Creating and starting a makerspace is an exciting venture; you build a team and purchase new equipment. There are a lot of resources (people and articles) that describe how emergent makerspaces can get off the ground. Once your makerspace has been open for a few years, you begin to experience challenges that are distinctly different from those start-up challenges, and there are very few, if any, resources that describe what this new, “post-emergent” phase entails. Read the rest »

At the Millvale Community Library in Pennsylvania, toddlers and kids gather weekly to work on creative projects. On those days the library morphs into a “makerspace,” overflowing with sewing supplies, circuitry, yarn, and electronics. The young visitors are encouraged to tinker with the materials and create anything they dream up, be it an animated video or a collage. Read the rest »

The Free Library of Philadelphia’s Maker Jawn Initiative has been awarded a National Leadership Grant for multi-generational Makerspaces in North Philadelphia, where we have been focusing our efforts as a YOUmedia Learning Lab, creating scalable space for youth programming. The Free Library initiative is one of only 31 projects chosen nationwide to receive a National Leadership Grant from IMLS. Read the rest »