Working successfully with teenage makers can require a hands-off approach that dispenses with structure.
Teenagers at the Peabody (MA) Institute Library used a green screen
to take photographs they included on a book cover image (below).
Photo courtesy of the Peabody Institute Library Creativity Lab
THE 3-D PRINTER in the Peabody (MA) Institute Library’s basement Creativity Lab might be what draws teens to the space, but it’s not always what they spend the most time using.
One group of boys is fascinated by the sewing machines. “They come in because of the tech, and then they get involved in the [other] things,” says Cate Merlin, teen and special projects librarian for the library’s main branch.
At Dover (AR) High School, library media specialist Janet Kanady has seen a similar response. “We came close to having enough kids knitting to…
