Resources: Making in Libraries, Museums, & Community Centers
- Tinkering Studio – A space for hands-on STEM learning housed at the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco. The Tinkering Studio shares its resources especially well online, with projects, profiles of makers, free online courses, and more.
- NY Hall of Science – Home of World Maker Faire, this museum offers resources for educators around the topics of “Design, Make, and Play.”
- ASTC Making & Tinkering Spaces in Museums – The Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) hosts a community forum for people running making/tinkering/discovery centers in museums. You must register, but you do not have to be a paying member of ASTC to participate.
- MAKING+ LEARNING in Museums and Libraries – A framework for library and museum practitioners for designing new making spaces or evaluating existing spaces. From the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
- YOUmedia Learning Lab Network – A network of learning spaces in libraries, museums, community centers, and schools organized around the concept of HOMAGO – Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out popularized by Mimi Ito in her book of the same name.
- Makerspaces in Urban Libraries – The Urban Libraries Council maintains a list of makerspaces in public libraries, with detailed information about the programs and services, plus contact information.
- Chicago Public Library Maker Lab – The Maker Lab is Chicago’s first free and publicly accessible maker space. The report (linked on the main page of this site) “Making to Learn” chronicles the creation of the Maker Lab and the initial findings about the space and the people who visited.
- Library as Makerspace – The public library of Duxbury, Massachusetts staff contribute to a website documenting the journey “from primarily content collection to adding in content creation.”
- Making it Happen – Summary of a Library Journal survey of public libraries with makerspaces. Detailed analysis of what kinds of programming are offered, successful practices, and cost breakdowns. Download the full report from this site.
- The Makerspace Librarian’s Sourcebook – A comprehensive resource for makerspaces in public libraries. For some reason this book is very expensive – look for a used copy.
- School Library Journal: The Maker Issue – Articles about school library makerspace programs and resources for all grade levels.
- Maker Movement Grows in K-12, with Librarians Leading the Way, Finds SLJ Survey – School Library Journal survey about K-12 library makerspace best practices.
- Help! There’s a Makerspace in my Library – Design ideas from Sylvia Martinez about library makerspaces.