Makerspaces: Where, How, and Why?

In the current education climate, makerspaces in a school library are a waste of time and a waste of money. Proof of this can be found in Kurti, Kjuri and Flemming’s work on educational makerspaces, which claims that “one of the most important considerations in the educational makerspace environment is how to invite curiosity”. The American education system is where curiosity goes to die, plus there are more pressing matters such as art, theatre, music, and libraries that should be funded before investing in fad to support a fad (STEAM). In order for education to be effective, schools need to stop chasing fads. Public libraries, however, must chase fads in order to stay relevant in the public eye. As a result, public libraries need to work in close conjunction with schools. The Atlantic magazine recognized that public libraries are making large investments in the “maker movement”, however if the public is not properly educated on the use of makerspaces, they are inherently useless. Ferrum College, a private institution, is floating the idea of a mobile maker space (Burke 2015) —or makerspace pieces.

IDEALLY:

If schools fostered curiosity and didn’t teach a test, and taught to teach and not fabricate statistics to attract more students, if we actually wanted to build an effective makerspace system, the neighborhood public library would be home base. The local school district would have a staffed floating makerspace system floating amongst a small group of middle and high schools providing basic training and the same platform as the public system, so that students are able to use both systems interchangeably. 

Burke, John. (2015). Making Sense: Can Makerspaces Work in Academic Libraries. https://sc.lib.miamioh.edu/handle/2374.MIA/5212

Kurti, R Steven; Kurti, Debby L; Fleming, Laura. (2014). The Philosophy of Educational      Makerspaces Part 1 of Making an Educational Makerspace. 
 https://search-proquest.com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/docview/1548230083?pq-origsite=gscholar

Tierney, John. (2015). “How Makerspaces Help Local Economies:. The Atlantic.https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/makerspaces-are-remaking-local                economies/390807/