1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Last year, SDPL opened its brand new Central Library, and had the first-ever San Diego Mini Maker Faire. Learn what the maker movement is about, what it means to be a maker, and how you can leverage the maker community to create a low- or no-cost maker environment in your library. In 3 months, with two 3D printers, no programming budget, and only one staff interested in the maker movement, SDPL worked with community volunteers to keep the lab open and expand programming to include Raspberry Pi programming classes, a 3D printing club, classes on 3D design, Nerdy Derby events, and other maker programs. At Burke’s, the library and makerspace are deeply complementary. Through research and literature-based activity, the library encourages students to generate information, wrestle with ideas, and tap into their imaginations. The Makery allows students to then turn information, ideas, and imagination into real-life and virtual products that further learning, creative confidence, and self-expression. The Burke’s Library and Makery together inspire a new adage: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The Denver Public Library, sometimes called the people’s university, is working on using badges to capture and enhance a portion of what its community is learning. Whether it’s for a Photoshop project created in its teen makerspace (ideaLAB) or as a prerequisite for enrollment in a community college course, DPL is exploring how badges for in-library learning can be useful for its customers, at varying levels of formality. Come to hear what DPL learned from its experiences so far, and what’s next.
