With a quick start up last school year and a new dedicated room, LT’s Makerspace has begun expanding within the NC library. The Makerspace serves as an arts and crafts center and is open to anyone during all periods of the day until the library’s closure at 4 p.m.

In previous years, LT has had the supplies and ideas to start the Makerspace, but lacked a proper dedicated space. The Makerspace has recently expanded to its own room on the first floor of the library and has gathered students for activities, such as 3D printing, card making, and nature-related crafts.

Ranging from glue sticks and markers, all the way to mini canvases and a 3D printer, the Makerspace has a wide variety of options available to students. The space has supplies related to various forms of art technology for any student to access.

“Students can just come here to connect and feel creative,” librarian Cheri Price said. 

As a founder and leader of the Makerspace, she helps generate crafting ideas for students who choose to be involved. Many activities in the Makerspace are student-led and executed with leadership being a core principle of the space, Price said. The theory of a maker space is that it can be anything from high-tech to basic art supplies, Price said. Promoting the absence of phone usage and distractions, the crafting room is an alternative way to destress at school.

“I really like how inviting it is,” Alannah Justinich ‘24 said. “They always have something fun to do.”

The group plans to create pinecone bird feeders along with other nature crafts leading up to earth day, which is April 22. This semester there will be more crafting and art related activities than previous semesters, Price said. With a tough start last year during the pandemic, there were challenges in being able to host the crafting room. The room was able to truly open up last semester and plans to expand even more this current semester. 

“It’s very stress relieving and it gets my mind off of school, even for just a period,” Justinich said.