Webinar: Makerspace Fails

Sponsored by: NEASIS&T (US Northeast Chapter)

Public library makerspaces – spaces with shared tools for social making – do not always work out as libraries plan or users hope, especially for marginalized or underserved community groups. Yet there is little understanding about which factors lead to perceptions of “success” or “failure.” While LIS researchers and some librarians have focused on learning as the main arbiter of “success” in these spaces, users in previous studies have stated that learning is only one of many goals they seek to further when using these spaces, which sometimes means the spaces are considered “failures” and are little used. Moreover, the embodiment of library values, goals, and assumptions frozen into the design and spatial arrangements of these locations shape how potential users perceive their affordances, and how successful the spaces are for individual and community needs. Perceived or actual failure is a real problem for libraries, given that they often have limited resources and staff, and user perceptions of library value are vital to libraries’ ongoing relevance and funding. From the user perspective, “failure” in the makerspace context means that only some community members can benefit from these tools and technologies, rendering the spaces exclusionary and less diverse than the communities they are intended to serve. This presentation will discuss a study of five public library makerspaces using mapping, visual traffic sweeps, and repertory grid methods, to help scholars and librarians understand how and why makerspaces might fail to serve community needs, and how this failure can be avoided or remediated.