Since 2014, when SLJ conducted its first maker survey, maker activities have increased by four percent at the elementary and middle school levels.
Illustration by Traci Daberko
Old-fashioned board games and puzzles are what first drew students at a Jacksonville, NC, middle school into the library’s maker space. Now they’re experimenting with Snap Circuits and coding robots. At a rural school in Maryland, library participation has increased because of activities such as 3-D printing and Tinkercad design—especially among girls.
Meanwhile, at an elementary school in Iowa City, IA, students work at a “tinkering table” in the library, taking apart old equipment and using scrap pieces to make new creations, such as jewelry and robots.
These are just a few examples illustrating how maker space learning has become integral to many school…
