BIG News! Apply for FREE 3D PRINTERS!

Allison — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 14:30:26 +0000

Brace yourselves! 3D Systems has launched an amazing new opportunity to get FREE 3D printers in libraries! Libraries and museums that apply to the MakerLab Club by November 17 may be selected to receive free 3D printers to run programs, training and events. Hello!!

The MakerLab Club is an initiative in collaboration with 3D Systems, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), with support from your friends at Make it at Your Library. This initiative was sparked by the White House Maker Faire and in support of the IMLS initiative of helping museums and libraries build maker spaces and maker related programs. The MakerLab Club aims to bring 3D printing and programs to communities around the country, and support a new digital literacy through an integrated ecosystem of hardware, curriculum, training and communities of practice.

In addition to up to four donated printers from 3D Systems, libraries selected for the MakerLab Club will have access to specialized workshop resources, training webinars, and more opportunities for free stuff.

You can also find more information about the details at http://3dprintingindustry.com/2014/10/01/3d-systems-partners-us-libraries-museums-give-free-access-3d-printing/.

And apply here: http://www.3dsystems.com/education/partnersandresources/makerlab-club

Good luck, libraries!

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libraries

The Space-less Makerspace

Allison — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 04:15:15 +0000

One of the toughest mental blocks of the maker movement in libraries is that word we hear round and round: makerspace. It conjures up images of wood shavings on the floor, sparks flying from an anvil, machines buzzing, tools hammering, goggles and stripped wires and a poured concrete floor and, at a bare minimum, four walls and a door. Even if your library staff is on board the maker movement, the simple fact is that most libraries nowadays are not in the financial position to invest in a comprehensive makerSPACE. And you know what? That's okay.

Chicago-area makerspace Pumping Station One shows us how it's done.

Because despite all the making that might happen there, a makerspace isn't really a converted study room, or a repurposed janitor's closet, or a donated trailer, or heck, even a gloriously funded renovation project with all the traditional trappings of the makerspace. A makerspace is anywhere creating, collaborating, converting or computer crushing is happening. It's not about the gear, however nice it would be to have that 3D Printer or Laser Cutter. A makerspace is the place where the LED lights up a tinkerer's expression of exhilaration and accomplishment. It's the place where an idea turns into a thing. A makerspace is the distance between your head and your hands.

At my library, there is no designated space for our new 3D printer. We don't have an extra room sitting around unoccupied (who does?) nor do we have the funds to create one. So here our equipment sits, out on the main floor, a seemingly tiny space-less makerspace:

Is that a makerspace? Sure!

And perhaps like the MakerBox Replicator 2 itself, having no walls to define our little makerspace is not such a bad thing. Maybe it seems random to have this machine in the middle of the library floor, but maybe it's a way to bring the making to the people. It's impossible not to walk past this thing and wonder. Sure enough, the curious patron steps forward to the reference desk: "So, can I use that thing?" And perhaps with a wall and a closed door dividing the gear from the go-getters, the curious would keep quiet.

Even without the fancy trappings, makerspaces are anywhere you want them to be. From toddler storytimes to senior clubs, how are you redefining makerspace in your library?

Allison's blog

BIG News! Apply for FREE 3D PRINTERS!

The Space-less Makerspace