by Jeanne Marie Bredestege
What does it mean to be a maker? If you had asked me this ten years ago, considering my personal background as an artist and craftperson, I would have given an answer involving low-tech activities, such as knitting, glasswork, carpentry, and the like. However, the term has been co-opted by an entire movement, and while lower-tech activities are still part of it, the connotation has become almost exclusively high-tech. Think robots, coding, and home-built computers. Has the swerve toward high-tech “making” left some people behind? Almost certainly. Does the public library have a role in democratizing this aspect of the maker movement? Absolutely.
I took a deep dive into some key makerspace movement ideas by reading the research paper “Democratizing the Makerspace Movement” by Alexandra Lakind et al. from the Summer 2019 issue of Reference & User Services Quarterly. It is a great read with a wide range of insights into the makerspace phenomenon. For another perspective, read “Making the Difference” by Marva Hinton from the May 2018 issue of School Library Journal.
The public library makerspace evolved from the idea of commercial community makerspaces which were membership organizations. These spaces pooled the resources of members who were then able to share and use technologies that would have otherwise been out of reach individually. Public libraries saw an opportunity to take the “membership” factor out of the equation in order to make makerspace technology and resources available to a wider audience. This process also allowed library values to infuse into the makerspace movement: not only access equity, but also community building and inclusive programming. For many public libraries that have taken up the challenge of creating makerspaces, it is not just about the spaces themselves. Hardware can be expensive, but people power is something they already possess. If not all library branches can be supplied with equipment, libraries can bring the people and the programs to the branches in the spirit of the maker movement.
Some examples of library values which are evident in the profusion of library makerspaces across the country include inclusivity, multidiscipline/intersectionality, and professionalism.
Makerspaces welcome people representing a diversity of ages, genders, income levels, functionality, and life experience. The emphasis is ideally to expose people to a wider set of experiences that they may otherwise not have access to. While the ability of makerspaces to inspire people to learn and, for example, help youth with career paths or older adults in changing careers, the focus need not be goal-oriented. Libraries are place of self-directed exploration and learning, and makerspaces should reflect that value. Let community colleges and adult education programs handle the specific career development and training. Makerspaces should be allowed to be open-ended places of enjoyment.
As such, the makerspace is ideally suited for people to discover how various disciplines and practices can intersect and form new ways of doing things. Sewing, robotics, computer programming, 3D printing, growing and preserving food, toymaking, and you-name-it may all be experienced in the makerspace in ways that generate new combinations and possibilities. Again, the freely accessible and open-ended nature of the makerspace is what makes this possible.
Finally, the staff who program the makerspace activities and events are foundational to making it all work. Staff may have specific knowledge and skills to share, but mostly they are able to find community members to come and share their knowledge and skills. These community connections exponentially expand what is possible for the makerspace to host. It’s not about the “stuff” that the makerspace can provide, but about the people and the experiences that those people can facilitate.
Works Cited:
Hinton, Marva. “Making the Difference.” School Library Journal, vol. 64, no. 5, May 2018, pp. 25–27. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lxh&AN=129347373&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 26 April 2020.
Lakind, Alexandra, et al. “Democratizing the Maker Movement: A Case Study of One Public Library System’s Makerspace Program.” Reference & User Services Quarterly, vol. 58, no. 4, Summer 2019, pp. 235–245. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lxh&AN=139336739&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 26 April 2020.
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