Category Archives: Makerspaces

How to Bring a YouCreate Lab to Your Library: Part I

logo_808707_printHow do you envision your community utilizing the library? Do you imagine content creation, collaboration, engagement and entertainment?  Are you interested in having a Digital Media Lab, Makerspace, or Recording Studio in your library?  Why not have all three?  These were the questions we were asking ourselves in 2012 at the Park City Library and in the spring of 2013, our YouCreate Lab opened as Utah’s first digital media lab in a public library.

Park City Library’s YouCreate Lab is collaborative community space with state of the art software and equipment that enables people to creatively express themselves through digital videos, photography, websites, graphic design, podcasts, presentations, and other forms of digital media. This new space encourages the development of 21st Century Skills, such as information, media, communications, and technology literacies, which are essential for today’s global economy.  The lab provides everyone in the community with opportunities to pursue their creative aspirations whether that is digitizing family slides, creating art, movies, apps, or animation. The lab includes equipment that can be used in the library as well as borrowed.

This post will be the beginning of a brief series on how we built the YouCreate Lab, so you can too!

Part One: Vision

“The mission of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in their communities.” — R. David Lankes in The Atlas for New Librarianship

Know Your Community: From personal jet planes to food banks

The Park City Library is a small library located on the eastern side of the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains in Summit County in the State of Utah. According the to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population estimate base for Park City was 7,558 with an estimated growth of 3.5% for 2011. Historically a mining town, Park City is now a world-class resort town that attracts over 3 million annual visitors. A few of the attractions include three nationally ranked ski resorts, the Sundance Film Festival, the Utah Olympic Park (a winter sports park built for the 2002 Winter Olympics), nationally ranked mountain biking trails; fly fishing, hiking, dining, and shopping.

Park City demographics mirror the state’s trend in which the majority of residents are Caucasian with a growing Latino population; in Park City, the Latino population accounts for about 24% of residents, which is significantly higher than Utah’s average of 13% (2010 U.S. Census). Residents of Park City average a median household income of $61,383; however, 9.1% of Park City’s population lives below the poverty line. The 2010 U.S. Census data illustrates the while Park City’s ‘persons below poverty level’ is 2.3% lower than the state’s average; it’s almost 3% higher than Summit County’s average. The data exposes the disparity between the perceived affluence of Park City and the reality of residents who have a hard time affording safe housing, food, health care, and education.

Assess the Need: 21st Century Skills

In today’s society, success is achieved by efficiently navigating a plethora of information using critical thinking and problem solving skills while effectively collaborating and communicating within a global context.  Park City’s community embraced the development of 21st Century Skills within the school district by implementing the “high access” initiative, which provides every student (grades 6 through 12) a laptop and access to digital media labs in schools.  This initiative impacts less than a quarter of Park City’s population. Therefore, the Park City Library has an opportunity and commitment to bridging the digital divide and supporting the whole community’s development of 21st Century Skills.

Vision: By building the YouCreate Lab

The library will provide:

  • equal and equitable access to new technology
  • a space in which people can create, innovate and collaborate on projects

The library will facilitate:

  • development of 21st Century Skills
  • content creation
  • perseveration of personal history items through digitization

The YouCreate Lab aligns the library with our community’s values.

Three Phased Approached:

  • Digital Media – focusing on multimedia (i.e. digital videos, photography, websites, graphic design, podcasts, animation, etc.)
  • Makerspace – focusing on creating 3D physical objects (i.e. 3D printers, robotics, electronics, DIY, etc.)
  • Small Recording Studio – focusing on audio engineering (i.e. composing, recording, mixing, instruments, etc.)

 Three Foundational Outcomes:

  • Patrons’ growth or improvement of 21st Century Skills (as defined by the Institute of Museum and Library Services).
  • A community wide increase in content creation, collaboration, and productivity.
  • Community preparation for skills needed to be competitive globally.

 Stay tuned next week for Part Two: Vision to Action

By: Tegan Davis, Park City Library Youth and Spanish Services Manager

Stop-Motion Animation

Whiteboard animation loosely based upon Homer’s Iliad. Created for Junior Classical League. Placed first in NCJCL (North Carolina) State competition. Placed first in NJCL National 10th grade entry. Made at Imaginon in Charlotte, North Carolina. Original Soundtrack created by Rachel Rust with animation collabration between Rachel and Rebekah Rust.

How to guide: Stop-motion_animation_-_Anythink

Stop-motion animation tutorials for Windows: http://tinkergroup.wordpress.com/

From the Stop-motion animation PLA program, Kristen Stehel from the Utah State Library participated in a team project and created the following video.

This entry was posted in Digital Media Labs, kids, Makerspaces, PLA, Teen Programming, Tween and tagged anythink libraries, connected learning, create space, diy labs, final cut pro, ilabs, imovie, innovative library programming, ipad apps for library programming, istudio, Kristen Stehel, library innovation, library tinker tools, osnap, studio, teens create, tinkering makerspace, whiteboard animation on by .

Teen Tech Week 2014: Circuits, makey makey, and more!

Screen Shot 2014-03-16 at 9.30.59 AMAn entire week of programming ideas for teen tech week thanks to The Unquiet Librarian!

  • Makey Makey kits
  • Squishy Circuit kits
  • Conductive and insulating playdough
  • MakeyMakey piano and bongo
  • Duct tape crafts

Vine videos, images, details on The Unquiet Librarian blog:  http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/author/theunquietlibrary/

 

Screen Shot 2014-03-16 at 9.23.15 AM

 

For more makerspace ideas and gadget guidance see Make: magazine | http://makezine.com/


make

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted in kids, Makerspaces, Teen Programming, Tween and tagged circuitry programming, clay makerspace project, duct tape crafts, gaming and makerspaces, kids create, Kristen Stehel, library technology programming, maker movement, playdough crafts, teen programming, teen tech week, Tween programming, unquiet librarian on by .

Making in the Library Toolkit: Makerspace Resources Task Force

Makerspaces, digital media labs, create spaces, play spaces, studios, you name it! A place to create at the library is surfacing in conversations nationwide as more libraries express interest in this type of library service.

March 9-15 is Teen Tech Week!  Here is a great resource from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).

yalsatoolkit

 

 

Here is a link to the Build-a-Lab series hosted by the Utah State LIbrary. This five-part series features libraries from all over the nation speaking about the create spaces in their libraries. https://creativelibrariesutah.org/category/digital-media-labs/

lab

 

This entry was posted in Digital Media Labs, Makerspaces, Teen Programming and tagged create space, diy labs, ideas lab, innovative libraries, istudio, Kristen Stehel, library innovation, maker movement, participatory learning, participatory programming, studio, technology programs, teen programming, teen tech week, yalsa on by .

Build-A-Lab: Media Labs in Ela Area, IL

elapublicThe Ela Area Public Library has two digital media labs in the same building. The purpose of the digital media labs is to provide Library patrons with a space where they may use various digital media technologies that support their educational, professional, and personal goals and endeavors.

Presentation slides: www.slideshare.net/abelden

Topics:

  • What inspired the library to obtain a media lab
  • List of equipment
  • Possible classes/training offered to the community
  • How the community has responded to the lab (attendance, project successes, etc.)

Audience: All library workers

Host: Utah State Library

Series: Build-a-Lab

Instructor: Anne Belden

Service Population: 33,000

This entry was posted in Digital Media Labs, Makerspaces and tagged anne belden, create space, diy lab, ela public library, ilab, innovation, innovative libraries, istudio, Kristen Stehel, library innovation, maker movement, participatory learning, participatory programming, studio on by .

Build-A-Lab: Makerspaces in Lomira QuadGraphics, WI

creativespaceLearn about this exciting new Makerspaces lab in Lomira QuadGraphics Community Library, Wisconsin, where there is equipment to make digital art or physical objects. Residents can also convert formats: from VHS to DVD for example, or convert slides and photos to digital images. People can create print, audio, video, web design and other digital files that can help them with their business, school, hobbies, or help them to just have fun. Topics:

  • What inspired the library to obtain a media lab
  • List of equipment
  • Possible classes/training offered to the community
  • How the community has responded to the lab (attendance, project successes, etc.)

Host: Utah State Library

Audience: All library workers

Instructor: Shannon Barniskis

Service Population: 3,000

This entry was posted in Digital Media Labs, Makerspaces and tagged create space, diy labs, ideas lab, ilab, innovative libraries, istudio, Kristen Stehel, library creative spaces, library innovation, maker movement, participatory learning, participatory programming, QuadGraphics Community Library, Shannon Barniskis, studio on by .

Build-A-Lab: Digital Projects in Highland Park, IL

highland

This recording is number three of a five-part online series highlighting Digital Media Labs and Makerspaces in public libraries across America. Digital Media Labs provide library patrons with a space where they may use various digital media technologies that support their educational, professional, and personal goals and endeavors. Labs include equipment and software. Patrons can create, design, restore and share: videos, images, music, websites, presentations, animations, digital art, physical objects, eBooks, podcasts, and much more.

Discover. Capture. Share. Topics:

  • What inspired the library to obtain a media lab
  • List of equipment
  • Possible classes/training offered to the community
  • How the community has responded to the lab (attendance, project successes, etc.)

Host: Utah State Library

Instructor: Chad Clark | New Media Librarian | Highland Park Public Library, Illinois

Service Population: 30,000

Series: Build-A-Lab

This entry was posted in Digital Media Labs, Makerspaces and tagged chad clark, create lab, create space, diy labs, diy library lab, highland park public library, ideas lab, ilab, innovative libraries, istudio, Kristen Stehel, library digital media lab, library innovation, maker movement, participatory learning, participatory programming, studio on by .