When Libraries and Makers Meet: Increasing Community Engagement through Maker Activities

MAKER CHALLENGES

Certain technology equipment and maker supplies can prove expensive. If the budget is an issue, there are still strategies to make space for makers. One way to combat the low budget challenge is to start with what you already have, and then grow your makerspace by testing and learning what works and what resonates with your community.

For example, on a limited budget, the Grayslake High School Library initiated Maker/Breaker Space area, as well as Pop Up stations, such as Lego/K’Nex Build and Community Coloring, Post-it Note Sudoku, and Bulletin Boards. Additionally, for the highly popular Box Robot contests, students used only boxes and tape. The library has also filled in the gaps by applying for grants, searching through freecycle.org (network of people who are giving and getting reusable free stuff for free in their own towns), and seeking donations. But when approaching the community for donations, the Milledgeville Public Library advises to ask for only specific items that refill supplies you need. When the library first implemented maker activities, it put out the word to the community that it needed donations, and... the donations flowed in. Three years later, the library is still working through the initial pile of donations.

Perhaps staffing poses the biggest challenge for most libraries, especially when staff needs to learn how to use the equipment in order to help library users. Finding staff members who both know how to troubleshoot the equipment and are available to work particular weekends could be tricky. If that is the case, a solution would be to form a cross-departmental team of staff with technical knowledge, or reach out to tech-savvy volunteers. For example, The Urbana Free Library is exploring the option to reach out to teens who use the Teen Open Lab to help with technology and maker equipment. In addition, the library’s teen librarian made a contact at a local Maker Fair with a library school student who expressed desire to assist with technology. The library also has a subscription to CreativeBug and is finding the videos (such as the ones on how to use a sewing machine) helpful.

When there is not enough staff to help out during a maker event, libraries (such as the New Lenox Public Library, the Bloomington Public Library, and the Vernon Area Public Library) often reach out to volunteers to help out with running stations, assisting children with projects, taking attendance, and cleaning up afterwards. When planning a maker event, however, the more staff is involved, the more coordination and communication is needed, which could bring additional challenges. One way to prevent this is to form committees of different people each year, schedule meetings ahead of time, set expectations early on in the planning process, and distribute tasks evenly among everyone involved.

MAKER CONSIDERATIONS

There are a few things to consider when planning a big maker event, in particular. For the Palatine Public Library District’s STEAM Fair, some of the considerations were partners backing out at the last minute, staff sickness the day of the event, and limited parking space for attendees. Additional challenges were technology malfunctions (some of the robots the library district was planning to showcase at an in-house booth malfunctioned the day of the event; luckily, it had other robots available) and an excited community that turned out early for the fair, making setting up boots challenging for exhibitors and staff. Increasing maintenance and security staff to assist with set up, takedown, and crowd management is the plan for the library district’s next fair.

For other libraries, an obstacle has been not having enough time (there are non-maker jobs to do) and getting other staff to get on board with planning maker activities, especially maker events. In that case, passive programming might be the solution, where maker supplies can be left out on a makercart or a table, with activities requiring minimal supervision and less take down and clean-up time.

And what about those solo librarians who would like to implement maker activities, but simply don’t have enough time and staff to plan and implement them because they are required to staff a desk? The Milledgeville Public Library came up with a creative approach: self-guided maker programs, where it provides construction paper, stickers, pipe cleaners, markers, tape, glue sticks, and other decorating supplies. The library puts out all of the recyclables and lets the kids (and teens and adults) free-build, without supervising the activities. To prevent the mess kids would leave, the library no longer provides liquid glue. Not knowing how many people would show up for a maker activity is something else to consider. To make sure there are enough supplies, most libraries ask for registration and typically give priority to card holders.