Heather Lister

Heather is a teacher-librarian with a passion for maker education and innovation. Previously a school librarian, she is now an Independent Educational Consultant of Maker Education.

The Beginning Of My Makerspace Journey

Learn How To Get Started

Did you need approval for beginning your Makerspace?

If so, who was involved?

Where was your Makerspace?

Did it consume the entire library? Was there a space dedicated to the Makerspace?

If your Makerspace is in your library, what do you do when you have classes that come in for research or other traditional library things?

Do you close the Makerspace?

Who supervised the Makerspace?

Was it always the librarian? If not, who else? Do you have an aide that helps out? What about student helpers?

What was in your Makerspace?

Did you ever put limits on the amount of students that could use the Makerspace?

If so, how did you decide? Was this out of necessity due to space limitations or so that you could ensure you had enough supplies

If you were limited in space, how did you decide what to feature in your Makerspace?

Did you have weekly or monthly themes?

How was your Makerspace funded?

If it came out of your budget, how did you budget for the newest tools over a year in advance? How did you budget for consumables (i.e. yarn, duct tape)?

When is your Makerspace open?

Do students come throughout the day? If you operate on a fixed schedule, is the Makerspace a part of your instruction?

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Bring creativity to your Makerspace by hosting your own Cardboard Challenge!

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About Heather

Heather Lister is an international speaker and author on the topics of makerspaces, innovative libraries, and space transformation. Heather is currently a Senior Maker Fellow with the Foundry Makerspace in Harrisburg, PA, focusing on supporting middle school teachers in the areas of STEAM project-based learning. She is also the Founder of Construct Learning, LLC, an educational consulting and training provider.

Heather holds degrees and teaching certificates in Library Science, Instructional Technology, and School Administration and Supervision. Heather is a Discovery Educator Network (DEN) Star and a PBS LearningMedia Digital Innovator. She is a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator, a littleBits Training Partner, and a Makey Makey Certified Trainer. She is a mentor for Year in the Making and is on the Advisory Board of the MackinTYSL initiative. She is the President-Elect of ISTE’s Librarians Network. She currently resides in Hershey, Pennsylvania with her husband and two children. Follow her @heathermlister.

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