Reading and Library Promotion: Tangram and Books for Free

To kick off 2020, we have set up a reading and library promotions activity for the community. Books for Free and a Tangram play and display activity.

We get book donations from many agencies and generous people. We first offer these books to the community for free. Then we send them off to recipients far and wide!

Grant Snider's comic is inspiring. He has one made for New Year's where tangram puzzles were used to suggest possibilities, wonderment and trust to processes. Using it as base for the reading promotion, I set up envelopes for Tangram puzzles that anyone from the community can make. 

It is easy to do. Simply follow the Imagine - Play - Wonder structure ( a format I use for my workshops) and anyone can create art, stories and ideas! It is also a Makerspace activity if you think about it. And for students who need a brain break, they can play on the puzzles and learn at the same time.

To complete the display, I bring out books about puzzles and spatial thinking. I am positive that these books will be borrowed. Well, 4 out of 10 is the standard ratio.

Makerspace and The DLSU-STC School Library

One of the features that the DLSU-STC School Library have that struck me when I visited last December 2017 was their Makerspace. Have a look at these photos and the physical set up that the librarians prepared for their young readers and makers.

A Makerspace is a collaborative learning space where creative thinking and a maker attitude are the emphasis and not the tools. Though, tools and technology are needed to keep the creative juices flowing and the maker attitude up and going. Planning and setting up a Makerspace in your school library would attract more learners who may not always find joy in reading books. Makerspaces promote other forms of thinking and learning. This project may be a door way to opportunities that will help learners grow and the library's resources are used by them.

 Here is a link on Makerspace: Basic 101. I have set up a Makerspace in our library. I blogged about it, Makerspace in the School Library. 

A few months after, a reader of my blog picked it up! We had a chat over at Messenger and I documented that as well. Here are the links: Makerspace Convo 1   Makerspace Convo 2  Makerspace Convo 3.

Convo on Makerspaces 3 of 3

Here is the last installment of my convo with Micaela Ramos of Big Pond Enterprises on Makerspaces.

MR: Kung may time po ako baka pwede po ako bumisita sa library niyo ma'am para makita ko yung Makerspace niyo in action  kasi kadalasan po iniisip 3d printers agad or complicated tech pag gagawa ng makerspace sainyo po simple lang, replicable, doable  kaya po ako na-attract.

ZG: Sure pero, vacation na namin.

MR: Will you continue it po sa next school year?

ZG: Yes. Mga STEM practitioners kase ang nag start ng makerspace

MR: Totoo po.

ZG: Public Librarians adapted it in their services and programs to help promote STEM and make the library a hub for learning. School librarians adapted it also. Kase, makerspace is perfect instructional tool for K-12 learners.

MR: Bakit po siya naging perfect ma'am dahil po sa skill set na na-dedevelop? Or as a "practice-ground?" for students?

ZG: Yes. As well as independence and ownership of one's learning. It is also a form of play. We learn a lot thru play, especially for students learning STEM concepts.

MR: True po.

ZG: I also believe in contextualization (of learning).

MR: Ano po ang ibig sabihin niyo sa contextualization Ma'am?

ZG: Context ng learner.

MR: I see po.

ZG: Contextualize learning activities and experiences based on learners needs and modalities

MR: Parang ang Makerspace po ang venue para po doon? tama po ba?

ZG: Yes. It's not the Makerspace that's the bida. It's the learner.

MR: Very good point po.

ZG: So the design of the Makerspace must be contextual to the learner's exeperiences. That's how I see it. That's how I do it.

MR: Nabago po ang understanding ko sa Makerspace thanks to you Ma'am. Very good points po. Siguro po kasi masaydo po akong nakafocus sa Makerspace itself rather than the real purpose of the space. Ma'am thank you very much po for engaging in a conversation with practically a stranger. Salamat po for entertaining my questions and for your invaluable insights. I hope we could collaborate in the future! Now I have another way of looking at Makerspaces.

ZG: Small thing. Welcome!

To follow is a write up on the Makerspaces I set up in our school library.

Convo on Makerspace 2 of 3

Here is Part 2 of the Makerspace convo I had with Micaela Ramos of Big Pond Enterprises.

MR:I see Ma'am. Napakaganda po ng efforts po ninyo. I would like to help encourage po sana other libarians to follow your example. Kailan niyo po nalaman yung concept ng "makerspace"?

ZG: Maganda ang layon mo. I am so busy that all I can do is blog about my activities, projects and programs. 2013 ko pa nalaman (ang tungkol sa Makerspace). Actually, ang Makerspace is not a new concept. It is similar to Learning Centers Approach to teaching and learning.

MR: Wow, i-research ko po iyan.

ZG: Knowledge is not contained in one discipline. If we look at a Makerspace as a new innovation, we are constructing our way of knowing and understanding the concept of learning and experiential teaching.

MR: Tama po kayo ma'am. I am trying to understand the concept more.

ZG: You look at the principles and philosophy behind a Makerspace. Then you can be more creative in setting up Makerspaces. The hardcore practitioners of Makerspaces may not approach its planning and implementation the way I do. I am weird hahah. And sometimes, unorthodox

MR: You make perfect sense to me ma'am. It means you truly understand the basics.

ZG: Simple lang ang buhay. Besides, it's short too.

MR: I agree po!

ZG: Keep it simple and short! But look at connections and patterns.

MR: Ma'am, thank you for your invaluable insights. If ever po, will you be willing to be interviewed for our company blog or perhaps conduct a seminar?  Continue po ma'am. Im' really interested in your POV.

Part 3 will be about the contextualization of Makerspaces in libraries.

Zarah

Convo on Makerspaces 1 of 3

I am sharing this exchange of conversation I had with Micaela Ramos of Big Pond Enterprises over at Messenger. Our topic is about Library Makerspaces.

Micaela Ramos: Hi Ms. Zarah! I read your blog on the makerspace you created in your library. Naimpress po talaga ako! I'm also a librarian from UPD but now working in a publishing company. Interested po akong malaman kung kamusta na po yung makerspace niyo ngayon? mas naggrow po ba? Thank you  po for your time!

Zarah Gagatiga: Same reception. Nagdagdag ako ng DIY Zen Garden this time. Nagustuhan rin ng mga students.

MR: Wow Ma'am ang galing niyo naman po. Mas involved na po ba yung faculty sa pagbuo ng makerspace or efforts niyo lang po lahat?

ZG: I think a makerspace is more successful if it is integrated in a subject area or content. Hindi pa rin sila involved.

MR: Ano po mga efforts niyo to get them involved? resistant po ba sila or busy lang?

ZG: I think initiatives like this need deliberate planning with faculty. Yung ginawa ko kase, under student services. Yung guidance counselor namin ang mas involved. What she did was to refer students to the stress buster table so they can make the art. And everyone is welcome to do it.

MR: Ma'am paano po kayo nagpropose sa student services? kinailangan niyo pa po ba ijustify? or sarili niyo na lang initiative tapos nagwork na lang kayo with the library's budget?

ZG: I didn't propose anymore. I know the thrusts and programs of the school, both academics and students services so, I plan my programs around it.

Part 2 of this convo is about the principles and pedagogy of Makerspaces.

The School Library as a Makerspace

The idea of setting up a Makerspace in our library has nagged me since I first encountered the term several years ago. It is easy to set up, that's for sure. But, will it work? Will teachers and students make use of a Makerspace in the library as far as our school library concerned. In terms of principle and context, a Makerspace is not a mushroom that simply grows and the librarian would expect that, "if it is built, they will come".

I want the library Makerspace to target a skill, be it a study/research skill or a life skill, it should be an activity center or a DIY center that would expand students' skills set in research or in problem solving. A library Makerspace, I think, needs to custom made for students to critically think about concepts and issues they are investigating in classes. A library Makerspace, for me, should enrich students' creativity in the sciences and the arts. If these are my thoughts on coming up with a library Makerspace, then, thorough planning and collaboration with teachers must be first established.

That is the first challenge.

A challenge I hope to face and find a solution to bridge and meet one of these days.

Undeterred, I continue on with a few modifications.

For one, the Book Spine Poetry events I have begun in the library falls into a Makerspace category. Sort of. Students make something out of book spines, right? DIY poetry!

The most recent activity I set up that has a touch of a Makerspace in the library is the Destressing Table. During the first semester, when everyone was stressed because of exam week, I put up paper, clay, coloring sheets and other art materials for everyone to use at will. There were books on clay art, coloring books, origami and other craft related books along the art supplies.

The students loved it. And so did some of the faculty.