MakeAbility: Creating Accessible Makerspace Events in a Public Library

Abstract

This exploratory article describes the planning and execution of an accessible library makerspace event for people with disabilities (specifically, patrons with cognitive and visual impairments). We begin with a literature review on the maker movement and a description of makerspaces in libraries. We highlight the insufficient focus on making these makerspaces accessible for people with all abilities. Next, we describe the design of the makerspace event that we implemented at a local public library and extrapolate the on-the-go modifications that we made for patrons with cognitive and visual impairment who attended the event. Based on the lessons learned through the implementation of this event, we provide suggestions for creating accessible makerspace events in libraries, including concrete recommendations on the design of the stations.