Today’s post focuses on two types of low-tech makerspace programming currently being developed and implemented at the Denver Public Library’s Children’s Library. While facilitated by all of the children’s librarians at the Children’s Library (myself included), these programs have been developed by my two innovative colleagues – Carrie Wolfson and Liesel Schmidt. For this post, I chatted with Liesel and asked her to provide insight into the creation of these super fun and very successful programs. The two types of programs are Open Studios and Tinkering Programs inspired by the friendly, accessible nature of the makerspace movement. Both these programs encourage participation and sharing of ideas. Liesel described them this way: Open Studios allow participants to explore different art media like watercolor paint, oil pastels or clay. We make real art materials available to visitors, along with suggestions of techniques to try. It works to demonstrate examples of new techniques...
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My MakerSpace Journey at The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County Small Tech, Big Impact: Designing My Maker Space at The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County (OH) (School Library Journal article, February 2016) 1 Year Later, What I’ve Learned The Very Beginning Previous library locations My Original Mobile Makerspace […]
Today let's talk about how and why I started a low-tech makerspace at our high school library! When I started at this library 5 years ago it was completely different than it is now. Circulation was extremely low and students were not encouraged to "hang out" at the library but rather to use it solely…
LEARNING SPACES While we can furnish just about every square foot of interior space at most schools, Paragon focuses on the following areas: Classroom / STEAM, Makerspace, Library / Commons CLASSROOM / STEAM SEE ALL CLASSROOM / STEAM Furniture MAKER SPACE SEE ALL MAKERSPACE FURNITURE LIBRARY / COMMONS SEE ALL LIBRARY / COMMONS FURNITURE LEARNING … Learning Spaces Read More »
Students in the library makerspace at Highlands Elementary repurpose old books for their "Books are Beautiful" exhibit, with some help from their art teacher. Students created tree and insect drawings, 3-D butterflies, hanging book sculptures and more!
As the school year has been drawing to a close, I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on the library Makerspace we’ve been creating at my school. We started out back in January with a couple of bins of K’nex that our science department no longer used. We just left them out on the ... Read more
Another craft idea that was shared at the recent YAACS makerspace workshop was brought to us by Jen Lee, a children’s librarian with the Vancouver Public Library. Circuit bugs are a simple and fun way to introduce children to electricity and circuitry, and tie in well with a STEM-based curriculum. Although the circuit bugs are…
Looking for ways to jumpstart your library makerspace? Check out these ideas to foster discovery, innovation, and learning in your library.
I have been using centers in the library for several years now and absolutely love them. They work really well at giving students choices of activities to do after the lesson and checking out new books. Now that I have 50-minute library classes as part of the Special’s rotation, this has proven to... Read more
I’ve had my personal Silhouette Cameo for about a month now and last week, we ordered one for The Teen MakerSpace at The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County. I’ve only tapped the surface of what I can do with the machine and it has a lot of uses. For example, it can […]
Making things with electronics is tough, but if you're just starting out, littleBits are an easy way to start experimenting with all kinds of projects
Setting Up Your Own MakerSpace - Make, Create, Innovate! by Angela Rosheim | This newsletter was created with Smore, an online tool for creating beautiful newsletters for educators, businesses and more
In my article for AASL Knowledge Quest, I reflect on my school's first makerspace year, including what went well and what we could improve.
Make & Take projects are activities in a makerspace that use affordable materials students can take home to keep. They're great for boosting engagement.
Fixed schedule in your elementary library? You can still offer makerspace learning activities with makerspace centers as part of a library centers program.
Our library makerspace has been a bustling place over the past few weeks. I've still been holding some periodic makerspace recess sessions where students can signup to come and explore the space and what it has to offer. Several students have been coming on a regular basis on their own. This started as one or…
At The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County (OH), we have found that one of the most popular activities among our teens in our Teen MakerSpace is making buttons. We run into a lot of our teens around town that look like this: But we started to notice that teens were just coming […]
From large urban libraries to small rural ones, makerspaces are happening. Spaces like these are important because they give people of all ages the opportunity to gain knowledge on their own throug…
