Chapter 15-Library Hackerspace Programs by Chad Clark

I just returned from the Texas Library Association Convention in Dallas. I’m pumped and ready to get moving to choose some new furniture for our library, add new materials and work on the Makerspaces. So, I thought I’d return to reading #the makerspace_librarian’s sourcebook. Interesting that the next chapter is about Hackerspace programs. I’ve always associated hacking with doing something bad. Ah…not so! Chad Clark says on page 288 that a hacker is, “a person who rearranges and repurposes the objects and systems around her to satisfy her curiosity and create new meaning.” Okay! So, with that definition in mind I began the chapter.

I love that the chapter divided Hackerspace programs up into units, hacking with code, hacking old hardware, physical computing, and then gave examples of each and how some libraries are implementing Hackerspace programs into the library. My first thought was that this is for older children, not elementary students. But, as I read on I saw how this could work for our library, and I don’t have to be the expert. There are ways to provide materials, guidance and support to let students make discoveries for themselves. I was especially excited about the section where taking things apart is discussed. This is how my friend Gwen taught me to add my own mother boards, memory and programs 25 years ago. I learn by doing and this type of program speaks to that.

This takes me back to arranging my library for Makerspaces. I have Wonder robots, Dot and Dash, that help students learn/use coding. My problem has been how to keep things from “walking away” and getting broken. How cool would it be to have a space where students are encouraged to take things apart and put them back together in new and unique ways!? I’ve already decided that items like the robots and littleBits have to be checkout to hold students accountable for their use and return. But, it would be fun to have items to take apart and use that could be left out and used. That was my original thought and maybe I can still do some of that. Maybe if I provide bins for materials that “expendable”, that students can use as they need to, and students could even bring items to add to the materials, I could use some of the space that I cleared out in the library originally for Makerspaces.

Okay, I got off on a tangent, but how the spaces are displayed and how students access them has been a problem for me this year. So, back to Hackerspaces…I’d love to include so ways for students to create and change things to repurpose items! I’m going to work on that! The author speaks about Hackerspaces including the same values as libraries and that they include peer-to-peer learning and cooperation by participants. That sounds like something worth adding to our library. So, we’ll call it a Fixit Clinic as the author calls one of the programs of implementing Hackerspaces.

I’m curious about how other elementary schools have implemented Hackerspaces in their libraries. Much of what was written in this chapter dealt with public libraries, even mobile library Hackerspaces! So, if anyone has done this, please share!