Making a place for creativity

The Library in the Forest isn’t just for books anymore. Library Director Taneisha Tucker wants to make it a place for children, teens and adults to explore their creative side.

In 2014, Tucker learned about makerspaces, which are workspaces for people to share tools, materials and creative ideas. She visited a library makerspace in December and saw an opportunity for the Library in the Forest to grow.

“Everything that they mentioned just fascinated me because they were interested in taking the library in a different direction,” Tucker said. “We’ve been here since 2010 and I felt like it was time for us to see what was out there to do more than what we’ve been offering.”

She started small, by asking the different department heads to create regular “maker” programs to gauge the city’s interest. Upcycle City, a monthly DIY class for adults, and Maker Mondays for elementary school children have been in place for about two years now.

“It was kind of a way to dip our toe into the maker world,” said April Moon, who works with Maker Mondays in the Children’s Department.

Encouraging children’s creativity

On Monday evenings at the library, anywhere from a handful of children up to 50 will arrive to participate in Maker Mondays. The activities are slightly different each time to keep them interested, volunteer Alicia Eyer said.

“I think it’s good for them to explore and try out things. I think that’s really important,” Eyer said. “It gets them to think differently too, and it’s more hands-on.”

Those activities range from a pottery wheel or kinetic sand to circuit-building and simple robots. The children can also experiment with Legos, fashion design, building kits and artwork. Eyer said it’s all to keep kids “doing, exploring and making.”

“I think that they feel successful after they have built something,” Eyer said.

Moon said that Maker Mondays are complementary to the makerspaces that already exist in Vestavia Hills’ elementary schools. According to Jan Garfinkle, the school system’s lead instructional technology specialist, having makerspaces in schools promotes collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, excitement about learning and exposure to new ideas and career fields.

West Elementary has makerspace carts filled with activities for all students in science, engineering and crafting. The school has also introduced a Lego Corner, as well as a MakerSpace club for third-graders. The club meets each Wednesday to work on more advanced STEM projects, including 3D printing and moviemaking.

At East Elementary, the tech lab can be used as a makerspace, and several teachers have smaller spaces set up in their own classroom. Garfinkle said some teachers also have a weekly “genius hour” to encourage exploration of these projects.

Students at Cahaba Heights are learning about science, engineering, technology, art and math in a variety of ways: coding lessons, egg drops, electricity experiments, recycling projects and more. Garfinkle said Cahaba Heights also has a Thursday makerspace in the art room.

In spring 2015, Liberty Park Elementary began building the Innovation Lab, which is similar to a makerspace. Each grade gets four classes in the lab, to complement the STEM learning they already have in the classroom. Teachers can also sign up for extra time in the lab for students to work on more projects.

Finally, Central Elementary introduced a new active learning space this school year to encourage collaborative learning. The space includes robotics, Chromebooks and a 3D printer. Students have been working with digital design programs, weaving and app design as well.

The middle and high schools also take opportunities to introduce similar learning styles in their classrooms.

At the library, Moon sees Maker Mondays and similar programs as a chance to keep encouraging children’s interest in makerspace projects outside of school hours.

“I think it’s added a dimension that we haven’t had before in order to create,” Moon said. “It’s just a different way to learn here in the library rather than our normal format.”

Adding adult opportunities

Between Maker Mondays and school programs, Tucker and Library Foundation Executive Director Cinnamon McCulley said there are plenty of places for children to explore their hands-on, creative side. That’s why her next step will be geared toward adults.

“The children have so many opportunities for creativity but adults do not,” McCulley said.

Tucker wants to build a full makerspace within the Library in the Forest. In place of the unsuccessful library cafe, Tucker envisions workbenches for patrons to use a 3D printer, laser cutter, vinyl cutter, 3D scanner and other crafting tools. She also wants to add technology such as the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, a driving simulator, Arduino software, Raspberry Pi programming tools and Lego robotics.

Two neighboring study rooms and part of the adult services area could also be converted into simple photography, audio and video studios. The equipment the library wants to buy, Tucker said, will cost about $30,000.

The makerspace would provide free classes for those wishing to learn how to use the tools. Tucker said patrons would only have to pay for finished products they take home, or bring in their own materials to use instead. 

“Why not come here, use these things for free and you learn how to do it?” McCulley said.

This substantially reduces the cost of many projects, compared to buying the equipment and pursuing them individually.

“That’ll be a fun thing to add to the library. I think the community will embrace that,” Moon said.

Making the makerspace

The library’s makerspace could be small and built just within the existing cafe space, which would require very little in the way of construction costs. If they decide to expand into surrounding areas of the library and perhaps even exterior changes, that cost can increase up to $400,000.

“We need lots of money,” Tucker said.

In December, the Library Foundation began advertising their fundraising campaign for the makerspace, and an official launch of the campaign starts this spring. The library will be seeking grant opportunities for equipment purchases, but McCulley said most of the funding will likely come from individual donations.

“We’re basically tapping any sources that we can,” McCulley said. “We’ll have to rely on our community to help fund it.”

Tucker said the library is working with an architect to develop a plan for bidding, and they’re willing to work step by step as time and funding allow.

“We will start small and value-engineer until we reach greatness,” she said.

Ideally, she’d like to have the makerspace open within a year or two. However, she wants to make sure the space has reached a “certain standard” of available equipment and classes before it opens. The makerspace will be available to anyone in Jefferson County with a library card.

“I think it’s the right direction to take,” Tucker said.

Information about the makerspace project is available on the library website, vestavialibrary.org. Those interested in contributing to the fundraising campaign can contact Cinnamon McCulley at 978-4632 or foundation@libraryintheforest.org.