Field trip to Fayetteville!

There are days at work when I have a chance to get out of the office and visit a library. These are my favorite days.  And when the library is the super-innovative Fayetteville Free Library? Well, it was totally worth what we drove through to get there.

FFL has a makerspace in their building (in fact, the first of its kind) and checking that out was the main reason for our visit. A makerspace is exactly what it sounds like - a space where you can make things - and in the library world, it's become what folks call A Thing. FFL calls theirs the Fab Lab, and you can find sewing machines, electrical wiring equipment, hammers, cardboard tubes, tulle, crayons, and of course, 3D printers.

Sewing machine station.

Tools! In the library!

And of course, 3D printing.

And all of this is super cool, there's no denying it. But what's even better is that the spirit of creativity and innovation behind this space is just everywhere at FFL, from the circulating maker kits just inside the front door...

...to this colorful corner of the children's department, where kids are encouraged to make projects out of whatever craft materials happen to be available that day:

 

And if that weren't enough, they've got an in-house cafe! Circulating tablets and e-readers! A podcast station!

If this all sounds like the kind of thing your library could never do, don't be so sure. According to the staff, the Fab Lab began as a single cart, and a lot of the materials are donated by the community or funded through grants. But it seems to me that it's the attitude at FFL that's the foundation for all this good work - it's like this wall-to-wall sense of possibility. Staff are always looking for new ideas to try. Library space is frequently evaluated to ensure that it's being used to its fullest potential. No matter how small you are, that's something any library can do.