Leaders and Contributors
Librarians
Joel Spencer Amber Cox Fab Lab Program Coordinator Jeff Ginger Grants and Sponsorship Lisa Bievenue Martin Wolske Betty Barrett Present Volunteers Phyllis Bannon-Nilles Tucker Campbell Bryce Hays Judy Lee Past Volunteers Stephanie Arbet Jennie Archer Karen Barton Keri Carroll Shayna Egan Rubayya Hoque Casey McCoy Julia Reynolds Yesenia Roman Abbie Sackmann Urbana IMC Makerspace Jeff Putney |
Philosophy
We run a teen-guided space. It's important to us that they feel like they have ownership over it. We cross over into areas like mentoring and guidance to help them learn how to understand things like creation and games from critical and positive perspectives.
Generally at any given time we have one librarian and one to three volunteers actively engaging with the teens, working with them on activities. The teens help us to set up and take down the space. More importantly, the teens actually help to teach one another (as well as the volunteers!) how to use various technologies and techniques. Visitors
Generally we see between 20 and 40 teens each day and are open Tue/Wed/Thu after school from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Teens in grades 6-12 are invited to join us, and their parents are welcome to come by to take a look and pick their kids up. Other adults can make a request to visit by contacting Joel Spencer ([email protected]) or Amber Cox ([email protected]).
Example Documents
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Layout
Photos
More pictures coming soon, we're working out permission to show photos with minors.
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Guide
So, how do you set up a space like this for your library or museum?
We will eventually have a guide helping interested parties to tackle important questions. For now, here's an outline:
Justification
ALA-promoted social and service roles of the public library (see OTIP 2013 report, PEW report)
CPL models - YouMedia, Makerlab
Fab Lab model (MSI, CU)
The hard-to-swallow part - less organization, fewer books, more patron interaction
Community Engagement
Relationships - with teens, parents and library administration
Partnerships - for sources of participants, volunteers and donations
Policy - flexibility, short-term planning, teen-driven, volunteer-management/training
Infrastructure Requirements
Space - flexible vs. dedicated, storage, isolation
Tools/materials - computers, activity gear, internet requirements, sustainable budget, imaging system, network storage
Software - FOSS! Firefox/web-based, gimp, audacity, inkscape, clonezilla, etc...
Programming and Activities
Format - organic vs. workshops vs. classes (informal vs. nonformal vs. formal)
Marketing - teens do it for us! But also social media plzzzzz, and teachers/schools
Evaluation/outcomes - portfolio of teen work, interviews, library balance, recent standards
Activities - digital storytelling, AV production, sewing, making, digital art, tutoring
People
Teens - diversity highly encouraged
Volunteers - "young" enough to understand and bond with kids, old enough to be organized and responsible; mentor skills and digital literacies
Leaders - librarians, outreach, curriculum design, digital literacies also required for upkeep
Additional Resources
A Librarian's Guide to Makerspaces - http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/a-librarians-guide-to-makerspaces/
We will eventually have a guide helping interested parties to tackle important questions. For now, here's an outline:
Justification
ALA-promoted social and service roles of the public library (see OTIP 2013 report, PEW report)
CPL models - YouMedia, Makerlab
Fab Lab model (MSI, CU)
The hard-to-swallow part - less organization, fewer books, more patron interaction
Community Engagement
Relationships - with teens, parents and library administration
Partnerships - for sources of participants, volunteers and donations
Policy - flexibility, short-term planning, teen-driven, volunteer-management/training
Infrastructure Requirements
Space - flexible vs. dedicated, storage, isolation
Tools/materials - computers, activity gear, internet requirements, sustainable budget, imaging system, network storage
Software - FOSS! Firefox/web-based, gimp, audacity, inkscape, clonezilla, etc...
Programming and Activities
Format - organic vs. workshops vs. classes (informal vs. nonformal vs. formal)
Marketing - teens do it for us! But also social media plzzzzz, and teachers/schools
Evaluation/outcomes - portfolio of teen work, interviews, library balance, recent standards
Activities - digital storytelling, AV production, sewing, making, digital art, tutoring
People
Teens - diversity highly encouraged
Volunteers - "young" enough to understand and bond with kids, old enough to be organized and responsible; mentor skills and digital literacies
Leaders - librarians, outreach, curriculum design, digital literacies also required for upkeep
Additional Resources
A Librarian's Guide to Makerspaces - http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/a-librarians-guide-to-makerspaces/