Let Your Creativity Run Wild

The first consideration I had when thinking about designing a makerspace was the audience that it would target. I tend to focus on teens in public libraries, so that made it a no-brainer to have them as the audience as I started creating the plan. I am a relatively crafty person, so I also knew that would be the lens that I would approach the makerspace with. 

I hadn't necessarily meant to make a relatively low-tech makerspace when I started, but I quickly realized that was the direction I was naturally drawn. That made sense to me since not only do craft related materials tend to be low tech, but I also liked that idea because teens already spend so much time using technology and being online. I think providing a space that allows teens to at least somewhat disconnect from the saturation of technology they find themselves in is important. 

Click the GIF below to see my full proposal! 

My proposal is linked to this image.

There were two general categories I thought of when considering what I would spend the $3000 on to create the makerspace: expensive items that would not be available/affordable to most teens and a breadth of materials that would allow teens to create what they desired without having to purchase every little aspect. While I stand by my thought process and I think I would be satisfied with the space I have proposed when I was a teenager, it turns out this is a much more tedious approach than focusing on big ticket items. Since most of my purchases were under $20 each, it took a lot of time researching and collecting information in order to effectively use the budget. If I could go back in time, I would likely tell myself to just focus on more expensive equipment in order to make the process quicker and easier. 

One thing I did very deliberately, is to set aside money to be spent at a later date to repurchase supplies. Since a lot of my materials are consumables, I wanted to ensure that the makerspace could continue running down the line, even as materials are used. This made more sense to me than just buying a greater quantity of materials now, since it is not really possible to determine the popularity of all the materials at this point. Using this approach, popular materials can be repurchased and less popular materials aren't over-purchased and collecting dust. This also makes sure the teens can provide input into the space, which is important for teen spaces.