The past few months have seen lots of discussion about makerspaces in libraries. What’s a makerspace? Buffy Hamilton’s great post over at the Unquiet Librarian has a couple of good definitions, but essentially it’s a place for folks to make things, perhaps writing and illustrating a zine, using the open source Arduino computing platform to program a robot, screenprinting, or creating model houses with a 3D printer. Makerspaces often include tools and equipment that are too expensive or specialized for most people to have in their homes, as well as provide a gathering place for like-minded hobbyists to create and collaborate.
Makerspaces seem like a great fit for public libraries, which often run programs designed to teach new skills and to create something, like an arts and crafts hour for kids. And indeed, some public libraries are experimenting with makerspaces, including Fayetteville Free Library in New York, Westport Public Library in Connecticut, and Cleveland Public Library in Ohio.
What could a makerspace look like in an academic library? What do we help our patrons make? We have computer labs, some more specialized and high-end than others, and we could add equipment like 3D printers. Of course, not every library will have the funding and staff to create tech-centered makerspaces. And faculty and departments may already have that equipment for students to use, especially those in engineering, computer science, and other technical majors.
For those colleges or universities that can’t create a physical makerspace, what are some other ways we can encourage the maker ethos in our libraries? When it comes to instruction and information literacy, I’ve definitely got a some ideas about how to make things with students in a semester-length course. We could produce a student journal or create a zine, and I have a colleague who asks students to create their own citation style. But I’m struggling with the idea of the one-shot instruction session as makerspace. What can students “make” in a one-shot? If we give them a worksheet to fill in or ask them to come away from the session with a specific number of sources to use for their assignment, have they made something?
Perhaps applying the makerspace concept to library instruction and information literacy really means expanding our own understanding of what we do when we work with students. We’re not just teaching them to find information — when we help them zero in on a source that really fits their needs, we’re supporting them as they make: make new knowledge for themselves, construct the outline for their assignment, build their ideas into an argument.
All the same, I’m interested to think about how we as academic librarians can take the concept of libraries as makerspaces even further, especially with students. We need to find ways to support creating, not just finding. The Student as Producer project at the University of Lincoln in the UK is an interesting model to consider. Undergraduates are deeply involved in research across the curriculum, and thus come to their college studies to actually create knowledge rather than passively consume it. Again, this is something that perhaps comes more easily to faculty teaching semester-length courses or doing lab research with their students.
How can academic librarians, our contact with students often limited to a few minutes at the Reference Desk or an hour or so in the classroom, become involved at the making, producer level with students?