[3D Printing News] Library Story: The Journey from Zero to Creator
Jessica Lamarre is a librarian at the Duxbury Free Library in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, and a coordinator for the Maker Space.
In this article, she reflects on her experience of using 3D printers as a powerful educational tool in the local community.
Imagine you're only eight years old, and I'm telling you that with a little patience you can make anything you want with a 3D printer.
What possibilities might you have? What would you do?
Firstly, we believe that 3D printing will be a service offered by our library, just like we offer wireless or inkjet printing.
Our original Maker Space program aimed to "provide people with the resources and tools available in the library to collaborate and innovate. People can play, repair, or pursue their personal or professional goals here. "
After using donations to purchase Ultimaker 2 , we plan to introduce monthly courses at Tinkercad each year, offering focused learning opportunities so customers can progress according to the areas they want to improve. One library family member not only won first place in their fifth-grade science fair competition using 3D projects printed with Ultimaker 2, but also introduced the Tinkercad curriculum to his scouts.
This inspired parents to request Girl Scouts to use 3D printing for jewelry-making classes. Currently, two years later , customers still want a regular class structure for learning, inspiration, and printing assistance during their 3D printing journey.
Every month, I still introduce the Tinkercad course to repeat students and expand on popular trends such as Halloween-inspired printing, drawing-to-print classes, and fidget spinners.
Our teenage librarians spent the summer creating an interactive Arduino display wall with resident maker artists . The 3D designs and mobile interactive print parts were created by the teenagers . A true masterpiece!
What I learned from this experience is that a 3D printer isn't something you can buy, but rather something you say: "Hey, look what we have! Go print now!"
---It retrains our brains to be consumers. Librarians need to provide traditional customer support to encourage participation in this powerful technology.
I have never considered myself a "scientist" or " engineer," these were subjects I did very poorly in in school—I got a 5 on the AP Chemistry exam.
I was disappointed and thought my struggles with science wouldn't end until after I graduated high school.
3D printers have provided an inspiring medium for learning skills I never imagined. I used 3D printing to make myself a pair of beautiful hand-knitted socks, and to replace an air conditioner knob for a staff member's mother . I also made my own custom earrings and gave them as gifts to friends. I am also very passionate about printing prosthetics for future volunteer projects.
My point is that anyone can do this —we just need to overcome the fear of failure and embrace new technologies. I had never disassembled a machine before the 3D printer, and once I put it back together, it felt great and it actually worked!
Here are some tips we learned:
1. Find someone who can easily disassemble the 3D printer. This could be one of the key employees or personnel in the community. Ultimaker can easily disassemble it, but the first few times can still be daunting. You'll be thinking, "Where's that screw?!" 3D printers require routine maintenance like any other equipment, so make sure you lubricate it and operate it according to the manual. One employee can be key, but once 3D printing really gets going, you'll need more trained staff using Cura to prepare the printable objects. 
2. Ensure there are simple object examples for students to print during the lesson introduction. Sometimes, children spend a lot of time trying to think about what to print.
We used to ask everyone to make a keychain as their first lesson. We also expanded on making simple earrings or other jewelry.
If students have other ideas, I won't stop them, because most of our printer courses are quite rigorous. As I write this, I...
I'm printing a trophy from a beginner's course (it takes eight hours to print!). We have students as young as 8 in our class , and each student usually stays behind for about an hour without parental supervision. If a younger sibling in the family wants to try it, I encourage them to stay.
3. Find a prominent location to place your printer (ideally in a well-ventilated area). It cannot be hidden in the back of a room: the first thing people see when they see a 3D printer is...
And since it was right in front of them, they probably didn't know the library had a 3D printer, could use it easily, or were simply excited. This was purchased by staff.
This is a good approach, because all counter staff should be able to explain how the printer works.
The first thing that came to my mind when I was in a store or planning the current library project was, " Hey, I could 3D print that..." I spent a lot of time thinking about where to place it.
Our printers. This is the same idea our customers have. I don't think 3D printing has completely become "mainstream." 
4. Consider how 3D printers are used by staff so they can "learn with purpose." We've already created library signage for our operations, such as access numbers, staff selection bookmarks, and LEGO medals for LEGO competitions.
We've fixed the shelves and printed custom badges for fan events, like Pokémon and LEGO heads, when classes are over!
There's unlimited potential; we just need to change our mindset. Last night I was at a restaurant and noticed our table was wobbly. When I went to put a napkin underneath, I noticed a small square of plastic had detached from one of the table legs. I figured it would be easy to redesign something, print it out, and fix it to the table leg to solve the problem.
5. Stay up-to-date with Tinkercad. I've been self-studying through several beginner tutorials on the website, which is sufficient for starting to teach beginner courses, but there's always something new to learn. I was so disappointed to only discover a short video on YouTube last week about the Tinkertips alignment tool!
6. Individual keyboard shortcuts are worth printing out.
7. Type D to undo . This will save you a lot of time because students won't design everything on the work surface to be 0mm flat!
In conclusion, as social scientist Dr. Brian Brown says, "We are natural creators. We transfer what we learn in our brains into our hearts through our hands."
Now, imagine, create, and inspire!
2015 Arduino Garden Wall from Duxbury Free Library on Vimeo .
You can see more information about 3D printed signage for libraries here .
Our Flickr page allows you to see many of the 3D projects mentioned above .
My blog also documents our 3D printing adventures and other Makerspace activities.
Original article: https://ultimaker.com/en/blog/50711-library-stories-a-librarians-journey-of-going-from-zero-to-maker