LIBRARY AS MAKERSPACE

As I was already on New York on family business, I decided to swing by the World Maker Faire at the New York State Hall of Science in Queens on Sunday. It was fun! Lots of corporate booths and lots of small start-ups were present. One nice thing about it was that there was a lot for all ages of kids to do. There was a construction area for very young children and lots of small venues for talks, which weren't going on when I was there. The corporate presence was very heavy: Google, Intel, Microsoft, Little Bits, Lego Mindstorm and a host of 3D printer companies all had big tents. The funny thing is, I feel that we have already done a bunch of the stuff the World Maker Faire was touting: learning to solder, exploring Arduino, building with cardboard, making marble shoots and slides... we'll continue to do these things here in Duxbury, but I'm just as happy that we focused on attending the Cape Cod Maker Faire each year as opposed to making the huge investment of time ...

One of the great ways our Friends of the Library supports the library is by providing the great language learning tool, Mango. Learning a language has never been easier or more convenient. you can download the app onto your desktop OR your smartphone or other digital device. In fact, 50% of folks who use Mango do so on their digital device! Starting at the Duxbury Free Library web site, you click on the Mango logo and just follow the directions. Taking a trip to France or Italy? Start by learning a few phrases so you won't be seen as a crude American but as a savvy traveler who is interested in the culture and society in which he finds himself. Start here and enjoy your foreign language experience!