2018 June Round Up

In June, VA hosted 7 experiential learning programs.

Programming:

Make a Better World This group will be working on turning plastic bags into sleeping mats 
for Share Vancouver.  This program continues until July 31.

Intro to 3D Design and 3D Printing Open Lab. These courses continue to be popular with 
patrons of all ages. 

Craft Connections, the weekly adult crafting program. We are experimenting with having 
this program self-serve: a staff member sets up the room, works with the participants during
 the first hour, then assists on desk until the program ends and cleans up.

The first summer reading program, Treble Makers. Participants made musical instruments 
from recycling. We had a lot of enthusiastic parents and their children participate. 
Parents liked how clever and easy to replicate this project was. Kids loved how 
noisy it was.  

Mini Golf Summer Reading Kick-Off. This program was well-attended and many of the 
participants enjoyed the whimsical and interactive nature of the event. We look forward to
 hosting Mini Golf as kick off in 2019 with more community participation. 

Family Fab Lab project for June was to design, build, and test kites made from recycled 
materials. 

Learn2CodeThis month, we utilized a web tool built by Georgia Tech called Earsketch. 
This program combines a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) with script coding (Python or 
Javascript) to produce music. It is an amazing teaching tool that I learned about through 
Girls Who Code. Participants ranged from 7 years old to adult and were from a 
variety of backgrounds. Everyone enjoyed this unique experience of learning 
programming with an artistic output.

We utilized the district’s Photo Booth for our summer reading kickoff. Lots of people 
engaged with this passive program. The awesome photos can be viewed 
on fvrlphotobooth.tumblr.com. Photos were also posted to VA’s Instagram 
as a promotional opportunity to raise our subscribers.

Community Connections

VA hosted our 2nd annual Repair Cafe on June 7 in collaboration with Repair Clark County 
and Columbia Springs. The event at VA was the best-attended event to date. Some stats:

Total Attendees: 150+

Number of Volunteers: 24

Items brought for repair: 138

Items fixed: 105

Fix rate: 82%

Items by Category:

Electronics - 19

Small appliance - 20

Bikes - 10

Sewing - 23

Tool/knife sharpening - 47

Other - 19

District Collaboration:

I worked with Three Creeks to represent the district at the Recycled Arts Festival.
 I worked Sunday,  June 24 demonstrating VA’s new circuit blocks. Children of all ages and
 their adults enjoyed building circuits and learning about summer reading.

I continue to serve as Chair-Elect for ASD. We are currently finalizing food for the event and 
working with Program Services to arrange a Tech Petting Zoo as one of the final sessions.

3D Printers running on Raspberry Pi. We are brainstorming how this setup can be used with 
the public and are documenting our progress and concerns to share with Program Services 
and IT. Our hope is to create documentation that can be used to train the other 
branches who will hopefully get a 3D printer with the Pi or a laptop if our 
concerns cannot be resolved.

Staff Development:

10 staff members (librarians, SLA, PSA) collaborated to work on the Mini-Golf summer 
reading kick-off. This team worked on building a Wizard of Oz hole and assisted during set-up, 
running, and tear-down of this event. The building-wide collaboration was exciting to witness and
 gave the opportunity for staff to work together on a creative and engaging project.

9 more staff members attended Into to Google Drive, a staff-based training to help staff 
better serve our patrons and use Google Drive more effectively at work.

Professional Development

I attended the Nation of Makers Conference June 9-10 in Santa Fe, NM. My complete report is here.

I moved the majority of the maker supplies to a free stand-up station on Floor 2. The equipment 
is much more accessible and can be actively running more frequently. Staff also have a better 
opportunity to observe the equipment and ask questions. I hope to offer hands-on training for 
staff in August.

Learn2Code: Python w/ Earsketch

Our all ages computer coding program continues through June and July with an intro to Python. This one ended up being a little more technologically challenging, but participants still enjoyed exploring EarSketch.

Program outline:

What is Python? General-purpose computer programming language
Used for: Web/game development, science, education, graphics

What is Earsketch? web-based tool for learning and crating
Demonstrates core topics in computer science, music, and music technology
Combines Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) with Applicaiton Programming Interface (API)

We took a look at some examples of music created using Earksetch

We discussed the iterative process: take your time, make small changes, listen and tweak.

The basic set-up for our code:

from earsketch import*
init()
setTempo (120)
finish()

Commenting in Python is denoted with #. We made sure to add some notes on the different components of the code:

#setup
from earsketch import*

init()
setTempo (120)

#music

#finish
finish()

The main piece of code we added, then copied and pasted:
fitMedia (clipName, trackNumber, startMeasure, endMeasure)

We also briefly worked with variables
snyth = HIPHOP_SYNTHPLUCKLEAD_005
fitMedia (synth, 1, 1, 5)

My intro took roughly 30 minutes and participants had no trouble filling the rest of the workshop with experimenting and learning more about the different aspects of Earsketch. I asked in the event ad for people to bring headphones, but I'm glad I picked up a few pairs from Dollar Tree to have on-hand.

Nation of Makers 2018 Conference

Nation of Makers Conference

June 9-10, 2018 (Santa Fe, NM)

Complete documentation: bit.ly/mcp-index

Overview

Nation of Makers is a national nonprofit dedicated to helping support America’s maker organization through community building, resource sharing, and advocacy within the maker movement and beyond.

The Nation of Makers Conference is the first annual convening of makers from around the US, focusing on regional impacts of the maker movement, sustainability, education, and the impact of the social and global change efforts elicited by the maker movement.

The 2018 theme is Intentional Inclusion. The maker community naturally provides a welcoming and encouraging environment, but attendees were challenged to look at our making activities and spaces from outside perspectives. We were given a list of reflective questions and were challenged to identify structures in place that prevent intentional inclusion in makerspaces and brainstorm ways to combat those structures.  

Some of the identified structures:

• Leaders in the maker community are predominately white males
• Lack of diverse facilitators
• Language barriers
• Lack of accessibility for disabled participants
• Myth of high-level making versus low-level making
• Gender binary
• Marketing materials do not reflect the diverse group we serve

Ideas to combat structures:

• Seek out diverse audiences (outreach)
• Connect with diverse facilitators, reach out to local tech meet-ups
• Build leaders from participants
• Conduct maker activities that are more hands-on, less lecture
• Ensure spaces and tools are accessible
• Celebrate all forms of making (knitting, scrapbooking, 3D printing, woodworking are all equally valuable)
• Create welcoming spaces without gender binary labels (gender neutral restrooms, programs, language, marketing materials)

Sessions

Sandbox tools for education

Library group identified common goals in making activities:

• Lifelong learning
• Collaborative learning
• Entrepreneurship
• Certification in skills to become more competitive in job market
• Soft skill development

Several libraries reported conducting 2-3 years of programming before designing a dedicated space (usually at a larger branch with outreach/kits circulated to smaller branches). Libraries admitted a physical space anchors them to a location, making it difficult to conduct outreach to new audiences.

Several libraries have evolved to include an entrepreneurial focus due to the change in their local community.

Companies see the value in the training of future workers at libraries and provide financial or professional assistance.

Library group identified common tools for successful makerspaces:

• People/facilitators
• Open-source (tools that can be accessed easily from anywhere)
• Arduino/Raspberry Pi
• Tinkercad
• CodeAcademy
• Blocksmith
• High-end equipment and software that are otherwise unavailable to the community
• CNC
• Laser Cutter
• Adobe Creative Cloud
• Sound Booths
• Mixing Boards
• Audio/Visual equipment for creation

Accessible Making

Disabled makers often find themselves on the receiving end of making activities, but projects are determined by able-bodied makers who think they are creating something that benefits the disabled maker. Disabled makers want to make for themselves and drive the conversation on what will best meet their needs.

Suggestions for more accessible making:

• Are you making things you think people need, or are you letting people make the things they want to make?
• Empower others to make for themselves
• Taker partners in the making process and listen to their feedback

Agile Learning Environments

Makers don’t wait to be asked to do things. Makers get stuff done

Educational playground, intentionally designed to be adjustable, exchangeable, and movable

Libraries adapt to changing community needs and interests.  To know the changing needs of community, libraries must conduct outreach to diverse groups who may or may not visit the library regularly (or ever).

Bullies in Your Makerspace

When a makerspace participant’s actions impede access of other users, action needs to be taken.

• A code of conduct helps enforce a collaborative work space.
• Board/administration must be on-board to support the decision to exclude a maker.
• It is important to weight the actions of a few and the needs of the many (will excluding one individual be a detriment to the space, or allow others to use the space in a more positive manner?).

Meow Wolf & Experiential Art

Meow Wolf is an immersive art installation where visitors interact with the displays.

• The installation is created through the collaboration of 300+ artists.
• Collaboration is more important than the individual.
• There’s art you make for yourself and then there’s art you make to spark a discussion.
• People are hungry for experiential art (not hidden behind a rope or do not touch signs).
• Experiment with world building through sound, technology, sculpture, 3D modeling.
• VA’s Mini-Golf can be considered a miniature experiential art installation!
• Artists are makers and makers are artists.

English Language Learners and Makerspaces

• Making for English Language learners helps build engagement, creativity, and literacy skills.
• Hands-on maker projects focus on exploration and experimentation without a lot of language barriers involved. This type of engagement can build confidence in English Language Learners.
• To aid in learning, have a board with key terms (not definitions) displayed. Useful tool for all participants new to maker activities, not just ELL.

Making & Computer Science for All

Several states have passed legislation requiring CS education in high school curriculum

Running on Empty Report

Identified challenges:

• You can get a CS job without a degree
• Few certified teachers of CS fields (mostly math/science teachers)
• Block-based coding and “coding for everyone” is misleading to students interested in coding
• How much patience does a student have to learn the topic?
• Teaching certification is different in each state and many teachers who have taught CS for years have to get new certifications when moving to a new state (science teacher has to get a math certificate)
• Parents unable to help with CS homework (didn’t have subject in school)

Identified alternatives:

• Trade schools for CS
• Partnering with organizations like Boys & Girls Club, Parks & Rec to reach more underserved youth

Identified resources:

Computer Science.org

K-12 Computer Science Education in Washington State

Next Generation Science Standards

Aspire IT

Family Code Night

Public Libraries & Maker Education

Serving audiences “K-Gray”

Justification to shift funding to support making activities: libraries have long funded one-off ephemeral programs, where participants engage in a one-off activity. Making activities have the opportunity to connect with participants in a more meaningful and sustained manner (learned skills, community connections, empowerment)

Getting library staff buy-in. All librarians are trained Information Professionals. We know how to provide access to information. Thinking of maker skills as a new form of access to information where we take patrons a step beyond providing the book to DIY, but include the tools and collaborative environment to learn the skill.

Successful library makerspaces assign staff dedicated to space and activities (not split among many duties). Compare this to dedicated reference librarians or outreach librarians.

Makerspace staff come from diverse backgrounds and have a unique skillset that may differ from traditional library staff skill-sets.

Bldg 61 curates makerspace the same way a book collection is curated: systematic and clear for patrons to browse independently:

•     Instructions on all equipment
•     Color-code things by media (textiles=yellow) raw material —> sewing machine/embroidery]

Jamie’s Thoughts

Making at FVRLibraries is comparable to activities going on around the country. I am pleased with the making activities conducting at Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries thus far and see a positive path forward as we continue to develop and evolve accessible making activities for our communities. Our biggest asset to implementing a more comprehensive maker program is the diverse skill-set of our staff and pulling everyone together to form a cohesive team and share best practices. I see communication as our biggest stumbling block as we move forward.  The most represented maker group at this conference appeared to be non-profit makerspaces and professional educators. I see a large partnership opportunity with our local schools.

Jamie’s Action Items:

1. Build makerspace team from diverse skillset of staff
2. Develop Mission, Code of Conduct
3. Assess current spaces for accessibility & inclusion
4. Introduce staff to maker equipment
5. Identify Outreach opportunities to bring making to new audiences (Share, Day Center Jail, JDC, B&G Club, Girl Scouts, etc)
6. Make some key term cards for programs  
7. Engage with wider tech community
8. Roll out new maker programming