Our friends Monnee Tong and Uyen Tran at San Diego Public Library are the fearless teen (and tech!) advocates behind our series on the SDPL IDEA Lab. Today, Monnee shares the awesomeness of the San Diego Makerfaire, where the library showed off its programs and connected with local makers . Enjoy! ~Erinn
by Monnee Tong
The first annual Maker Faire San Diego—the “Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth” and family-friendly celebration of the Maker movement—came to beautiful Balboa Park for a weekend of fun on October 3-4. San Diego Public Library of course had to be there for the action!
Maker Faire San Diego in Balboa Park. Courtesy of San Diego Public Library.
Top left: A visitor colors a 3D-printed button at the SDPL booth. A laser-cut wood donation box is in the foreground. Top right: A 3D printer prints an octopus at the SDPL booth. Bottom: SDPL’s booth proudly displaying the Maker Faire robot. Photos courtesy of San Diego Public Library.
San Diego Public Library’s booth shared information about the library’s wide-range of technology and maker resources, including the Maker Lab and IDEA Lab at Central Library, and the new Biotech Lab at the La Jolla-Riford Branch Library. Staff members were at the booth ready to help and let San Diego makers know about all the resources SDPL has to offer.
Top: Buttons available for guests to color and wear. Middle: A visitor colors an “I Fix” button. Bottom: The finished button. Photos courtesy of San Diego Public Library
Visitors to the booth could show off their maker enthusiasm by coloring letters in a 3D-printed button. The buttons were made by one of SDPL’s Maker Lab volunteers, which he created special for the event. Guests around Balboa Park could be seen wearing them, proudly declaring “I Hack,” “I Make,” “I Write,” and “I Fix.” They were a hit, and a fun, free takeaway for library booth visitors. In addition, guests to the library booth could play with a Strawbees kit, a construction kit using drinking straws.
Strawbees Maker Kit, with a 3D-printed vessel to hold the straws!
While the library booth was pretty darn cool and hard to beat (not that we’re biased or anything,) there was plenty of eye-catching, engaging, and stimulating maker activities and projects across Balboa Park to spark enthusiasm for the maker movement. Here are some of the highlights:
Top left: Nicholas Hanna and the TrikeWriter. Top right: How to text a message to the TrikeWriter. Bottom: “Welcome to Make Faire,” being spray-printed by the TrikeWriter. Photos courtesy of San Diego Public Library.
Russell, the electric giraffe, greeting visitors. Photo courtesy of San Diego Public Library.
Trying on a 3D-printed hand at the FAB LAB San Diego booth. Courtesy of San Diego Public Library.
Robots at the Robotlink Robotics Education booth. Courtesy of San Diego Public Library.
Smart phone racecars. Courtesy of San Diego Public Library.
Painted leaves craft project from San Diego Zoo Global. Courtesy of San Diego Public Library.
Maker Faire San Diego was a great opportunity to learn about making in San Diego, and also gave us the opportunity to let San Diegans know that libraries are for making too.
This concludes our series about the labs at SDPL. Uyen and I have enjoyed sharing the projects we’ve helped launch at SDPL, from Arduino programs to mentoring teen interns. We thank you for reading and sharing in our adventures in bringing innovation to the library. Come visit us in sunny San Diego!
Want More?
- Connect with the IDEA Lab on Facebook (IDEA Lab at San Diego Public Library)
- Learn more about the SDPL Maker Lab.
- Check out all the posts in this series HERE.
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