MakerSpace in Great Falls Sean Anderson Great Falls Public Library

Maker Education Initiative  Works to foster creativity and interest in STEM activities in children and young adults  Sponsored by Intel, Pixar, Cognizant, Maker Media  GFPL chosen as one of 34 host sites for Maker Ed.’s pilot MakerSpace Program.

Creating a MakerSpace Where’s it going? Who’s staffing it? How are you paying for it? What are you going to do with it?

Staffing Grant from Maker Ed.  2 interns  $10/hr.  30 hrs./week  10 weeks + 8 weeks training Volunteers  MakerSpace Assistance  Check-in/check-out Library Staff Supervisor *Involve the WHOLE staff!

Funding $7,200 in Grant Funding  Staffing costs $6,000 in Donations  Equipment & materials $3,500 in-kind  Administrative support, library staff, floor space 2013 Operating Budget - $13,370  ~$3,000 retained for future use

Up & Running Check-in Table 5 stations Melt, Cut, Sew, Build, Craft Library Supplies Computers Admin./ Safety LayoutOrganization

Paperwork Protecting your Library Notice of potential for injury Media Release Protecting Makers Station Certification Incident Reports Staying Organized Materials Requests Project Proposals Collect Data Maker Survey Parent Survey Suggestions

Finally... Some FUN!

At the end of all things... Was it a success? Did Makers have fun? What needs fixing? How can we improve? Who used the MakerSpace? ASK QUESTIONS!

Stats GFPL’s MakerSpace saw: 242 unique Makers 1,241 total hours spent by Makers An average of 17 users per day. Makers: 9.8 years old, on average. Had a median age of 9. Average of 1.7 hours per visit 7 hours, Max. 10 minutes, Min.

Lessons Learned Quality staffing  Lean on the community Consistent PR Admin. procedures are worth the effort Get feedback from parents, Makers Consumable materials Makers gonna do what Makers gonna do... STEM is more than robots

Looking to the Future Availability of Maker Ed. grant Fundraising Community Outreach MakerSpace structure  After-School?  Year-Round?  Open to adults?

Resources NYSCI MakerSpace Blueprint MakerEd.org 2013 MakerSpace Playbook MakerCorps on Google+ MAKEzine.com Instructables.com American Science & Surplus  Sciplus.com SparkFun  Sparkfun.com Electronic Goldmine  Goldmine-elec-products.com Amazon.com IdeasSupplies