Research Roundup: The Voice of Experience in Creating a Makerspace

by Heather Moorefield-Lang, March 2020

Heather Moorefield-Lang recently won an AASL Research Award for her research paper that explored what happens when a librarian implements a makerspace for the second time, either because their makerspace has outgrown its location or the librarian has transferred to a new library.

Research Article Recap

Makerspaces are learning locations where our students and library patrons can produce, craft, solve problems, collaborate, and develop new skills (Preddy 2013). They are places, both virtual and physical, where users can learn through experimentation, exploration, and play (Fleming 2015). No two makerspaces are the same, because no library is the same as another. Some librarians/educators focus their makerspace on the arts, crafting, and expression while others home in on technology with circuits, robotics, and 3D printing.

In my research piece I delved into the planning process for a second or new makerspace. Multiple questions drove my study, such as: Is the planning more intentional for a second (or even third) makerspace? Is there more focus on how the makerspace should be put together for the community served? Is the community (students, faculty, administration, parents) further involved? The article was written to study that uncharted territory as well as look into the lessons that practicing librarians have learned from experiences of first makerspace implementations to second ones.

The participants in the study were a very select group of people: librarians who had fully implemented more than one makerspace in their library setting. This meant at the time of the study, there were only so many librarians to choose from. Thus, six librarians were interviewed, four from school libraries and two from public libraries. I asked them some of the following questions:

• Where is your makerspace located? Is that different from the first location?
• How long have you had your current makerspace? How long were you in or with the previous space?
• What was the driving force behind creating a new or second maker location?
• What was your planning process for the new maker location? How was that different from the first?

Each librarian's reason for creating/designing a new makerspace came from different circumstances. The public librarians outgrew their original locations due to the success of the original makerspaces. Three of the school librarians took new jobs and therefore created new spaces. The fourth school librarian had such a strong maker culture in her school that this led to a full renovation of the library and maker learning area. Regardless of the reason, every librarian interviewed fully saw the need to pursue more intentional decision making when implementing their second makerspace. They also recognized the importance of their community's involvement in decisions made for the new maker learning space.

Interview with Rebecca Morris

Rebecca Morris: Dr. Moorefield-Lang, congratulations on this honor, and thank you for sharing your research with SLC readers! We're so curious to learn about your findings on librarians and their experiences with "second makerspaces." First, because of the specific focus of this research, you interviewed four school librarians and two public librarians, and you invited their participation through the snowball sampling method. Could you talk about how this process unfolded?

Heather Moorefield-Lang: When you're seeking participants for a study there are multiple ways to find them. If you want to ask librarians questions you can send out a questionnaire or a survey via a listerv at the state or national level. From those surveys you can gather librarians willing to be interviewed. There are many ways to gain data, information, and research. I knew for my particular research I wanted to talk to librarians who were implementing their second makerspaces. With snowball sampling, think of a snowball rolling down a hill. You're picking up people as you go, just as a snowball is picking up snow going down a hill. While looking for participants, one interview would lead to another friend in the field. I started with people I knew, they recommended others. Some of the leads panned out, some were a bust, but that's how research goes.

RM: The themes that emerged in your analysis of the librarians' experiences were planning, intention, community, successes, and challenges. In reading your study, I found the quotations from the interviews with librarians to be really memorable. Can you share one of these reflections from your article, and talk about the connection to the theme?

HML: Sure! There were some great quotes included in the paper and of course these are the ones that were fell into the categories that you listed in your question. One that really resonated with me came from Stacy Brown, a school librarian and the 21st Century Learning Coordinator at Davis Academy in Atlanta, Georgia (ages 5-14) when she shared how her first makerspace experience led to the successful creation of a second:

Our first maker location, I would say was really more of an experiment to create an environment where students could come and explore and think with their hands and design new inventions. We launched Maker Monday in that space, and I started teaching a robotic-focused class in that space. While it was great, there was certainly things that we knew we could improve upon. For example, there was not really a significant amount of power outlets, which is something that we needed, or storage facilities, which was certainly something that we needed, or presentation space.…In a way, we were very fortunate because from a financial standpoint, we were able to experiment with this idea of a makerspace without having to invest significant resources, and then a few years later, having all that experience behind us and really have a clear understanding of what that should look like to be most effective.

Stacy's quote really embodies the idea behind this research. She knew that her first space could use improvements. There were measures that could be taken to ensure the makerspace met with her community's needs. When the opportunity arose to create a new space there was more focus on the students and school community in the design and execution of the new learning space.

RM: Knowing and including the community are key themes of the lessons learned through first experiences with library makerspaces. What are some ways that school librarians can tap into their school communities as they plan or refine their makerspaces?

HML: One of the favorite methods recommended to me for trying out new maker ideas is to have the students play the role of product or activity testers. If you are not sure you want to try a new activity, test it out, and see how it goes. Not sure about a new technology? Other librarians can let you borrow the technology you want to test out and sometimes companies will let you test their technology. This way you can see if students are interested in a product or addition to your makerspace before you add it.

The librarians in this research study moved to new spaces and completely redesigned spaces. They asked the patrons what they wanted to have happen in a new space. They met with focus groups; students can be in focus groups. I recently read about a makerspace in New Jersey completely designed by the students, it was made up of giant Lego blocks. Students can be told the parameters of the new space and can have a design competition or a think-tank session. It's their space let them help in planning it.

RM: What is next for you in this line of research? What questions and topics are you investigating next?

HML: I have a running list of topics on my phone that I type up as I think of them. Some ideas pan out, some aren't really good ideas at all, and some are born from people who approach me. Right now, on my list, I have sustainable making at the top and online instruction and accessibility at the bottom with all sorts of things in between. I wrote a piece in 2015 on user agreements and makerspaces and would like to write an updated research piece on that topic.

What I am working on, as in they will be published in the next year, are two different projects. I have a Library Technology Report coming summer 2020 on digital lives and digital legacy. The digital lives we build and leave behind and how we in the field of librarianship can work with our patrons to be more aware of those digital selves.

My second topic is much more in line with this article. I am co-authoring a piece with my friend Ana Dubnjakovic from the University of South Carolina on school library makerspaces and accessibility. We are looking at the planning and intention of school librarians in making their makerspaces accessible to all students. If this piece goes well, we may also pursue it in public and academic libraries.

SLC congratulates Dr. Moorefield-Lang on her well-deserved professional recognition and thanks her for sharing her insights with us. Our readers can check out some great suggestions for including students in makerspace design in infographic, "Including Students in Makerspace Design" and seek and read the full article, cited below. Of course, they can also read her work in SLC's Technology Connections column!

Moorefield-Lang, Heather. "Lessons Learned: Intentional implementation of second makerspaces." Reference Services Review 47, no. 1 (2019): 37-47. Open access at the University of North Carolina Greensboro Digital Repository: https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/

Works Cited

Fleming, Laura. Worlds of Making: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for your School. Corwin Press, 2015.

Preddy, Leslie. School Library Makerspaces: Grades 6-12. Libraries Unlimited, 2013.