Skills for Life

A Makerspace Proposal for Sapulpa Public Library

JOANN OLSEN / STEPHANIE WATKINS

LIS-5970-980 MAKERSPACES: THEORY AND PRACTICE

27 West Dewey Avenue

Sapulpa, Oklahoma
74066
United States
 1

Overview
Statement of Need 1
Project Design 4
Impact 5
Project Resources 6
References 10

_____________________________________________________________________

Statement of Need
_________________________________________________________________________________________

General Proposal
We propose a makerspace and career ready program for the Sapulpa Public Library.

Anyone can use this space, but our target audience for this particular area in the makerspace

would be patrons that are looking for work or to gain a new 21st century skill that can be applied

in their current careers. Public libraries have the reputation of exposing the community to new

technology and assist their patrons in becoming career ready, and that is what we want to

implement. Unfortunately, there are those who don’t have access to the school equipment, don’t

need to or have time to adhere to a new school schedule while working, need a chance to refresh

their skills, or are lacking a mentor to guide them through the employment process. Our goal is

to provide patrons with skills and training that will make them career ready while aiding them in

the process of acquiring a new job. This makerspace would be located in the adult wing of the

library. Giving patrons a new skill or training that gives them the ability to be qualified for a job,

and then also aid them in the job seeking process is how we see employment rates going up in
 2

Oklahoma. The mission of this proposal is to help patrons acquire new skills or training that give

them the ability to be qualified for a job, and then also aid them in the job seeking process.

Sapulpa currently has 20,691 residents. They boast 47,661 circulations a year. We see attendance

at our library increasing gradually by implementing this makerspace and career ready program.

According to the New Media Consortium (2015), makerspaces have the potential to effectively

address the necessary skillsets for students in the 21st Century (p. 38). There is evidence to

support that a makerspace in this community will help patrons gain new skills for employment.

Project’s Intended Audience

The target audience we’re looking to reach would be young adults or adults who are

needing to make life or career changes or learn a new skill. We see our makerspace as a tangible

bridge between the unemployed accommodations such as Tulsa Day Center which has programs

for their clients to have voicemail boxes in order to be connected to the job market and that next

step towards job skills acquisition.

Evidence of This Need

We believe that this style of makerspace will make the unemployment rate of Oklahoma

decrease. Oklahoma was at a 4.4 percent unemployment rate as of July 2017. We think by

imitating other programs that use this method of helping communities will allow us to help

Sapulpa patrons gain success. The main program that Sapulpa offers is a genealogy. While this

is a helpful program to the community, it focuses on the older generations of patrons or

occasionally contributes to assignments about family history. The library attempts to meet the

needs of future job seekers by offering computer classes and resume help, but we see the need to

expand on the programs offered at Sapulpa Public Library.

 3

Jack Beuth, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University is quoted as saying, “The loss of

manual skills, from threading a needle to changing a tire, has been a major blow to the nation’s

collective knowledge base” (Swann). Swann’s article goes on to mention the fond memories a

FabLab volunteer shared of her teacher from the mandatory home economics classes she took in

high school and how kids nowadays “have never touched a needle and thread” (2014). The

Fayetteville Free Library which is “known as the first library to have a makerspace” (Bjorner

2013), set up their makerspace to allow free access to tools that traditionally would not be

available to individuals because to use them one would have to take a course, or because of the

tools’ costs (p 43). Lawrence Alvarez, the co-founder of the Tool Library in Parkdale, Ontario,

describes some of his patrons as folk who are city-dwellers that need somewhere to borrow tools.

“People come in with a broken sink . . . and they just want to fix it themselves without calling a

pro . . . around 70 per cent of members, they’re non-professional home renovators, hoping to fix

up their house with their own hands” (Pelley 2016).

Across the world there are groups of disadvantaged and displaced people. In other

countries with large numbers of refugees, “the United Nations is even looking into establishing

Fab Labs in refugee camps where children and adults who have no educational or professional

opportunities can learn valuable skills” (Swan 2014). We have in any number of cities across the

U.S. groups of “displaced” people looking for the same opportunities.

Project Design
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Learning Goals
1. To learn a new skill
2. To become job ready
 4

3. To build on current skills

4. To gain assistance on resumes, contacting employment, and interview
processes.
Patron Activities
1. Engraving
2. Laser Cutting
3. 3d printing design
4. Leatherworks
5. Sewing
6. Resume building classes and assistance in locating jobs

Program Evaluation
One part of the program’s evaluation would be made up of a participant registry which

may well be necessary for legal or safety reasons. Each participant would sign in and agree to a

code of conduct, courtesy, and safety. This registry would also give us a good measure of traffic

flow and use patterns for assessing staffing needs and business hours. Another evaluation tool

that would be useful would be an exit survey which would allow the patrons to give feedback as

how useful the information is , how helpful the staff is, and whether the equipment available is

adequate in serving their needs (Hofschire 2016). A means of showing progress and sparking

creativity would be to have a “bragging space”, a place such as a bulletin board to put up photos

of completed projects, or jobs acquired, with the client’s name. On a larger scale, we will track

patron’s success rates with employment. We will use that ratio of success or failure to make

changes to our makerspace program as needed. We anticipate seeing a high success rate of

patrons gaining jobs after receiving training at our makerspace.

Impact
____________________________________________________________
 5

Benefits of project
The benefits of this space falling in line with the social learning concept of Community

of Practice where people with a common interest get together and collaborate. In the course of

interacting, they share processes and solutions in social settings. Learning comes from social

interactions and may not happen intentionally, In 1991, Wegner and Lave defined Community of

Practice (David 2014) as having three themes. The first is that there is a shared domain and next

that there is a community that shares, engages, and learns from each other, and finally that there

is a variety of means to practice what’s being learned. “People continuously create their shared

identity through engaging in and contributing to the practices of their communities. The

motivation to become a more central participant in a community of practice can provide a

powerful incentive for learning” (para. 5). Patrons will leave this space encourage to further their

learning and gain other skills to aid them in finding employment. The most beneficial aspect is

not only acquiring a new skill, but having a librarian also assist in the job seeking process.

Anticipated outcome
The ultimate goal would be for people using the space to acquire skills, obtain jobs or

promotions. Ancillary goals would be shared information, social interaction and mentoring, and

the satisfaction of accomplishing a desired goal.

Project Resources
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Staff
There will be one employee who manages the space. They will teach orientations and be

responsible for monitoring the equipment and patrons. The space is open to volunteers, we
 6

propose that using a volunteer corps similar to that used by The Hillsboro Public Library in their

“Collaboratory”, which has a system of recruiting, screening, and training their volunteers

(Youngblood 2017). Bjorner states that the community's retiree populations are a good resource.

“New retirees also are great volunteers with useful skills to share . . . we as librarians, can remain

vital by recognizing that people in the community are experts and providing the opportunity to

share” (2013). There are hobbyist and retired experts that could be encouraged to volunteer to

assist in running the equipment and helping the paid staffers oversee safety issues. Utilizing this

source of expertise pulls in members of the community and draws in information from across

generations.

Equipment, supplies and materials

● An open space with electric outlets around the perimeter. Since most libraries don’t have

industrial level electric wiring, this would be a necessary startup expense, for safety’s

sake. While the space is being upgraded, extra outlets could be added in the center of the

area to allow workbenches placed centrally for added workstations. There is a whole

chapter in the Youth Makerspace Playbook that discusses addressing safety issues and

code restrictions from the beginning to prevent dangerous setups becoming a permanent

part of your space. Not only is remediation expensive but so are injuries (MakerEd

2015).

● Open-source materials are recommended by Fayetteville Free Public Library, local

companies and organizations frequently will donate outdated but still working, tools,

machines, and technologies that can be repurposed. For example, they have a “Take

Apart Thursday” program that collects donated used or broken electronics that “anyone

can take them apart, learn, and maybe put them together again” (Bjorner p.45).
 7

● Whiteboard

● A table saw

● A sewing machine

● Sewing notions

● Laser cutter and the program to run it

● Leatherworking tools

● Community toolbox (including hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, hand saw, etc.)

● 2 desktop computers preloaded with useful programs for 3D printing, website design,

word processing

● A printer connected to one of the computers

● Photo copier/ fax machine

● Two soldering irons and stands

● A soldering station with a heat resistant work surface

● Workstation posters that describe equipment operation directions and safety instructions

Implementation budget
We will first reach out to the community for donated items, but if that does not happen
then we will go off of this budget plan.

Item Cost Vendor

Workstation poster $9.99 Mardels

Soldering iron and stand $42.62 (qt 2) Bonanza

Soldering station table $584.00 Uline

Photo copier/fax machine $79.99 Epson

printer
 8

3d printer software $50.00 Autocad

3d printer $299.99 Walmart

Laser cutter $119.99 Amazon

Leather working tools $69.95 Zelikovitz Leather

Sewing notions $71.98 Fabric.com

Table saw $179.99 Sears

whiteboard $17.99 Target

toolbox $35.99 Lowes

2 desktops free Located in library

Sewing machine (Brother) $40.00 Walmart

Donated technology for Free Ask various businesses in

taking apart town

Total- $1645.10

Timeline
Transformation Timeline
Phases borrowed from the MISD Libraries

Timeframe implementation specific for Sapulpa Libraries

 9

Phase 1 (completed in 1 month)

1. Repurpose space: weeding collection to create shelf space

2. De-clutter and simplify - remove unneeded items (tables, chairs, shelving, etc)

3. Repurpose existing items - i.e., removing magazine shelving to create

makerspace storage
4. Design zoning (signage) - stationary and flexible makerspace areas

5. Plan for modular/mobile furniture - to accommodate stationary and flexible

makerspace areas
Phase 2 (completed in 3 month time frame)
1. Determine mobile and stationary makerspace areas

2. Purchase modular/mobile furniture to accommodate dedicated and flexible

makerspace areas
3. Stock materials needed for activities

4. Create instructions for the appropriate use of spaces, resources and

equipment
Phase 3 (completed in 2 month time frame)
1. Initiate makerspace projects

2. Monitor, evaluate, and revise continuously

Total timeframe for makerspace and projects to be implemented- 6 months

References
"A Librarian's Guide to Makerspaces: 16 Resources." OEDB.org. Last modified March 12, 2013.
http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/a-librarians-guide-to-makerspaces/.

Bjorner, Susanne. 2013. “Makerspaces and FabLabs: Exploring the Physical and the Digital.”
Searcher’s Voice. Online Searcher 37 (5): 38. Published September 1. Accessed November
11, 2017.
 10

http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=b206b
a70-4939-4295-983d-2016e77f615b%40sessionmgr4006#.

Casselman, Anne. 2017. “Hands-on education; The Maker Movement approach to learning
emphasizes the benefits of tinkering, whether by building prototypes, cooking food or
programming multimedia.” The Globe and Mail: Ontario Edition. Uploaded September 28.
http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?lni=5PKB-
K641-JCRP-
C0GN&csi=303830&hl=t&hv=t&hnsd=f&hns=t&hgn=t&oc=00240&perma=true.

Cavagnaro, Leticia Britos. 2014. “Makerspace Supplies.” Accessed November 30, 2017.
http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Makerspace_Supplies.

“Continuing Education and Workforce Development.” 2016. Tulsa Community College.

Accessed November 27, 2017. http://cewfd.tulsacc.edu/.

David L, "Communities of Practice (Lave and Wenger)," in Learning Theories, July 16,
2014, https://www.learning-theories.com/communities-of-practice-lave-and-wenger.html.

"Editorial Committee." NMC Case Report Journal 2, no. 1 (2015), EC1-EC2.

doi:10.2176/nmccrj.ec2015-1.

Hofschire, Linda. 2016. “Measure Your Impact: Getting Started with Outcome-Based
Evaluation.” Infopeople Webinar. Uploaded December 15. Required reading for LIS
5970 Makerspaces Theory and Practice posted on November 13, 2017. Norman:
University of Oklahoma. https://infopeople.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=632.

“Home Page.” 2017. The Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless. Accessed November 21,
2017. https://www.tulsadaycenter.org/.

“Manufacturing Makerspaces.” 2013. American Libraries Magazine. February 6.

Chicago: American Library Association.
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2013/02/06/manufacturing-makerspaces/.

Pelley, Lauren. 2016. “Woodworking growing popular among young city-dwellers.” The
Toronto Star. Uploaded July 15. Accessed November 5, 2017.
http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?lni=5K7H-
FGJ1-JBTY-
W001&csi=237924,222647&hl=t&hv=t&hnsd=f&hns=t&hgn=t&oc=00240&perma=true.
 11

Swan, Noelle. 2014. “The 'maker movement' creates D.I.Y. revolution.” The Christian
Science Monitor. Uploaded July 6. N.PAG. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOhost. Accessed
November 11, 2017.

“Spaces and Places.”Maker Education Initiative. http://makered.org/resources/spaces-places/.

“TulsaTech Class Categories.” 2017. TulsaTech.edu. Accessed November 27, 2017.

http://enroll.tulsatech.edu/.

"Transformation Timeline MISD Makerspaces." Accessed December 10, 2017.

https://sites.google.com/a/misd.gs/misdmakerspaces/timeline.

“Utility Considerations.” Youth Makerspace Playbook 24. MakerEd. http://makered.org/wp-

content/uploads/2015/09/Youth-Makerspace-Playbook_FINAL.pdf.

Youngblood, Janelle. 2017. “Volunteers at Your Library Makerspace.” Library 2.017

MAKERSPACES. Online conference webinar lecture accessed October 11, 2017.
http://www.library20.com/makerspaces.