Membership Policies
Become a Member of the Makerspace
Members of our Makerspace have access to the equipment and software that are available. To become a member:
You must have a library card that is active, up-to-date, and registered with the library hosting the Makerspace. Outstanding fees must be kept under $10.
You must attend an orientation to learn about the equipment.
You must sign a policy agreement, a safety advisory, and a waiver of responsibility.
Your membership will be indicated on your account with the library. Inform a staff member that you wish to work in the Makerspace and they can check for a membership note.
Members that are over the age of 18 have access to our Makerspace resources. Members that are 16 or 17 have access if a parent or guardian has co-signed the policy, safety, and waiver agreements. Members that are at least 12 up to 15 years of age can only become members with a co-signer and can only use the equipment in the presence of a sponsoring member.
The Makerspace room is home to lots of expensive equipment and ongoing projects. This includes a variety of dangerous and fragile components, so we do not allow children younger than 12 into the Makerspace room (or other work area) unless a case-by-case exception is made by the Library Director or program coordinator. Certified members over 18 may check equipment out of the room to accomplish a task in the presence of children under 12 in a different area of the library. Classes in which children younger than 12 participate will be held in a separate room or area.
Note: The Makerspace is part of the adult programming for the library and is planned for adult participation only. This does not exclude participants between the age of 12 and 17, but it does put conditions on the ability to join a class or be around the equipment. Membership is not a requirement to participate in classes for patrons over the age of 18, but membership is required for patrons younger than 18 if they are not accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. You may be carded if you attend a class and your age has not been established.
Use of Library Resources
Library resources -- computers, internet access, equipment, supplies, etc. -- are provided to assist you in pursuit of your educational progress, professional development, hobby interests, and/or curiosity.
The Library is not responsible for damages to your property as a result of your use of the Library resources.
The Library reserves the right to terminate your activity if you are in violation of any public policies or procedures.
The Library assumes no responsibility for any activities conducted by your use of the Library's resources.
A parent or legal guardian will determine a minor's access to Library resources. The sponsoring member will take full responsibility for the child's presence in the Makerspace and use of equipment.
All library records identifying the names of patrons with records of use of specific library materials and electronic resources are confidential in nature and will not be made available to any person or agency, including governmental authorities, except pursuant to authorized process, order or subpoena, according to law.
All equipment, software, and any materials provided for a class are available "as is".
You should expect to bring in your own consumable material when engaging in an activity that is not part of a class.
All of our equipment and software is for personal use only and not for any project from which a profit is earned.
You may not modify any equipment in the Makerspace room without prior approval.
You may not remove any equipment from the Makerspace room without prior approval.
You may not attempt maintenance on Makerspace equipment unless you are certified to do so.
Safety and Responsibility
Some of the equipment that we have (e.g. woodworking tools and the laser system) poses an imminent danger to participants and bystanders if not handled properly.
You assume all risks and consequences associated with safety and injury.
You are responsible for recognizing safety risks and implementing the correct protocol and procedures to mitigate them.
Staff members are present to advise on safe practices.
Staff members are not responsible for the safety of anyone using the equipment or the safety of any bystanders.
Staff members may halt the use of equipment immediately for any concern of safety or potential damage to property.
Everyone shares in the responsibility of rendering aid or seeking help.
To aid us in providing our services and activities for the community, we ask that all breaches of safety be reported to us immediately and with as many details as possible.
Staff Members
Staff members are present to ensure proper use and care of Makerspace equipment. Class periods are intended to be structured and flexible so you can learn from the experiences of a staff specialist or an expert. Open Makerspace periods are intended to be self-directed and staff members may or may not be available to help.
We are not a commercial service. Do not "place an order". We are here to help you create something and not to make something for you.
A staff specialist is a Library employee that has been trained to assist. The staff specialist will be managing the operation and maintenance of equipment requested by non-certified members.
Questions about proper use, policy, procedure, or maintenance should be addressed to the staff specialist and all activities will cease until a determination is made by the staff specialist.
At least one staff member will be present for the handling of all equipment regardless of certification status.
Untrained staff members are not required to assist you or answer questions to which they are not knowledgeable.
Staff members are not responsible for your designs or any faults or repercussions that arise because of them.
Staff members may refuse to allow the use of the equipment when its use would violate any library policy.
Staff members may refuse to cooperate, assist, or participate in any capacity for any reason.
You must agree to follow the policy and procedures as outlined and described by the staff member present. Appeals may be made to the Library Director.
Intellectual Property
Makerspace users assume all responsibility for compliance with state, federal, and library policies and laws, including those regarding copyright, patent, trademark, and other intellectual property infringement. The Library will not knowingly allow violation of the law either by staff or by the public.
Under Copyright Law, illegal duplication or sharing of copyrighted materials is prohibited. Copyrighted materials may include, but are not limited to, all printed matter, audio recordings, video recordings, computer software, databases, and digital files that are owned or licensed by the Library, obtained through interlibrary loan, or downloaded from the internet. Warnings will be posted around the Makerspace room about the ease of breaching this legal threshold.
Privacy is a core value of the Library and we strive to protect your privacy and intellectual property and we want you to respect others. However, as the Library is a public space we cannot guarantee complete privacy of any newly created intellectual property. As a Patent and Trademark Resource Center, the Library can inform users on a variety of intellectual property issues, including patents, trademarks, copyright, and Creative Commons.
You are responsible for managing private information that you leave on a Library resource.
You are responsible for managing private information that you include in a creation that will be within view of the public.
You are responsible for.signing out of your accounts if you have used any during your Makerspace participation.
Please refer to our guidelines on protected works for more details.
Training
We host classes to introduce you to the equipment and software necessary to progress from an idea, to a design, to a creation.
You cannot use any equipment or software for which you are not familiar.
You must attend a class or ask for training from a staff specialist if you want to begin working on a new piece of equipment or software.
You are expected to follow the procedures and policies that are outlined during your training and apply them at all times.
Learning is a process that you shouldn't expect to happen immediately.
Please allow for the time that it takes to start from the beginning before you can reach the end of your project.
Classes provide the most introductory information. Time and advice are needed to further progress.
Certified Makers
Membership allows you to work with the equipment when a staff specialist is present. Your direct use of equipment is limited without certification at the discretion of a staff specialist. Certification allows you to work with individual equipment in the absence of a specialist. However, we still insist on the presence of a staff member, although their purpose is not to provide assistance.
Prior membership is a requirement for certification. Certification is an acknowledgement by the Library of your skill, talent, and care for using the Makerspace equipment. You can earn certification by demonstrating your practical knowledge of the equipment during Open Makerspace hours. An additional note will be added to your Library account to indicate which equipment you are certified to use.
The requirements for this demonstration will be determined by the staff specialist present. Prior experience will be considered, but you still need to demonstrate your successful use of the equipment without intervention.
If you want to work with the Makerspace equipment outside of our class periods or Open Makerspace time, you need to be certified to use the equipment.
You must first be a member of the Makerspace.
You must follow the prescribed training for the equipment you want to use.
You may only use the equipment you are certified to use.
You must keep an inventory of equipment, parts, and other supplies that you are using. Verify that you have returned all items when you are finished.
You can find more information about certification requirements on the relevant training pages.
Damage to Property
You can learn the proper use and care for the equipment during a class session or Open Makerspace. During these times, you have opportunities to put your own hands on the equipment. It is possible that -- resulting from your actions or inactions -- you might damage something. Sometimes, this can cause a class to end, prevent the community from working on projects, or even interfere with the normal activities of the library. The extent of the damage and possible remedy will be discussed and determined by staff members. The Library Director will decide the appropriate penalty.
The Makerspace is intended to be a place for learning from mistakes and failures. We want to be fair when making an assessment of culpability and penalties when such mistakes lead to a halt in the process. Essentially, mistakes that result from learning are very forgivable while mistakes that result from carelessness must be rectified by those responsible. The following is a general guideline that we try to use when assessing penalties for damage to property:
Familiarity -- Examples: How many times have you used this? Did you encounter something that hadn't shown up before? Did something happen that you didn't recognize? Were you trying something that you thought was fine?
Negligence -- Examples: Was there a step in the procedure that you skipped? Were you distracted? Did you leave something or someone unattended? Did you ignore the warnings from a staff member?
Severity -- Examples: Did you break something? Can it be fixed by a staff member? Do we need to call for something to be serviced? Do we have any backups that we could use instead?
To aid us in providing our services and activities for the community, we ask that all damage be reported to us promptly with as many details as possible.