MLIS student Tierney Czartoski attended PLA 2024 in Columbus, Ohio in early April. Tierney shared her experiences and thoughts with our community here:

Owing to the Community Engagement class I am taking this semester with Dr. D'Arpa, I was able to create my own term project where I explored the ways Communities Shape Public Library Makerspaces. this project focused on the ways communities shape what kind of makerspace a public library might have and how it will affect its growth and development if done with community interests in mind. This past week at PLA I was able to organize a maker meet-up thanks to the wonders of social media. Here I was able to connect with one of the libraries I interviewed for the project in person as well as another library that responded to the call to meet up and talk makerspaces. We discussed and shared ideas about makerspaces and the future of making. It drove home that any public library that can add maker-centered services or programs to their library is adding another layer of value to their library and to their community. Makerspaces belong in public libraries!