BlogShare: 3D Printers in a Library Makerspace


This week's blogshare is focused on adding 3D printers to your library makerspace. I was discussing makerspaces with my husband, currently an engineering student at Clemson and engineering intern at Bosch, and he practically begged me to focus in on 3D printing. He is convinced that this is a resource that every school and public library should have available and after doing a bit of my own research, I have to say I agree with him!

At first, I thought that the idea of a 3D printer in a school library was a bit too far fetched.
1) it's expensive
2) it's just for the science and engineering classes (which as a former science teacher, I'm certainly not opposed to but it did seem a bit too exclusive to be a part of the library)
3) what would you even do with it?!

Enter stage right -- 3D Printers in the Library: Toward a Fablab in the Academic Library by Tod Colegrove, guest author to the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Tech Connect blog. Tod's blog entry is quite lengthy but worth every character on the page. He goes into what a 3D printer actually is and why it should have a place in a library. He is speaking of an academic library at a university but he mentions several times the applications for high schools. The examples that he provides for the different university departments could easily be adapted for high school curriculum - 3D chemical models, gears and materials for engineering classes, senior projects, 3D models of geographical terrains, body parts, business patents, anything in the arts. Tod also provides a link to a comparison chart of different 3D printers and their costs to help you decide which one to get.

I also found this great pathfinder resource created by Sharona Ginsberg, the Learning Technologies Librarian at SUNY Oswego on Makerspaces and 3D printers. Several pages of her blog explain Makerspaces and 3D printing. She has tons of links for buyer's guides, price comparisons, and software downloads. This webinar is a presentation she created on the topic of 3D printing in libraries.

So I must say, after researching a bit about 3D printing in libraries...

1) it's not as expensive as you think, especially if you get a second or third generation machine
2) there is so much more potential that just science and engineering classes
3) you can do anything you can think of with it -- literally! 

Dr. Morefield-Lang quoted Ida Mae Craddock in her lecture on Makerspaces:
It's a question of does information go to your library to die or does it go there to take on new life?
3D printers can provide that new life for information, a chance for students to literally think outside of the box, beyond the 2D pencil and paper of traditional education. The possibilities are limitless and what library doesn't want to be a hub for unlimited learning?


Comments

  1. Joseph BrownNovember 4, 2018 at 8:03 PM

    3D printing is one of the first things I think of when I think of makerspaces but their price tag can be a huge deterrent. That said, it does seem like the price has come down a lot compared to what it was just five or six years ago. Currently, the cheapest one I saw was around $160, although it might be worth it to get a slightly better one. I definitely think that they have more applications than just engineering and science, although those are the most obvious fits. One that comes to mind is using it with an art class or maybe it could be used to create an instrument for music. The possibilities are really only limited by our imaginations (and budget).

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