Maker Outreach: Maker Faire

Outreach: Portland Mini Maker Faire
Location: OMSI
Dates: Saturday/Sunday, 9/15-9/16, 2018
Maker Project: low-cost screen printing
Completed projects: 500 (estimated)
Participation: ~1,000
Staff: 11 staff members, 4 branches, program services, all awesome

We had a difficult time counting attendees as it was all-hands-on-deck for most of the day Saturday and Sunday. OMSI gave us a great location right next to the entrance, so there were few people who didn’t see our booth. FVRLibraries booth was also one of only a few booths who provided a hands-on activity that allowed participants to take home their finished creation. Attendees at Maker Faire included hobbyists, educators, commercial makers, and lots of parents and their children. We continue to see interest and appreciation for maker activities that allow inter-generational collaboration. Saturday we completed well over 350 prints with most prints worked on by a child and at least one parent. Sunday we finished off the last of the fabric (~120 pieces) and continued printing on paper. Special shout-out to Elsbeth who provided connectagons as an easy activity for smaller makers on Saturday as well as scratch art when we had to put the printing supply away to dry for Sunday (even though it rained Sunday).  And shout-out to Dre for picking up the leadership role on Sunday so Jamie could be in-branch.

Visitors seemed surprised and delighted to see the library doing something so hands-on, and many of them asked about how they could access the materials to re-create the project at home. We also had some conversations about other maker offerings at the library.  More than one participant mentioned that they were teachers looking for ideas they could recreate in the classroom and loved our screen printing idea.

Staffing was pretty much perfect for the set-up we had. We definitely felt a crunch when someone ducked out for their lunch break, but altogether we worked out a system. Generally, three people were able to keep up with the flow of people visiting our table, while the other two rinsed screens and stencils, hung them out to dry, dumped and fetched water, assembled screens and other materials, etc.

It would have been ideal to have more time for networking. Jamie spoke to two librarians from Multnomah County who took our What’s Happening for other Maker booths asking about our programs. Dre did have the opportunity to speak to a librarian from Hillsboro who was stationed next to us, and to touch base with Blake Swenson from Tinker Camp (who was a presenter at All Staff Day). Overall, though, we did the most important work: engaging with members of the community in an enriching way. It was messy and relentless and entirely awesome.

It was an incredibly fun and rewarding experience.  I felt the project was perfect for a wide range of ages and abilities; and the kids loved it!  I was surprised when I went to check out the other booths that not very many were like ours and made me realize why we were so popular.  One of the things that made the experience so awesome was the sheer number of folks who came to our booth!  It was exhausting but completely worth it.  I also enjoyed getting to work with my awesome co-workers in a new environment.  We definitely learned some things that would make it easier on staff for next time; knowing the high volume of participants.  I would love to do it again!  It was a great day!