As more public libraries offer makerspaces and join the maker movement, Amelia Anderson, assistant professor of STEM Education and Professional Studies at Old Dominion University’s Darden College of Education and Professional Studies, seeks to discover approaches that support more inclusive and equitable maker programs and makerspaces. Through the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Anderson and co-Principal Investigator, Abigail Phillips at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Information Studies, have been awarded a one-year, $87,482, grant from the National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program. Their work will begin September 2020.
Access to makerspaces increases both the innovation rate and the diffusion rate by which innovation spreads. Also known as Hackerspaces or Fab Labs, makerspaces are redefining public and academic libraries as destinations…