4. Running the Makerspace

Top takeaways

Organize systems to optimize communication, inventorying, and maintenance.
Staff up with a lead facilitator, resident interns, and volunteers.
Create a membership system that starts with safety and skill building.

Internship > mentorship in action

Organize systems to optimize communication, inventorying, and maintenance.

There are many ways to communicate amongst your makerspace team and with residents. Signs and posters can announce workshops and events, display safety guidelines and proper equipment use, and convey your communities mission and values. You can post multi-lingual flyers and distribute them under doors. See if your community has a robocall or texting system so that you can get out timely information and reminders to residents (Bayview uses Resident Connect). A strategically placed bulletin board is also useful. Consider dividing it into an area for basic information, a calendar of upcoming events, and a showcase area for photos of projects and their proud makers. Finally, a website can serve many purposes, similar to and beyond a bulletin board: Conveying general information about the makerspace, upcoming events, a calendar of upcoming events, makerspace classes and drop-in hours, and project ideas, resources, and how-to instructions. The web nowadays allows for easy translation, so you can point residents there via QR codes in your flyers. You can democratize the process by providing editing access to certain pages where makers can post their work. Here is the Bayview makerspace website: bit.ly/BayviewMakes

Set up a regular schedule for taking inventory and a system such as a shared spreadsheet for noting what needs restocking, repairing, and repurchasing. At the Bayview makerspace, we have a set of troubleshooting documents and settings spreadsheets for each piece of equipment. When something breaks or is not properly working, the team can look back at the notes to see the history of the machine, and what was done to solve it before. The document can also contain links to helpful resources. Online makerspace communities can be a treasure trove of intel, and often have encountered and solved the very problem you are facing. Those notes can also be added to your troubleshooting docs, as well. Our go-to is the K-12 Fab Labs and Makerspaces online discussion group: https://groups.google.com/g/k-12-fablabs

Shared troubleshooting and equipment settings documents

Staff up with a lead facilitator, resident interns, and volunteers.

A successful program will have a lead facilitator to drive the activities and keep momentum up. A resident intern program is a great way to bring up leadership from within the community, and volunteers are also key to a community-run makerspace. For the Bayview makerspace program, the Lead Facilitator’s job responsibilities include prototyping activities in development, producing exemplar projects, preparing for events, and leading hands-on learning where participants design, plan, create, troubleshoot, and build maker projects. The Lead Facilitator is supported to become proficient with the makerspace equipment, tools, and resources, and to enforce protocols that ensure everyone's safety. Makerspace interns can play all sorts of roles. For example, they could assist the Lead Facilitator and participants in maker activities that take place in the makerspace during drop-in hours, workshops, and events. Interns can also explore an area of making in-depth and learn, grow, and share that expertise. Volunteers can also take on a variety of roles in the makerspace, depending on their interests and the needs of the program.

See example Lead Facilitator and Makerspace Intern job descriptions for the Bayview makerspace.

Create a membership system that starts with safety and skill building.

A membership system builds engagement and pride as residents acquire skills and level up. Membership badges can also serve as a sign-in system and let facilitators know who is authorized on which machines. We created a tiered membership system with three levels that starts with safety and skill building. Level 1 involves understanding safety and general guidelines, signing a waiver, and access to basic tools and materials, Level 2 brings in the Cricut Maker, drill, and Sawzall, and Level 3 involves advanced equipment training and individual badging for the laser cutter, 3D printers, sewing machines, and pen lathe.

Below is shown a level 1 membership slide with guidelines, and badge prototypes and a sign-in system on the whiteboard.

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