Campus Spotlight: The Purdue Libraries Knowledge Lab

We opened the doors of the Knowledge Lab on Feb. 14, 2023, so we still think of the space as relatively new. Although it has had a very successful start, word is still getting out about the space and we’re ironing out details as we go. The Lab started with what we used to call the Libraries Mobile Making. Fall 2017, I (Professor Sarah Huber) was asked by my supervisor Michael Fosmire to start a Maker program. Making, makers, makerspaces was a movement that can be traced to Make Magazine, which came out in 2005. From Make magazine came maker faires. Many would argue that people have been making forever, making pottery, instruments, jewelry, etc., but Make magazine organized a movement, created a community around making. Community building and building things to improve your community was a tenet of the movement.

It always had a STEM focus, with people heavily focused on 3D printing and robotics. MITs Fab Lab was also a major influencer, bringing in the digital aspect of making, such as digital fabrication. If anyone is interested, I recommend J.J. Burke’s 2014 book, Makerspaces: A Practical Guide for Librarians. We have it available through the Libraries. Speaking of which, how did libraries get involved in the makerspace movement? In regard to public libraries and school libraries, it offered a democratization of making. Libraries were a place where anyone could make, with free use of equipment, and oftentimes, free use of materials. Public libraries started offering different branches of makerspaces, such as tool lending and seed lending libraries, on top of basic making equipment, such as 3D printers and laser cutters. For academic libraries, many would say their makerspaces serve the same purpose. But the Knowledge Lab takes a little different approach. It sees libraries as a place to not only support access to information and knowledge, but also as a resource that supports the creation of new information and knowledge. Related to that, there is a movement in academic libraries to foster the creation of non-traditional forms of scholarship, such as a video in place of a text-based journal article, for example. Facilitating this in academic libraries means also developing ways to organize and make discoverable those non-traditional forms of scholarship.

So back to our little makerspace, the Knowledge Lab. In 2017, Robin Meher, library assistant; Ali Edmondson, libraries instructional designer; and Liz Lukens, library assistant (all from the Library of Engineering and Science), volunteered to help me run the maker programming. We didn’t have a lab, so that meant developing programming that we could bring out to various parts of campus. Students really took to the activities we offered. An example was when we partnered with the Library Archives to host a zine making event. Zines are small press, individual publications. We had poetry and images from the Amelia Earhart collection, paper, glue, washi tape, markers, etc. Students crafted their own stories from these materials to create individual zines. Majority of our events and activities were focused on STEM topics, though, and typically involved 3D printing, some electronics, and wood carving. Honestly, our team got a little bored with the same STEM topics, and we saw a pretty narrow demographic attending activities. Ali Edmondson suggested we reach out to Melissa Gruver from the Roger C. Stewart Leadership and Professional Development Department for advice on how to reach a wider audience. Melissa connected us with the Purdue Cultural Centers, which was a turning point in our maker mission. We asked the Cultural Centers how we could support them. We never insisted on any specific type of making. This, I believe, is where we really got our wings, particularly with the Asian American and Asian Resource Cultural Center. With them, we prepared photos from the Library Archives on a history of Asian culture and community on the Purdue campus. We then printed them on fabric. Students decorated them and even printed their own images on fabric. We recorded students telling stories behind the photos they contributed to the project. We then quilted the fabric squares together and embedded an Arduino. The quilt hangs in the AAARCC to this day. It has buttons you can press to hear the stories associated with the student photos. We learned students do like the craft aspect of making.

Building craft making into our programming drew a more diverse demographic.

Liz Lukens left the Libraries about this time to be a full-time mom. We owe that original crew of staff deep gratitude. The Mobile Making never would have become what it did without them. They were all so creative and they did the maker work on top of their full-time jobs. I don’t want to speak for anyone, but from my perspective, we had a blast. We were down one person, though, after Liz left. Good fortune brought Victoria Thomas, library assistant from the WALC, volunteering to join the crew. We continued to offer events and activities and were getting requests from across campus to host events. We could barely keep up. Then came the word from my supervisor, Michael, that the Dean of Libraries, Beth McNeil was interested in us having our own makerspace. That’s how the Knowledge Lab came to be in WALC 3007.

Robin Meher took the position of the lab manager and I am the director. Robin worked nonstop, learning all the new equipment, and getting everything in place. It took a tremendous effort on the part of the Libraries’ facilities, too, particularly Jacinda Laymon, to open the doors. She designed the space in terms of where we could fit all the furniture and equipment. She worked on a short timeline, so we could open on February 14. Victoria Thomas and April Grotberg, also a library assistant in WALC, volunteered to get materials organized for opening day. In fact, the entire WALC Library staff, which in addition to those already mentioned, included Sandy Galloway and Sarah Butz, both library assistants, volunteered for the grand opening. It was packed. There’s no way we could have opened or hosted the event without them.

The Lab is designed to complement other makerspaces on campus. We try to offer what the other ones don’t have, and unlike other makerspaces that may be for use of students within a certain program, or like the Bechtel Innovation Design Center, where you have to go through a planning process to use the facilities, any student can walk in and start using the equipment and materials for free. In addition, we have equipment for checkout. Students can check out anything from a high-end digital camera to a soldering iron. As one colleague described it, the Lab takes rapid prototyping through a craft lens. We have a section for cardboard and paper rapid prototyping with simple to use, battery-based electronics, a vinyl cutter for sticker and banner making, a table of Cricut equipment, including a heat press, mug and tumbler press, a crotchet and knitting section, a sewing station, a podcast booth, and finally, a Riso printer, which can best be described as a digital screen printer. The idea behind it is that that Lab is a low-stakes, rapid prototyping space where the Purdue community can work through and actualize ideas. And again, it is intended to ultimately facilitate the creation of new knowledge, which can be in the form of non-traditional scholarship, such as something sewn or printed.

Robin organizes the workshops offered through the Lab. We are fortunate in that Library staff volunteer to host the workshops. Even our very own Amanda Gill, the libraries lead operations manager, has offered knitting and crocheting classes and drop-in clinics. April Grotberg has a hosted an introduction to sewing class where students sewed a throw pillow. It was a hit and below is a photo of an embroidery event she collaborated with Purdue LGBQT Center on for students to embroidered pride flags. Sandy Galloway, has hosted diamond painting and paper quilling, which have been in demand from students. And Victoria Thomas has offered embroidery workshops and has run a series of workshops on how to use Cricut’s Design Space and the various Cricut equipment. Below is a photo of a soft circuit she designed and will be hosting a workshop on. The felt is cut out with a Cricut. There is conductive thread connecting a battery to light for it to light up with a small switch. Over and over, I hear from students and faculty how much they appreciate Victoria’s patience and troubleshooting abilities. She’s a born teacher. We wouldn’t be able to offer the workshops without the WALC staff. They help us keep the Lab open and active. These workshops offer students an opportunity to work with different materials and ways to construct materials. A crocheted hot pad may spark ideas for students on how to troubleshoot different ways to prototype an idea, how to build a model of something in ways they haven’t been introduced to in their programmatic classes.

If you follow us on social media through the Purdue Libraries, Robin posts a weekly spotlight on what students are making in the Lab. The students love Robin. She is devoted to supporting their creativity. It’s exciting to see how students are utilizing the space. Some examples of their work include modifying a prom dress design with a large iron-on print, a glove constructed to control a drone, a pocket sewn for an insulin pump, the recording of Purdue’s B-Xcellent Podcast, using our podcast booth, among many other projects that have happened in the short amount of time we’ve been open. For more examples, you can check out photos on our Instagram account @knowledgelab_purduelibraries. It has been the highlight of my career at Purdue to see all the creative ways students are using the equipment and materials. They are thinking through ideas, collaborating to generate new ones, and fully actualizing ideas. I can’t stress enough, this space could not run without our staff. They helped us open, fill in when we need extra support, and host workshops. I do believe students express their gratitude to them, but if not, thank you for this opportunity to express mine. – Prof Huber