Makerspace Project Reflection

Makerspaces are an increasingly important feature for libraries of all kinds and I was so excited to delve into the process of designing one with my team. Our Public Library-focused group has two members who currently work in libraries with makerspaces, so we used these spaces as inspiration for designing our space. Like our last project, we were slow to break the ice at our initial meeting to figure out what kind of space we wanted to design, but once someone suggested a space with materials and tools for patrons to create customized materials such as clothes, bags, towels, mugs... everyone in our group was all in and ready to pitch in ideas for tools. And thus, Customization Corner was born!

At our initial meeting we settled on our makerspace theme and the tools and items we wanted to include. We set up a shared Google Doc with all of our notes and assigned each person a tool to do further research on. We also set some deadlines and created a group text chat so we could check in if anyone was having trouble or behind. Everyone on the project was very focused on creating an accessible, fun and educational space -- it seemed that having this common goal right from the start was super beneficial in aligning all of our individual research.

We met the next week to finalize our inventory and make a plan for our presentation. It was surprisingly easy to get our group together and everyone seemed eager and willing to pitch in work and ideas to create a cool project. Todd even created a super cool logo for us to have as our background during our Zoom presentation. When it came time to record our presentation we did one run-through with some positive feedback, and then recorded the real thing. We were thrilled when we came in just under time at 14:59!

In this project I took on the role of researcher/supporter/presentation creator and editor. I really enjoyed working with my group and found myself wanting to match their wonderful ideas and work. I felt initially a little intimidated by the project as I haven't used any of the equipment we decided to incorporate, but having such great positivity in the group, a collective goal along with small, incremental deadlines for the work helped make it manageable and about as fun as a school project can be. I think everyone brought a unique perspective and experience to this project and all contributed in a positive and constructive manner.