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WE CONTINUED TO OFFER PROGRAMS ONLINE ONLY, PUT MASK AND SOCIAL DISTANCING POLICIES INTO PLACE, AND REDUCED THE NUMDER OF PUDLIC COMPUTERS TO 27 IN ORDER TO KEEP MEMDERS 6-FEET APART
In March 2020, many makerspaces-along with businesses, libraries, and cultural centers-shut down as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the world. Do Space and our makerspace (the 3D Lab), located in Omaha, Neb., closed on March 15 out of concerns for the safety of the staffers and Do Space members. It remained closed to the public for 3 months, reopening on June 15 with limited services. In this article, we (as the director of technology and the community technologist responsible for the running of our 3D Lab) will share our experience with both the shutdown and reopening and describe our current situation. We hope that others will be able to learn from our experience and that these lessons will help them reopen their makerspaces.
What Is Do Space?
For those not familiar with Do Space, we opened in November 2015 and describe ourselves as a community technology space that's free and open to the public 7 days a week (90 hours a week). As a privately funded nonprofit, Do Space membership is available to anyone who walks in the door, and the only things we charge for are for the rental of meeting room space and consumables (such as filament for 3D printing).
Pre-COVID, Do Space offered more than 50 public access desktop computers (PC and Mac), laptops and tablets for in-building use, and tech kits (also for in-building checkout, made up of technology ranging from Code-A-pillars for toddlers to Arduino Kits for more advanced tinkerers). Do Space also has a Littles Lab and Active Learning Lab, featuring technology such as an AWE Early Learning Workstation and family-friendly video games. In addition, Do Space offers robust educational programs, typically more than 60 a month for all ages. (Many of these services are currently limited due to COVID-19. For example, all tech kit checkouts have been temporarily suspended due to the difficulty of cleaning many of them, and we have reduced our computer lab to just 27 desktops all distanced 6-feet apart. Programs have moved completely online; that process could be its...