On Sunday the Northeast Chapter of the Pennsylvania Library Association held its annual Fall Social at the brand new North Pocono Public Library in Moscow, PA. The theme of the social was Maker Spaces and we heard from Jared and Ellis from Make Lehigh Valley. Maker Spaces or Hacker Spaces are places/organizations for people to join and make things, usually electronics and technology focused but may include anything from knitting to soldering. Jared explained how Make Lehigh Valley was formed and the projects they have been involved with, like teaching classes for kids at a local science center, building a 3D printer, experiments with Raspberry PI and Arduino workshops. After the presentation, Ellis taught chapter members how to build cellphone microscopes.
Other chapter members demoed maker-type projects they’ve been holding at their libraries. Elizabeth Davis from the Scranton Public Library demoed Makey Makey boards and robotic programing. Brian Fulton from the Scranton Times-Tribune displayed postcards he designed and printed. Sheli McHugh from the University of Scranton demoed button making with the button maker that the Library just purchased and used at the Game Night in October. The demos provided an opportunity for librarians to learn about new programs that they may want to offer at their libraries.
The social attendees then toured the beautiful new North Pocono Library and enjoyed snacks and goodies provided by the library and the chapter.