LIBRARY AS MAKERSPACE

Great things are happening in Duxbury regarding tinkering and engineering. On Saturday, Jess and I trooped over to the Duxbury High School to see the final result of the robotics teams efforts.  Duxbury senior, Evan Nudd explains it all. Competitions on March 21 and 28th. Go Dragons! Duxbury High School robot explanation from Duxbury Free Library on Vimeo . Here's a link to the team's blog: http://duxburyrobotics.wordpress.com/

I had the opportunity to attend the annual Teen Summit, hosted by the Massachusetts Library System and the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services in Worcester this past week.  Youth librarians from both states were invited to come together and talk shop. The theme this year was "Full STEAM Ahead", a subject that here at the DFL, is right on target. The keynote speaker was the delightful YA author, Marissa Meyer, who surprisingly spent a small amount of time talking about her wonderful science fiction fairy tale quartet "The Lunar Chronicles" and most of her presentation introducing the concept of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math). Using her childhood love of Star Trek, she posed the question; When does science fiction inspire fact or visa versa? Did the Star Trek communicator inspire a flip phone? Will warp speed ever exist? Did the fashionable Geordi La Forge visors inspire tools that grant sight? These were just a f...

The library can be a place where people passionate about their hobbies can share their love for things like knitting, chicken-raising, bee-keeping, coupon-cutting, photography, music, writing, electronic gadgets, fishing, travel... You name it, there's probably a community member doing it with knowledge, passion, and an interest in sharing their hobbies with others. Why does it have to be a big deal, an expensive commitment, a risky new challenge?  Why can't it be neighbors teaching neighbors and sharing their experience and passion about a life style choice? Listen, ask, dig under the surface for the expertise and commitment needed for great programming. Set up a regular schedule, provide space, equipment, staff support and good media advertising and your library will become the go-to place for information and support. The best teachers are people who are passionate about the subject - who are doing it for love.  Set up some practice sessions so you can help your patr...