Explore your creative, technological mind by using your imagination and the Minot Public Library’s (MPL) Makerspace to make your designs become reality. The Makerspace is an area with four computers with large monitors and four new iPads with stands and styluses and is located behind the stairs near the Adult Audio Books but opens a world for technological learning and experimenting.

According to MPL librarian and director of MPL’s teen programs, Pam Carswell, “it [the Makerspace] offers a way to be creative in a digital way, and it takes you from being a digital consumer to a digital creator. It puts you in the driver’s seat of making your own content. Sometimes kids get great ideas that look fantastic on the screen but just don’t work in real life. That’s part of learning.” Most everyone has heard the adage, “you won’t learn anything if you don’t try,” and this saying holds true even in the technological world.

The 3D printer uses the design software called TinkerCad to design projects and uses Cura to slice the design and to tell the printer how the project is to be printed. TinkerCad is a free app that equips designers and engineers with the foundational skills for innovation: 3D design, electronics, and coding. The software allows teens to design or to remix designs for 3D projects. MPL has a two-color printer to print the designs, which adds great contrast in some creations.

Every month, Mrs. Carswell provides technology training in the 3D printer software for teenagers, usually after school. The teens use TinkerCad to add or subtract (sometimes both) features from a basic design in a 3D view to create their own. Two upcoming 3D Build projects for teenagers are: September 10: Moose & Owl, 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. and October 1: Ghost Magnets, 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

In the teen 3D printing activities at the MPL, flexi projects are the most popular because they move, making the creator able to manipulate the object’s position, such as the owl’s wings in the upcoming 3D Build on September 10th. Seasonal and holiday activities tend to be popular too. 3D prints are free to those who attend the program. Click on the link https://www.minotlibrary.org/#newsletter to check the calendar for further information about upcoming 3D prints through December or pick up a hard copy of the 2024 Fall Teen Events newsletter found in the library.

For adults interested in learning 3D printing, they can schedule a Tech Tutor appointment with Mrs. Carswell online at https://www.minotlibrary.org/services/#techtutors or call 852-1045 to schedule an appointment to get one-on-one help with designing your own 3D project.

The library also offers books about 3D printing available for checkout from the collection.
Patrons can request a 3D print from MPL by calling Mrs. Carswell, explaining to her what they would like printed, and email her their design file or bring the file to her on a flash drive. Patrons have a choice of three different filaments. The filament choices are PLA, Tough PLA, or ABS. The different filaments have different strengths and weaknesses, depending on the design and its use. ABS is a very strong filament, but it is not food safe, and PLA is a little less strong than ABS, but it is food safe and gives sharper, more distinct lines and corners in a design. The cost is 20 cents per gram.

As summer ends and the fall season approaches, different types of users are drawn to the Makerspace area for different reason. A schoolteacher may wish to create a unique looking apple or nameplate for their desk, or an entrepreneur may want to experiment with creating keychains to advertise for their business. The choices are endless! The MPL also obtained four new iPads for the Makerspace area. Online gaming, photo apps, coding apps, and social media are available for use on the iPads.

According to Mrs. Carswell, sometimes, for a way to connect with friends, the teens will hold their own gaming tournaments playing RoBlox, Mario, Temple Run, or Subway Surfer since they don’t always have four iPads available at once.
Patrons may use the Green Screen equipment anytime that MPL is open. Shooting with a green screen involves the filming or taking a photo of a person or adding visual effects in front of a solid color. Then, by digitally removing or “keying out” that color, a user can drop that scene onto the background of their choice in post-production. There are many different free Green Screen apps available for any phone that they own. A black and a white drape are also available for use with the Green Screen equipment. There are many other Makerspace items available for check out, such as the Dash and Dot Robot Kits, Canon Cameras, a Spider Tripod, Ozobot, and many other items.

Come to the MPL’s Makerspace and create a decoration for your office or workspace or create a unique Christmas gift for a friend or a family member. They’ll love it, and you’ll learn a technological skill. The Makerspace is open during normal library hours, except during a teen 3D Build program.