Thanks to funding from IMLS, I spent much of the summer on the road, working with librarians, educators, and community members to envision and think about community-responsive making in rural and underserved communities. Here are some things I learned (or re-learned) from stepping outside the current maker narratives:
- Balancing traditional maker activities (e.g., log furniture) with new technologies (e.g., CNC routing) remains a challenge, in part due to financial constraints.
- Future Farmers of America and 4-H remain highly influential avenues to making and hands-on learning in communities.
- One powerful, persuasive personality can mobilize many others.
- 3-D printing, seen as a critical tool in many urban and suburban maker narratives, simply isn’t financially viable in many rural libraries, though they might be found in local high schools.
- The maker movement in libraries is codifying around youth and STEM primarily, with a big emphasis on playing with pre-made items (e.g., Snap Circuits, LEGO, K’Nex).
- Despite the current youth and making focus, we got a lot of questions this summer about making and senior citizens, something we’re really interested in, too!
- Underwater remote operated vehicles showed up as an in-class or extracurricular activity in three of our sites. Robotics was even more popular (in part because Michigan’s governor has actively supported and incentivized the incubation of FIRST Robotics programs).
- Incubator kitchens are specially licensed facilities to help nascent food businesses get started. That this is a state-licensed activity tells me there is more support for non-tech-based small businesses than we previously anticipated.
- Multiple communities pointed to farmer’s markets as a hub for creative handmade products.
It is a order generic levitra no prescription drug that can be used to treat erectile dysfunction as well as improve blood flow. It cialis levitra viagra seems like a good idea- but only at first. Erectile Dysfunction is a sexual order cheap cialis slovak-republic.org problem which affects men in India and different parts of the world who cannot satisfy their partners in the bed room will bomb. Diabetes, joint pain, electric dysfunction, trouble sleeping or low iron in the blood are some of the ways you can effectively help your husband generic cialis australia when they are suffering from andropause.
What did you learn this summer? I’ll be back next month with more learnings.
Cross-posted to the MakerBridge blog and the Making in Michigan Libraries site