Maker Lab

The Portland Public Schools' Libraries are invested in supporting 21st century learning, real world applications, problem solving, exploration and innovation. To help with this endeavor, in 2017 we created makerspaces in each of the school libraries funded by a Gildersleeve Wheeler Education Fund grant (GWEF). 

A makerspace is a physical location where people gather to share resources and knowledge, work on projects, network, invent and build. Makerspaces provide tools and space in a community environment to engage students in STEAM projects. 

The GS Library Maker Lab is a place where students can use their creativity and innovation to design and create new media based on their learning and their interests. Our Library Maker Lab provides a space for students to collaborate, problem solve, and build confidence in their abilities to showcase what they know and what they’ve learned. 

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Makerspace is:

                    * The idea that people are CREATORS of knowledge - not just consumers.

                    * A place where creative innovation flourishes.

                    * The space to allow your imagination to run free.

                    * As low tech as duct tape, as high tech as designing, creating, & programming robots.

According to Laura Fleming, author of Worlds of Making: Best Practices for  Establishing a Makerspace for Your School:

"To define a makerspace by its purpose in the simplest of terms, it is a place where young people have an opportunity to explore their own interests; learn to use tools and materials, both physical and virtual; and develop creative projects.  It should be envisaged and implemented as a concept that can adapt to a wide variety of uses, shaped not only by educational purposes defined by teachers or the school or the wider curriculum but also by students' own creative goals and interests.  With a real potential to revolutionize education, we have begun to see makerspaces popping up all across the country."  (p. 5)

"MAKERSPACES PROVIDE HANDS-ON, CREATIVE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO DESIGN, EXPERIMENT, BUILD AND INVENT AS THEY DEEPLY ENGAGE IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TINKERING.”   - EDUTOPIA