St. Paul adults with mad-scientist tendencies have a new place to play.
The St. Paul Public Library’s downtown Central branch has just unveiled a “makerspace” — a hands-on work space with a 3D printer, a laser engraver, a sewing machine, a recording studio and other tools for grownups with an overwhelming urge to create.
Makerspaces such as this are all the rage as public libraries around the country move from mainly an information-archiving, book-lending, quiet-study-space function to becoming participants in a surging “maker” movement. Humans have always had a visceral urge to build stuff from scratch and now libraries are tapping into that.
The St. Paul Public Library has lately embraced “maker” as a mantra of sorts as it has increasingly formulated hands-on activities for, basically, everyone who wants to participate — from toddlers and school kids to teenagers and grownups.
One recent evening, librarians at the Central Branch’s all-new Nicholson Workforce and Innovation Center led a rapt gathering of geeky visitors through a variety of hands-on activities.
In one corner, a librarian used the computer-guided laser engraver to burn a patron’s name, surrounded by a perfect circle, onto a thin wooden slab. The engraver can do more-sophisticated work — such as etching photos — on a wide range of materials from plastic to metal.
In another corner, a staffer showed off his newest 3D-printing project: a jumbo-size clip to remedy the vexing problem of potato-chip bags that won’t stay closed. The clip, made of plastic, gradually takes form as the box-like 3D printer heats up and shapes plastic thread fed from a spool.
In a cabinet, a shelf was piled high with fabric samples for those wanting to take the center’s high-tech sewing machine for a test drive. On a wall, a big-screen HDTV served as computer monitor for use with an Apple MacBook Pro notebook and souped-up graphics software.
In an adjacent room, an Apple iMac with an add-on mike and other audio gear was ready for those wanting to create an album or podcast.
On a table, staffers had placed a blast from the past: A vinyl LP with tunes from the ’70s movies “Rocky,” “The Deep,” “Star Wars” and “The Spy Who Loved Me.” The records served as an example of ancient media (including audiocassettes and videocassettes) that can be converted to digital form with makerspace equipment.
Nothing in the center is all that are remarkable for those in the high-tech know. What is notable: The gear is all in one spot, available at no cost, for anyone with a library card, to use whenever they like, and make whatever they want.
Amanda Feist, a librarian who is operating the center, credits a former St. Paul Public Library director, Kit Hadley, with dreaming up the facility after seeing something similar at a public library in Skokie, Ill.
Hadley “had a grand vision to keep the library relevant,” Feist said. “We are trying to encourage creative thinking. People can potentially do all of their work here. Artists could drop in, record songs and be on their way.”
PLACES FOR YOUTH TINKERERS, TOO
Feist has very deliberately positioned the Central-branch makerspace as a facility for adults and not teens or younger users. At a similar space at the Arlington Hills Branch on the East Side, though, users could very well hang up a sign that reads, “No grownups allowed.” This is teen territory.
The so-called Createch Studio at the Arlington Hills branch is one of five “creative tinkering spaces” the system has set up for teen patrons, but it’s the only one with a permanent spot of its own and weeklong hours. The others, at different branches, pop up only one or two days a week within multipurpose rooms.
The facilities exist as “safe spaces” for teens to “hang out, mess around and geek out,” said Kali Freeman, an Arlington Hills librarian.
The teens aren’t pressured into doing much of anything, and certainly aren’t graded for their efforts. In fact, if they just want to play video games, that’s cool. The Arlington Hills spot has a Microsoft Xbox, a Sony PlayStation and a Nintendo Wii.
But, inevitably, creative juices begin to flow.
One teen is using the Arlington Hills makerspace’s sewing machine to make a graduation dress, Freeman said. Another has embarked on an epic popsicle-stick construction project consisting of a gigantic house; only the foundation is in place so far.
The teen makerspace, like the adult one at Central, has an audio studio and various laptops with high-end software available for in-library use, and it recently obtained its own 3D printer (as did the other teen spots).
That device initially is used to create “trinkets and tchotchkes,” Freeman said. But, eventually the 3D-printed output becomes more sophisticated and specialized. Smartphone sleeves are one example of this, she noted.
Younger kids don’t have public-library makerspaces, but they do have an entire set of public-library activities to call their own. These include “Make or Break” sessions during the winter, spring and summer breaks, when boredom often strikes.
This quickie sessions, held at all branches except the Rondo location, are an opportunity for the 8- to 12-year-olds to “get their hands on things, to invent with Legos, and build bugs out of recycled materials,” said Marika Staloch, youth-services coordinator.
There’s no registration, Staloch said, and parents can drop in with their kids as they please.
“I feel like libraries are changing,” Staloch noted. “We used to help kids find books but we didn’t necessarily play a role in developing activities like we are now. We are learning that hands-on activities go a long way, as opposed to just booking performers, though we still have magicians and jugglers.”
Even toddlers and kindergartners are in on the hands-on trend, after a fashion. The library system is looking into programs that encourage the little ones to dig in and not just look on.
An upcoming “Bubblemancy” activity with a science expert blowing all kinds of bubbles for kids to chase and pop will be “kind of messy, which is kind of nice,” said Pamela Wheeler, a kid’s specialist at the St. Anthony Park branch.
TINKER TUESDAYS
Adult public-library patrons, meanwhile, have maker options beyond the Central branch’s makerspace, and they do not necessarily need to have a tech bent — though some of sessions do have a tad of a technology focus.
Welcome to Tinker Tuesdays. The Highland branch on the third Tuesday of every month hosts a hands-on session for grownups with a dizzying range of creative activities.
These have ranged from metal stamping and making greeting cards using magazine images to rewiring electronic toys so they make noises other than what the toy creators envisioned.
Tinker Tuesday sessions usually fill up quickly, said Andrea McKennan, a library-system community and digital-services specialist.
“This is all very maker-oriented, and participants leave with something they made,” McKennan said. “It taps into a desire by the community for opportunities to learn in a playful, hands-on way.”
