LIBRARY AS MAKERSPACE

Well, we went to the Cape Cod Mini Maker Faire last Saturday and had a blast. Our project table of soldering, 3D designing and 3Doodling was constantly busy and we had to force people to give us a lunch break! Paul Harhen, our Duxbury engineering friend/inventor, showed up in his homemade car that he drove down on the highway. Wow! Much of the fun was connecting with the other folks at the fair - Chris Connors and his Martha's Vineyard teens, the gentle folks from the Truro and Centerville libraries, and folks who had made their very own 3D printers. Getting out to non-library events is a must, we feel, to keep up with all the new things coming down the pike.      

Special call out to a super tech librarian over at the Ames Free Library in Easton. Jed Phillips was published for his work on using Raspberry Pi's as OPACs (our library catalog computers). Libraries usually take some of their older computers and recycle them into "library searching" only computers. Libraries have a tough time allocating computers to this quick and necessary need to help patrons locate books or other resources without having to wait in line for a reference computer. These computers require updates and sometimes too much lock down. If a library is buying new computers for them to be OPACs only, the raspberry pi, a much cheaper alternative, is under a $100. Read more on Public Libraries Online .  He even included instructions on how to set up your own. Talk about a time saver! I will be working with Raspberry Pi's as a take home circulate-able makerspace kit for our library. Coming Soon!

As national Teen Tech Week approaches, it seems smart and energy-saving to survey my teens and ask them, "What can you provide the library during Teen Tech Week that will be a value-added service to our loyal patrons?" That's what I plan to be asking my incredibly tech savvy teen friends in the up-coming weeks as national Teen Tech Week is March 9 - 15, 2014.  I know we're gonna be doing some awesome stuff....!