Seattle's Child

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King County Library System Opens its First Makerspace

 

On Saturday, April 14, a ribbon-cutting celebration and self-guided tour will mark the grand opening of the new Bellevue Library ideaX Makerspace. Patrons will encounter a beautiful, new library space to experience ideaX Makerspace—a place to learn new skills, whether it's creating electronic circuits, making a robot, crafting with a 3-D pen, or mixing up a beat for a song. It will offer free STEAM education to more than 1.4 million residents.

Located on the first floor of the Bellevue Library, the workspace is library-operated and has a variety of resources available like art kits, sewing machines, a Cricut, sound recording equipment and more. The goal of Makerspace is to create community and support for your ideas and inspirations. It encourages creativity through art, design, coding, recording, and more through emerging technologies, as well as traditional mediums and it evens explores the space between.

Makerspace will also have introductory workshops and drop-in sessions for collaboration and creation. Although the space is designed for everyone, certain workshops may have age limits and size constraints due to content or availability of tools. 

 

Demos from 11:30 am to 3 pm on Saturday during the Grand Opening will include:

 

-Mixed reality with the Microsoft HoloLens

-3D Printing

-Digitize Your History

-Sewing Machine Display

-Arduino

-Laser Cutter

-Digital Music Creation

 

Music will be performed by mmumm, beginning at 10am when the Bellevue Library opens, and visitors will get the chance to hear keynote speaker Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, a former NASA Astronaut.

 

Makerspace activities will include:

 

-Virtual Reality with Bellevue College VR

-Raspberry Pi Photo booth

-Using the Cricut for Quilting

-3D Art Creation with 3Doodler Start Pens

-Making Music with Makey Makey and Little Bits Synth Kits

-Electronics Exploration with Squishy Circuits and Snap Circuits

-Robot Zone with Ozobots and Cubelets

-Coloring Table

 

Visit the Bellevue Library ideaX Makerspace webpage on KCLS.org for additional information.

 

IF YOU GO:

 

Where: Bellevue Library, 1111 110th Ave NE, Bellevue

 

When: Saturday, April 14, 2018, 10 am – 3 pm

 

Visit: www.kcls.org/maker-space

 

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Seattle's Child Staff