What do you want to make? What to make of public library makerspaces: a look into the power of makerspaces in Singapore public libraries

• Main Author: Tan, Yi Lin
• Other Authors: Brendan Luyt
• Format: Thesis-Master by Coursework
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Computer and Information Science; Public library; Singapore public library; National Library Board; Makerspace; Library makerspace
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/180791
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In a 2013 article published on ALA TechSource, an imprint of the American Libraries Association (ALA), librarian C.A. Bagley defines makerspaces as “a place where people come together to create with technology”. In the same year, the ALA pointed to a feature in American Libraries magazine that contended that makerspaces are the modern-day equivalent of knitting and quilting circles and book clubs present as early as the 1870s in U.S. public libraries. In Makerspaces: Top Trailblazing Projects, Bagley (2013) investigates the relevance of makerspaces to libraries where she observes wariness on the part of librarians about getting caught up in “the flavour of the moment” (2). Ten years on, the desire by libraries to offer makerspaces shows no sign of letting up. In Singapore, in line with the Library and Archives Blueprint 2025 (LAB25), the National Library Board (NLB) opened their fourth MakeIT at Libraries at Punggol Regional Library in January 2023. Inspired by Beyond the Makerspace: Making and Relational Rhetorics (McNair, 2021), this study is a critical inquiry into the history, influencing factors, and motivations behind the genesis, adoption, and growth of public libraries makerspaces in Singapore, and the potential implications of upholding the NLB rhetoric of providing universal access to the public library makerspace and its technologies. The research involved a review of available literature on library makerspaces in the form of conference papers, journal articles, web articles, and publications by library associations. To address the lack of available literature on library makerspaces in Singapore, sources from and about the NLB, such as its websites, annual reports, Biblioasia publications, media releases, and news reports were relied on. An interview with NLB was conducted to obtain a deeper understanding of the day-to-day task of running the makerspaces at Jurong, Woodlands, Tampines, and Punggol Regional Libraries. This study has found that understanding the relations between people and making, beyond the popular rhetoric of providing access to makerspaces and technologies, is key to helping librarians, teachers, and curators of art and science museums make informed decisions about why and how to engage with the maker movement in our communities. For NLB to assess the success of and to inform its plans for its library makerspaces in the next phase of LAB beyond 2025, it is recommended to study the sustainability of MakeIT considering studies showing that makerspaces struggle to develop user participation outside of structured activities and to foster the creation of communities. Further studies on makerspaces in Singapore public libraries should look beyond user participation figures and anticipated future trends in making and learning, and instead focus on the deeper issues of makerspace integration between the library and surrounding community, particularly the integration of its maker communities with the wider day-to-day activities of the local neighbourhood.