This is a literature review that provides a high-level survey of makerspaces within the context of academic libraries.
Introduction
As academic libraries adapt to the shifts of user needs and transition from a long dependency on print materials to electronic resources, physical space has opened and makerspaces have proliferated. Makerspaces (which are sometimes referred to makerlabs, hackerspaces, and fablabs) vary from institution to institution. Equipment commonly found in makerspaces include 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines, green screens, and much more. At their core, makerspaces are centered around educational activities. The higher education information technology association EDUCAUSE defines a makerspace as “a physical location where people gather to share resources and knowledge, work on projects, network, and build. Makerspaces provide tools and working room in a community environment—a library, community center, private organization, or campus. …Makerspaces are zones of self-directed learning, providing a physical laboratory for inquiry-based learning and validating the drive for discovery that defines the researcher and the scholar” (2013).
Scholarly research relating to makerspaces in academic libraries is a burgeoning field. When examined as a whole, three trends emerge from the growing body of scholarship on makerspaces in an academic setting. First, a significant amount of literature is dedicated to articulating the utility of makerspaces and their efficacy in academic libraries. Second, librarians have contributed to scholarship by sharing “how to” approaches that range from sharing best practices on establishing a makerspaces to implementing 3D printing services and associated policies. Third and lastly, there is a growing body of literature on the educational aspects of makerspaces, specifically with respect to instructional practices and learning benefits. While the growing canon of research on makerspaces in public libraries and K-12 schools provides important context with respect to the educational, creative, and collaborative attributes of makerspaces, this literature review will concentrate on makerspaces in an academic library setting.
Utility
Numerous entities, including professional library organizations, individual librarians, and popular magazines have addressed and provided justification for the existence of makerspaces in academic libraries. Articles address why makerspaces belong in academic libraries and point to the ample benefits they provide, including collaboration, hands-on learning, and how the mission of makerspaces and libraries align.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
At the forefront of explaining and maintaining the relevancy of makerspaces in higher education are library specific professional organizations such as the American Library Association (ALA) and the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL). As part of its Center for the Future of Libraries the ALA identifies emerging trends for libraries and librarians. An essential trend in its list is the “maker movement.” Articulating the benefits of makerspaces, the ALA contends that “libraries have always been hubs of self-directed learning and their embrace of the maker movement is no surprise, but what they offer can truly amaze” (2019). Going further, the ALA maintains that library makerspaces cultivate community around learning and are areas that reinforce learning, spark innovation, and build problem-solving skills (ALA, 2019). Along the same vein, a 2012 ACRL TechConnect publication written by guest author Erin Silva Fisher advocated for academic libraries to embrace makerspaces. Fisher surmised that academic libraries “are perfectly positioned to fill a gap in our education system and expand our reach by providing materials, spaces and support for collaborative making. By bringing makerspaces into libraries, we can provide more options for self-directed, innovative learning; we can provide a space that acts as an incubator for ideas; and we can provide tools for the rapid prototyping of those ideas” (2012). Fisher concluded her guest authorship by seemingly addressing any misgivings academic librarians might have over makerspaces by writing “over the years, academic libraries have successfully adapted to cultural, technological and education shifts in order to meet the needs of our campuses. Incorporating makerspaces into our broad mix of services, resources and technologies seems like a natural way to continue our evolution” (2012).
LIBRARY AND INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS
Library and information professionals have also contributed to the literature by not only championing makerspaces in an academic library setting, but also describing their benefits. In 2013, Head of the DeLaMare Science & Engineering Library at the University of Nevada, Reno, Patrick “Tod” Colegrove addressed the polarization that came along with the establishment of a makerspace into the academic library he led. Colegrove surmised that the root of the polarization — which came from either some long serving librarians or library staff members — was a “function of confusion over what a makerspace actually is” (2013). Colegrove noted that in many ways makerspaces are areas mashups of shop class, home economics class, art studio, and science lab (2013). Driving home his point, Colegrove wrote “Building users’ literacies across multiple domains and a gateway to deeper engagement? Surely these are core values of the library; one might even suspect that to some degree libraries have long been makerspace” (2013). In his editorial Colegrove also pointed to other advantages of makerspaces in an academic library setting, including the collaborative opportunities to students, staff, and faculty as well as cultivating a culture of making rather than merely consuming information (2013). Two years later Dean of Albertsons Library at Boise State University Tracy Bicknell-Holmes added to the conversation in a “Message from the Dean” post on the Albertsons Library website. In the post Bicknell-Holmes explained that “libraries have a long storied history of offering the tools and resources that people need to do research and develop scholarly or creative products. To us, adding a makerspace is no different than having a computer lab with searchable databases and journals, works processing software, scanners and printers alongside our books” (2015). Like Colegrove, she also touted the collaborative and problem-solving benefits of the space (Bicknell-Holmes, 2015).
Library and information professionals have likewise published on the topic of makerspaces in more traditional academic journals, as Beth Filar Williams and Michelle Folkman have in their 2016 article “Librarians as Makers.” While Williams and Folkman’s article focuses on the need for library administrators to support the sharp learning curve that makerspaces inherently bring, they also touch upon the makerspace’s utility in an academic library. They maintain that “libraries are a repository of knowledge created formally and informally, and recent literature suggests they are becoming laboratories as well. Making maker communities of practice fits into any library’s vision and practice” (20-21, 2016).
POPULAR PUBLICATIONS
Even popular publications such as Time and The Atlantic have articulated the benefits of makerspaces and the larger “maker movement.” Though not specifically referring to academic libraries, both publications extolled the benefits of makerspaces. Deborah Fallows in her article “How Libraries are Becoming Modern Makerspaces” examines how by establishing makerspaces, libraries position themselves as a community space where collaboration and innovation flourish (2016). Tim Bajarin in his article titled “Why the Maker Movement Is Important to America’s Future” lauds the innovation that makerspaces foster, the result of which he argues is “more and more people create products instead of only consuming them, and it’s my view that moving people from being only consumers to creators is critical to America’s future” (2014).
Since approximately 2010, when academic libraries began implementing makerspaces, a significant portion of scholarship has concentrated on justifying the existence of makerspaces. Professional organizations, library leaders, library and information professionals, and even popular publications have articulated the value of makerspaces in an academic library setting.
Implementation
Another large component of existing scholarship on academic library makerspaces comprises of implementation or “how to” articles, which run the spectrum of how to start a makerspaces to how to the development of 3D printing policies. A prime example of this trend is Hannah Pope’s ACRLog guest posts that document the two phases she undertook when establishing Appalachian State University’s makerspaces. Her two-part blog post demonstrates how she overcame space issues, grappled with whether or not to create a makerspace theme, tough lessons learned with budgeting for equipment, the development of a makerspace curriculum, and formally opening the makerspace (December 2016 and April 2017.) In a similar article titled “Implementing a 3D Printing Service in an Academic Library”, Stevens Pryor outlined the steps he took in selecting equipment, instituting procedures, and assessment for the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Lovejoy Library (2014).
Looking at implementation from a different angle is Candice Benjis-Small, Liz McGlynn Bellamy, Jennifer Resor-Whicker, and Lisa Vassady in their article “Makerspace or Waste of Space: Charting a Course for Successful Academic Library Makerspaces.” After conducting surveys and in-depth interviews, the team discovered that such factors as administrative support, a stable staffing model, patron demand, and sufficient budgeting were essential to creating and sustaining a thriving makerspace (2017). Discouraged with the prevalence of implementation articles, Katy Mathuews and Daniel Harper addressed the issue in their article “One Size Does Not Fit All.” Mathuews and Harper explain that “library makerspaces also commonly focus on the physical act of making, thus treating the space simply as a collection of tools and equipment. These attempts, however, can lead to a one-size-fits-all approach that considers the library as a lender or provider of equipment instead of a collaborator in the multidisciplinary and dynamic making process” (358, 2018). Mathuews and Harper implored academic librarians involved with makerspaces to concentrate on pre-making activities such as collaboration and ideation, as well as post-making tasks such as presentation and critique (359, 2018).
Instruction
Like much of the literature on makerspaces in academic libraries, very little scholarship exists on instruction. Despite many academics and librarians attributing the birth of the maker movement to MIT Professor Emeritus Seymour Papert and his assertion that “children learn by doing and by thinking about what they do. And so the fundamental ingredients of educational innovation must be better things to do and better ways to think about oneself doing these things” (353, “Teaching Children Thinking”), a void remains on how academic librarians might integrate makerspaces into their instructional sessions.
In “The Maker Movement in Education” Erica Rosenfeld Halverson and Kimberly M Sheridan describe the origins of the modern maker movement and champion makerspaces as places where democratization and equity in education might flourish. In particular, they state that “libraries…hold promise for democratization, given their history as free, embedded community resources [that are] open to all” (500). Unfortunately, Halverson and Sheridan don’t explore the topic in any further detail.
Though not academic library specific, Leah Mann touches on how librarians might incorporate makerspaces into their information literacy sessions in her article titled “Making a Place for Makerspaces in Information Literacy.” In her article, Mann advocated for “university library labs where students can use a wide variety of machines and equipment to build projects for their coursework” (83). This, she maintained, would “allow for more engaged library patrons who use the makerspace resources and programming available to them to connect their learning and interests to relevant issues and needs” (83). Instead of providing in-depth examples of how librarians might integrate makerspaces into instructional sessions, Mann instead concentrates on the ways makerspaces might expand the idea of information literacy through “new literacies,” such as creativity, innovation, and digital citizenship (83-84). Similarly, Tara Radniecki and Chrissy Klenke further explore the development of maker-competencies in their article titled “Academic Library Makerspaces: Supporting New Literacies.” Much like Mann, Radniecki and Klenke focus on how Lynda.com online tutorials, one-on-one consultations, and workshops all provide ways in which students in higher education can build competencies that can assist them in utilizing the equipment in the DeLaMare Science & Engineering Library on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno (22).
Taking a different approach to makerspaces and instruction is Hannah Pope in her master’s thesis Make-ing the Difference: Makerspace Instruction and the Student Perspective. Pope studied the perceptions of students who attended workshops at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Kenan Science Library Makerspace in order to glean the instructional and technological relevancy of the makerspace. After interviewing five undergraduates she discovered that the makerspace and its instructional sessions (which took the form of workshops and introduced students to 3D printing, Tinkercad, and Arduino) were beneficial to students. Unfortunately, Pope’s thesis did not provide examples of how academic librarians with science liaison responsibilities integrated the makerspace into their instructional sessions.
Perhaps the preeminent source on combining a makerspace with instruction is Laura Costello, Meredith Powers, and Dana Hugh in their book chapter titled “Pedagogy and Prototyping in Library Makerspaces” which is in The Makerspace Librarian’s Sourcebook. Costello, Powers, and Hugh maintain that “as librarians have identified and responded to the transforming needs of their patrons, the way we approach teaching and learning has also transformed. …Makerspaces have the capacity to support a variety of collaborative, active and interactive learning activities” (30). The trio takes care to walk readers through various instructional design models, such as rapid prototyping and backward design (38-39). Additionally, they also provide insight into how academic librarians might create lesson plans that incorporate makerspaces and outline what form assessment might take (41-44).
Conclusion
Though Costello, Powers, and Hugh provide a useful roadmap for how academic librarians might incorporate makerspaces into their instructional sessions, a gap currently exists for further exploration on how the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education can work hand in hand with makerspaces and their associated competencies. While it is clear that learning is taking place in academic library makerspaces, defining and assessing learning remains difficult. Thus, addressing where the ACRL Framework matches with makerspaces can provide a more thorough blueprint for seeing and addressing where information literacy in high education is supported through the emerging technologies that makerspaces offer.
Works Cited
Benjes-Small, C. Liz McGlynn Bellamy, Jennifer Resor-Whicker, and Lisa Vassady. “Makerspace or Waste of Space: Charting a Course for Successful Academic Library Makerspaces.” ACRL Conference Presentation March 2017. Retrieved from https://alair.ala.org/handle/11213/17757.
Bicknell-Holmes, T. (September 15, 2015). Why a MakerLab in a Library?
Bajarin, T. (May 19, 2014). Why the Maker Movement is Important to America’s Future. Time. Retrieved from
http://time.com/104210/maker-faire-maker-movement/.
Colegrove, T. (2015). Editorial board thoughts: Rise of the innovation commons. Information Technology and Libraries, 34(3), 2-5.
Costello, L., M. Powers, and D.Haugh. “Pedagogy and Prototyping in Library Makerspaces.” In The Makerspace Librarian’s Sourcebook, edited by Ellyssa Kroski, 29-49. Chicago: ALA Editions, an Imprint of the American Library Association, 2017.
EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. (2013.) Abstract of 7 Things You Should Know About Makerspaces. Retrieved from
https://library.educause.edu/~/media/files/library/2013/4/eli7095-pdf.
Fisher, E. (November 18, 2012). Makerspaces Move into Academic Libraries. ACRL TechConnect.
Fallows, D. (March 11, 2016). How Libraries Are Becoming Modern Makerspaces. The Atlantic. Retrieved from
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/03/everyone-is-a-maker/473286/.
Filar Williams, B., & Folkman, M. (2017). Librarians as Makers. Journal of Library Administration, 57(1), 17-35.
“Libraries Transform – Maker Movement.” American Library Association, accessed February 11, 2019.
http://www.ilovelibraries.org/librariestransform/maker-movement
Mann, L. (2018). Making a Place for Makerspaces in Information Literacy. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 58(2), 82-86.
Mathuews, K. and Daniel Harper. One Size Does Not Fit All: Maintaining Relevancy in the Modern Makerspace Movement.” College & Research Libraries News, 79(7), 358-359.
Papert, S. (2005). Teaching Children Thinking. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE Journal), 5, 353-4), 353-365.
Pope, H. (December 2, 2016). Make it Work! Starting a Makerspace in an Academic Library, Phase 1. ACRLog. Retrieved from
https://acrlog.org/2016/12/02/make-it-work-starting-a-makerspace-in-an-academic-library-phase-1/.
Pope, H. (April 3, 2017). Make it Work! Starting a Makerspace in an Academic Library, Phase 2. ACRLog.
https://acrlog.org/2017/04/03/make-it-work-starting-a-makerspace-in-an-academic-library-phase-2/.
Pope, H. (2016). Make-ing the Difference: Makerspace Instruction and the Student Perspective (master’s thesis). UNC-Chapel Hill. Accessed May 4, 2019 from
https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/record/uuid:c6621791-b6fb-4ea6-bd33-e6a2961ba757
Pryor, S. (2014). Implementing a 3D Printing Service in an Academic Library. Journal of Library Administration, 54(1), 1-10.
Radnieki, T. and C. Kkenke. Academic Library Makerspaces: Supporting New Literacies. ACRL Conference Presentation March 2017. Retrieved from
https://alair.ala.org/handle/11213/17717.