Makerspace...Phase I

We are taking baby steps with our makerspaces.  Since the last blog entry, "It's all about the Makerspaces," we have re-purposed one area to make a project center in hopes that students who have products which require art supplies will utilize this resource.  It seems like such a small thing, but I feel good about this change and also with the direction in which we are going.

Here is what we did for phase 1...

Instead of using the magazine shelves to store our supplies, as we mentioned in the last blog entry, 

we took out that set of shelves entirely.  That really seemed to open up the space.

After having maintenance move our magazine shelves to the back storage, we had to move the juvenile section because that is the space we decided to use for our art supplies.  

So we shifted the juvenile section to a set of shelves that were actually empty in the back of our library.  Now our makerspace for school-related projects looks like this...

We are planning to add more supplies as needed, but you have to start somewhere.  Having said that, here is our list of starter supplies...

Construction paper

Manila paper

Markers

Crayons

Pencils

Glue

Glue sticks

Staplers

Post it notes

Things we can add right away are notebook paper (which the students still ask for), rulers, and white copy paper.  After that, we will just see what the students request.

In order to keep the area in good shape for all to use, we did post our norms in a couple of different places around the area.

Of course we also made a sign to signify the purpose of the area and to advertise...

We debated on whether we should start making morning announcements to advertise but decided that the space really couldn't accommodate a large number of students just yet.  So we are advertising by word-of-mouth.  We haven't had too many takers yet, but our second semester has just started.  Give it time!

Now we focus on phase 2 of our makerspaces...the student production room.  We have pulled out the desktop computers since we have closed off that area completely.  As mentioned in the previous makerspace blog, this is the area we want to outfit with a few comfy chairs, our ipads, and the video production area.  In addition, we just received permission to paint one of the walls in that room with chalkboard paint so the students have a creation/brainstorming area.  We contemplated dry erase paint, but we decided chalk was cheaper and wouldn't "walk  away" from the area the way dry erase markers would.

Our progress with phase 2 has just come to a screeching halt due to the Junior English research.  Not that we mind because we all enjoy co-teaching the research classes and helping the students.  In addition to the research, we also have TCEA next week.  So phase 2 will have to simmer on the back burner for awhile.  Can't wait to see how the giant chalkboard turns out!

Thanks for stopping by!

It's all about the Makerspace

We decided to jump on the Makerspace bandwagon.  We have read numerous articles on the movement (click here for Pinterest board on Makerspace Ideas) and attended a couple of conference sessions too.  As I read these articles and attend sessions, I am able to picture the end result, and it looks fabulous.  Getting there is another thing.  Where do you start?

Blanca, Karen, and I have been discussing this idea since August after Blanca visited the Grand Prairie Public Library.  Then in November, we had a visit from one of our top administrators talking about this "radical idea"he saw at a conference.  He began  describing the various "stations" in the library with legos, tools, craft supplies, etc.  All three of us responded with "the Makerspace Movement." So after that we decided to sit down and figure this out.

I will be the first to admit that we have yet to figure it all out, but one does have to start somewhere.   Here are a few things we have already learned on our Makerspace journey.

My advice at the beginning is to read as much as you can and decide where you want to start.  Do you want a passive makerspace area where students can work on projects assigned to them?  If so, what types of supplies should your provide? Do you want to host workshops using your Makerspace area? If so, what types of products are you envisioning? I know this sounds very elementary, but it helps to drive your budget.

We decided to then analyze the budget and purchase what we could.  We went in 2 different directions.  We bought a lot of craft type consumables like duct tape, markers, crayons, glue sticks, paints, paper, and glitter which we bought through Office Depot & Every Season.  Then we bought board games like Battleship, Connect Four, Sorry, Boggle, and 3 giant games....Connect Four, Checkers, and Jenga.

Why board games you ask?  What does that have to do with the Makerspace movement?  When we attended the TLA (Texas Library Association) conference 2 years ago, there was a conference within the conference called TT4L (Texas Teens 4 Libraries).  We were able to take our Book Club students to this event because it was in Ft. Worth.  During the Teen Makerspace time, the moderators put out all of these stations.... a photo booth, a 3D printer, circuit boards, games, a jewelry making station, and a soldering workstation.  We watched  how engaged the teens were with these giant games (as well as the other stations), and that is how we decided to include the board games.

Our next step... where to put our Makerspaces?  After scoping out our options, we decided to start small.  We have a student production room that has 4 computers and a video production studio which is in the process of being installed.

We decided to pull the desktop computers out, and we plan to put a couple of tables or maybe some more comfortable furniture in there; we are not sure.  We have an iPad lab that we plan to keep in there along with the the video studio in hopes to make the area more flexible to fit the needs of our students.

In addition to the production studio room, we have a rarely used magazine rack that we also plan to use for our passive Makerspace supplies.  We decided to place the magazines and comics in a more visible place so the students will discover them...

...which frees up the area for a crafts Makerspace.  As classes or small groups come into the library to work on a project, we will now have an area for them to physically create.  It's about more than just providing databases, print resources, computers and printers. We also need to think about those assignments that are more crafty in nature; not all teachers ask students to design digital products for every assignment.  We want to be there for our students when the product assigned is a poster, scrap book, or sculpture.  As many of our students do not have printers or computers at home, it it also true that they lack many common supplies like crayons, construction paper, markers, glue, paper, etc. We know this to be true because our students ask to use these supplies all the time.  So why not stage a DIY station to help out.

More on Makerspaces soon!  Thanks for stopping by.