Yesterday was a big day, first with a library makers event at Clapham Library where staff from a bunch of different libraries came to hear about makerspaces and participate in some speed making.
It was attended by staff from Essex, Surrey, Bexley, Hackney, Kent, Oxfordshire and more. And of course our awesome hosts from Lambeth.
After a brief introduction to makerspaces and the maker movement, participants got a chance to try out various maker technologies including a 3D printer, LittleBits, Makey Makey and more.
We also launched our first online course for library staff, Making Library Makers. This is a foundation course that was developed to help library staff gain the skills and knowledge to plan and support maker events and makerspaces in libraries.
About the Making Library Makers online course
Our library maker events blend together an introduction to makerspaces and constructionist learning approaches with hands-on exploration of some electronics and maker technologies. And the staff response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Everyone has a lot of fun trying out new technologies and learning about how digital making might fit within their library service. The online course expands on this idea in an online format – the course includes a selection of real projects that users can tackle with real-time support being available throughout.
The projects that learners can complete include using Scratch, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, 3D printing and paper circuits. It also covers a practical approach to planning and running creative computing and learn-to-code workshops in the library and other aspects of makerspace planning. And there are also lots of additional makerspace resources to download and use.
The course is made up of 4 modules
- An introduction to makerspaces and the maker movement
- Creative computing & learn to code initiatives
- Maker tools & technologies
- Planning a makerspace for your library
It’s a challenging thing to deliver training for makers and making online — we’ve approached this by focusing on providing a friendly and supportive online learning environment in which learners can tackle real projects that are relevant to the type of library they work in. And they have access to trainers to get help and ask questions at every step of the way.
If you want to find out more about Making Library Makers, check it out at www.makinglibrarymakers.com and if you want to talk to us about staff or library workshops, get in touch.