All of us here in the Artefacto team are creative technologists, makers or artists of some kind, so the concept of makespaces as creative spaces for learning and collaboration has always been appealing to us.
Makerspaces are many things to many people. They can be permanent, temporary, stationary or mobile. They come in different shapes, sizes and, in the best cases, are flexible and responsive to the needs of their users.
We talk about the makerspaces in libraries a lot. Over the years, we’ve been in conversations with libraries about makerspaces helping them develop their own makespaces that would match their unique visions. We’ve worked closely with libraries across the UK on their makerspace programmes providing advice, support and training.
We even turned our own office space into a tiny version of a makerspace – complete with a 3D printer, digital cutter and many other useful bits and pieces.
We also turned our experiences and conversations about makerspaces into a Starter Guide.
Previously we have shared this publication with people attending our training or libraries we’ve worked with. But now we wanted to share it more widely to help libraries (and other cultural organisations) interested in launching or developing their own makerspace programme.
Please get in touch if you have any questions or if you are thinking of starting a makerspace and would like to chat about it with us.