, 52 weeks a year - if I'm there or not, AND, newer upstart status, Laughter Yoga co-led by me and Rose Hickey - a 1 1/2 year we...