Lending a hand: Supporting the maker movement in academic libraries

Abstract

Many libraries are embracing the Maker movement as an exciting new community to welcome into their doors by creating new spaces, adding new services and technologies, and offering new types of programming. At the North Carolina State University Libraries, we have been inspired by the Maker world, with its enthusiasm for creativity and interest-driven learning and its focus on Open Source, easy-to-learn, and powerfully flexible technology platforms. We have formed a Makerspace program, with two dedicated spaces and a variety of technologies available for our users to borrow. The NCSU Libraries and SparkFun Electronics, Inc. have partnered to explore challenges and creative solutions to integrating Maker technologies into libraries as well as ways to support student learning goals with both library-led workshops and course integrations. The purpose of this paper is to share the lessons we learned by reflecting upon our experiences with technology lending and teaching workshops while examining data from checkout information and personal surveys to draw conclusions about best practices and the impact we have on the campus community.