Public: Philadelphia's Maker Jawn Gets IMLS Grant

Abstract

In a move that will help the Free Library of Philadelphia (FLP) expand science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM)-based Maker space programming to multigenerational audiences, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) on October 23 awarded a $500,000 National Leadership Grant to FLP in support of the library's Maker Jawn initiative. Launched in FLP's Kensington branch in spring 2013, Maker Jawn thus far has focused on developing and hosting STEAM-based Maker programming targeted at teens and middle schoolers.

Public: Philadelphia's Maker Jawn Gets IMLS Grant

Multigenerational Maker space to expand

In a move that will help the Free Library of Philadelphia (FLP) expand science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM)-based Maker space programming to multigenerational audiences, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) on October 23 awarded a $500,000 National Leadership Grant to FLP in support of the library's Maker Jawn initiative.

Launched in FLP's Kensington branch in spring 2013, Maker Jawn thus far has focused on developing and hosting STEAM-based Maker programming targeted at teens and middle schoolers. During the past 18 months, grant funding from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and other sources has enabled FLP to expand these programs to several other locations, primarily in North Philadelphia.

As the project's website explains, jawn is an all-purpose substitute noun that originated in the old-school Philly hip-hop scene and has since cemented itself as a unique part of the city's dialect. The eclectic word represents the program well. Activities have ranged from introductory sewing classes to video production to complex group tech projects.

For example, with the help of a grant from the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub, FLP in summer 2013 partnered with the University of Pennsylvania (U. Penn) Graduate School of Education and PennDesign to develop Connected Messages, a project that involved kids and teens working together to create a series of six physical murals that are connected to the Internet through an Electric Imp. Each mural has its own web page, where visitors can listen to recordings that participants made to explain their contribution to the mural, or interact with the physical murals by turning LED lights on or off.

Prior to Maker Jawn, FLP already offered its Literacy Enrichment After-school Program (LEAP), which for 25 years has provided K-12 homework help and subject-specific tutoring, along with activities designed to promote traditional literacy, digital literacy, and literacy in science, technology, and cultural arts. Yet while there is a degree of overlap in the educational missions of these two programs, Theresa Ramos, program development coordinator for FLP, said that these efforts were distinct and explained that Maker Jawn aims to foster exploration and community-based learning environments.

The mix of high-tech and low-tech programming is no accident. Ramos noted that when Maker Jawn recently had the opportunity to work with U. Penn professor Yasmin B. Kafai on an e-textiles project, most participants didn't know how to sew. Many young people and adults now have gaps in skills such as sewing or cooking, she explained (separately, FLP recently debuted a Culinary Literacy Center).

Currently, the Maker Jawn initiative receives significant staffing support from Philadelphia's University of the Arts, U. Penn, and Temple University. As part of a preexisting program, these local universities pay the salaries of more than 15 work-study and graduate student "mentors" who have now been tapped to help create and facilitate Maker Jawn events. To ensure the program's long-term sustainability, FLP created a nongrant-dependent city employee position to oversee the students. Separately, a group of interns from U. Penn's Graduate School of Education are observing the program and documenting engagement and results.

If the program is to be a long-term success, it will be owing to the community that Maker Jawn helps build, Ramos said, not the result of a few 3-D printers or other equipment.

"The important thing about this is not an individual coming into the library and making something," Ramos said. "Maker spaces, I think, are where you come for community and you're with people who share the same interests."

The grant to expand Maker Jawn programming to adults is another step toward building the program into the community that FLP envisions. Ramos said that the funding will allow the library to begin exploring, "whether it's adults, families, parents with preschool children, is there a way of having that space that's really transforming library services?"