Abstract

Libraries of all types are expected to be places where knowledge and skills are acquired. This paper attempts to look at the implications and challenges of creating makerspace in school libraries in Nigeria. Makerspace creates avenue for students to identify their talents/skills, satisfy their curiosity, bring their imaginative ideas to life and emerge with quality products to show. The paper rests on the theory of constructionism propounded by Seymour Papert which stipulates that learning occurs in the students head. The paper also rests on the theory of participatory culture and learning which simply means that students come together in a social space, put their hands to work and come out with great products. The paper identified the implications and challenges of creating makerspace in school libraries in Nigeria and concluded that there is a need to have makerspace in school libraries in Nigeria as this will create route of networking among students.

Keywords: Makerspace, education, school libraries, school librarians, Nigeria

References

  1. American Association of School Librarians [AASL]. (2007). Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. Chicago: ALA. Retrieved from www.ala.org/aasl/standards
  2. Burke, J. J. (2014). Makerspaces: A practical guide for librarians. United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield
  3. Canino-Fluit, A. (2014). School library makerspaces: Making it up as I go. Teacher Librarian, 41(5), 21–27.
  4. Daramola, C. F. (2013). Issues and options in selected secondary school libraries in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(12), 103-110. Retrieved from https://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JEP/article/view/6526
  5. Davee, S., Regalla, L., & Chang, S. (2015). Makerspaces. Highlights of select literature. Retrieved from https://makered.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Makerspace-Lit-Review-5B.pdf
  6. Fleming, L. (2015). Worlds of making: Best practices for establishing a makerspace for your school. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
  7. Fuhrman, C. (2016, December 3). School librarians have a profound impact on students’ futures. Lancster [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://lancasteronline.com/opinion/columnists/school-librarians-have-a-profound-impact-on-students-futures/article_e30a2dce-b8a2-11e6-8dd1-bfbc40f1228d.html
  8. Godfrey, E. (2015). Making gender: Technologists and crafters in online makerspaces (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1853/53621
  9. IFLA School Libraries Section Standing Committee (2015). IFLA School library Guidelines. 2015. In Schultz-Jones, B. & Oberg, D. (Eds.) (2nd. Rev. ed.). Netherlands: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Retrieved from https://www.ifla.org/publications/node/9512
  10. Jenkins, H. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century: An occasional paper on digital media and learning. Retrieved from https://www.macfound.org/media/article_pdfs/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF
  11. Lamb, A. (2015). Makerspaces and the school library part 1: Where creativity blooms. Teacher Librarian, 43(2), 56-59. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1805/8556
  12. Lawal-Solarin, E. (2016). Investigation of school libraries: A case study of Private School Libraries at Ado-Odo, LGA Ogun State, South West, Nigeria. Covenant Journal of Business & Social Sciences (CJBSS), 7(2), 15-28. Retrieved from https://journals.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/index.php/cjbss/article/view/413
  13. Litts, B. K., Bakker, M., Stoiber, A., & Halverson, E. (2014). Making online maker communities. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting: Philadelphia, PA.
  14. Lynch, M. (2017, January 21). 10 reasons to create makerspaces in your school. Retrieved from The Tech Edvocate: http://www.thetechedvocate.org/10-reasons-to-create-makerspaces-in-your-school/
  15. Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom. Torrance, CA: Constructing Modern Knowledge Press
  16. Moja, T. (2000). Nigeria education sector analysis: An analytical synthesis of performance and main issues. New York: World Bank.
  17. Owate, C. N., & Iroha, O. (2013). The availability and utilization of school library resources in some selected Secondary Schools (High School) in Rivers State. Educational Research and Reviews, 8(16), 1449-1460. doi: 10.5897/ERR2013.1511
  18. Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. New York, NY, USA: Basic Books.
  19. Preddy, L. B. (2013). School library makerspaces: Grades 6-12. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
  20. Schwartz, K. (2016, July 31). Launching a makerspace: Lessons learned from a transformed school library. Retrieved from https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/45900/launching-a-makerspace-lessons-learned-from-a-transformed-school-library
  21. Sheridan, K., Halverson, E. R., Litts, B., Brahms, L., Jacobs-Priebe, L., & Owens. (2014). Learning in the making: A comparative case study of three makerspaces. Harvard Educational Review, 84(4), 495-504.
  22. Small, R. (2014). The motivational and information needs of young innovators: Stimulating student creativity and inventive thinking. School Library Research, 17, 1–36. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/slr/volume17/small
  23. Thom-Otuya, B. E. N., & Inko-Tariah, D. C. (2016). Quality education for national development: The Nigerian experience. African Educational Research Journal, 4(3): 101-108.
  24. Velasquez, J. (2018, May 3). MakerSpaces: New tradition in context. Retrieved from https://www.ifla.org/node/9625
  25. WhiteAfrican. (2014). Retrieved from http://whiteafrican.com/tag/maker/

License

Copyright (c) 2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to Cite

Adebayo, O., Zubair, O., Osoba, M., & Olajide-Williams, F. (2019). Creating Makerspace in School Libraries in Nigeria: Implications and Challenges. Information World, 20(2), 251-263. https://doi.org/10.15612/BD.2019.747