Creating a maker space (makerspace) - FFL Fab Lab (Fabulous Laboratory)
Makerspace:
- A place where people come together to create and collaborate, to share resources, knowledge and stuff.
- They give people tools to create, to hack, to remake their world...
- Came out of a proposal she had done for an MLIS course. Actually wrote three proposals. Noted potential challenges and barriers.
- FFL already has a culture of innovation. Risk taking is expected.
- Was hired based on her proposals.
- Funding?
- She writes a lot of grant applications.
- Both 3D printers were donated.
- Connecting with community partners for resources.
- Alternative methods: Awards and crowd-sourcing.
- Won a $10,000 award
- Crowd-sourced $6,000.
- The 3D printer that FFL have were under $2000 but are not made anymore. Roles of plastic cost $40-$50/role. Rolls last quite a long time.
- They are developing a pricing strategy.
- First x-minutes free, then $0.10-0.15/minute.
- Focus on giving patrons the tools they need to create.
- Kids are making their first book. Child takes one home; another copy is catalogued and kept in the library. Their creations are circulated.
- You do not nee to be digital fabrication expert. Rely on others. Go to Thingaverse.
- Building a makerspce
- Talk to your community about their needs
- Ideas:
- Bristlebots
- Make your own book
- Take-apart-Thursdays
- Project ideas at Crashspace LA
- Come from 190+ nations and speak more than 160+ languages
- 47% are foreign born
- 50+% speak another language at home. Spanish, Chinese and languages spoken in India are the top language.
- Offer services to job seekers.
- Job seeking on the Internet
- Completing job applications on the Internet
- Digital literacy classes
- Offer workshops in multiple languages
- Provide workshops on pathways to citizenship
- Provide workshops in partnership with community-based organizations.
- Have live-streamed problems
- Web site is available in multiple languages (Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Russian and French) - using professional and in-house translators.
- The library has a presence on many social media web sites.
- Have a Facebook page in Spanish.
- Do Queens Library Healthlink which provides health screenings. Has its own Facebook page.
- Receiving funding to do financial literacy in the community. Partnered with five different community organizations to provide classes in six languages. The grant included developing collections and languages in those languages around financial literacy. Also created videos in YouTube. See http://www.youtube.com/user/queenslibrary
- Project "Greening Western Queens" - Multilingual pages, videos, etc.
- Program "Save Steve" developed with smart investing grants
- Article - "$ave $teve" Launches
- http://www.SaveSteve.org
- Created a game to train children and adults on financial literacy
- Play the game and help save Steve financially, starting when he is a kid
- Developed a crackle-bot - robots that help Steve. Eventually developed a team of crackle-bots.
- Developed the story more. A strong storyline.
- Took two years to develop.
- Created a little mystery close to launch.
- Banners.
- Movie posters. Take-offs of real movies.
- Billboard on the interstate. "Can you save Steve?"
- Web site had a countdown clock, but very little info.
- Promotion
- People who played an entire module would receive a chance to win stuff (iPad or Nintendo 3DS).
- Created T-shirts. Everyone who completed the game got one.
- Promoted through "Fantasci 9"
- Adopted as supplementary learning tool by the school district.
- Next project - tackling epublishing and launching a self-publishing center in the library.
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