Makerspaces in a public library are incredibly important to the community that the library supports. Technology that would otherwise costs hundreds, if not, thousands of dollars for private use are now free. A great example of this is the 3D printer. The least expensive printer out of the box was $80 to $100 – Found Here. People of all ages can now create pieces from their community instead of relying on sellers online to keep their promises. Makerspaces can also provide hands on learning such as workshops to show people how to properly use their resources. At the Madison Public Library, their workshops include sewing, woodworking, and digital media creation Find Full Calendar Here.

Learning how to sew has been a huge goal of mine ever since I was a young child. I started on a portable Hello Kitty sewing machine that could barely sew two scrap pieces together, much less an article of clothing. If I had a workshop on sewing in my local library maybe I still wouldn’t be so useless in front of my Janome. This sewing machine cost $200, and if there were an option for a free class on how to use it, I would take it.

The love of sewing is what birthed my love – and thankfully, talent – for knitting. I used to knit in my local library after school while waiting for my mom or dad to pick me up. Starting with a shoddy stockinette in-between the young adult and non-fiction. Knitting workshops would have been wonderful for a visual learner like me, and hands-on help would have created a welcoming environment for messing up. My natural state of perfectionism and ruthless negative self-talk may have been tampered down in the presence of caring pros. Bringing people together through a passion of creation and community is what libraries are for. What would a library be without technology?