'It's got great visibility in the UL': MakerSpace finds new home on campus

UNC's Undergraduate Library has a new edition on the entry level floor: the Library MakerSpace. 

The Library MakerSpace is a dedicated area to providing tools, expert help and a creative outlet for students, offering 3D printing, 3D imaging, sewing, a Cricut maker and materials to create models.

The MakerSpace has parallels to the Be A Maker, or BeAM, space located in Murray Hall, Hanes Art Center and Carmichael Hall. Once students complete BeAM 101, an online Canvas module and in-person workshop, they are able to work in any of the three spaces. Additional training is required for more advanced tools.

The MakerSpace, which was previously located in the Kenan Science Library within Venable Hall, will now serve as a teaching lab.

The new spot will offer creative workshops, also allowing students to go for individual consultations and receive assistance for research projects.

Junior Muhammad Khan said he used the MakerSpace this summer to create trophies for Bowlers and Batters, a club that he helped create. 

He said the process of creating the trophies took weeks as they would design, redesign and print each piece of the trophy before assembly.

“We had to ask for the new color filament that wasn't already in the printers,” Khan said. “So we had to work with the MakerSpace, and they were really gracious.” 

Now, Bowlers and Batters is using the MakerSpace for additional resources. The group plans to make more trophies to give to winners after tournaments and use the embroidery machine for speciality T-shirts. 

UNC Science and Technology Librarian Jordan Green said the MakerSpace is a way to support students in both their class projects and hobbies. She said she is looking forward to more design workshops being hosted through the space.

“It's got great visibility in the UL, because it's such a central, highly-trafficked library location on campus,” Green said.

UNC's Head of Science Academic and Research Engagement Therese Triumph said that she has helped out during MakerSpace workshops. 

“I was so impressed with the designs that the attendees came up with,” she said. 

There are many opportunities for expansion in the new location. Triumph said the new MakerSpace provides more space and will have longer hours. 

In the past, the MakerSpace collaborated with the Art Library and the BeAM space. Triumph said she is looking forward to future collaborations within the new space. 

“People are so creative. I think that's what we find in the MakerSpace, how creative students are,” she said. “They come in and sit down, some of them just go into our craft drawers. And in fact, I don't find things, and I am very creative. So I think that's what I look forward to the most.” 

Along with creativity, collaboration is a core value to the MakerSpace. 

“We do listen to the students,” Triumph said. “We like to hear what they would like to learn or expand on. So we are very willing to learn a new craft.”

On Sept. 12, the Undergraduate Library will host a MakerSpace opening celebration from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be snacks, crafts and free giveaways, and students will be able to explore the MakerSpace.