Potential Partnerships for your Make Programs

The library is an institution that serves everyone and although we are super heroes who can take care of everything at any time, we don’t always have to do it alone.  It’s important to remember that there are people in the community, who would love the opportunity to partner with such a prestigious institution.   Also keep in mind, that working together with community members is a perfect way to showcase your library’s work and mission.

• New Jersey Maker Space Association
• Local hacker spaces
• Fair Use Building and Research  Labs (FUBAR)
  • Maker space in Highland Park, NJ
• Your Township
  • Recreation centers
  • Parks
  • Business Organizations
    • Chamber of Commerce, SCORE  etc.
      • These organizations have all the information on local businesses that you could work with, for your make programs. 
• Your Surrounding Community
  • Your local artists
    • Art galleries, photo studios, tattoo shops, crafters
  • Your Builders
    • Including your local hardware stores, contractors and the ever popular Home Depot
• Museums
  • Most museums have outreach departments or “on the go” kits/ programs that they will loan out to you for a period of time. 
• Your Community Members
  • Monthly Library Groups
    • Knitting, Technology and Crafter groups are some examples.
  • Patrons!
    • One of our most successful maker programs came from a patron who shared her talents with the library.  Her son happened to be one of our TAB members.  She was speaking one night with one of our Teen Librarians, and as they discussed the ideology behind the make movement, our patron informed the librarian that in her free time, she loved to make balloon sculptures.   These aren’t the simple dog or sword balloon sculptures, but more along the lines of NJ wild life in their natural habitat, which fit our NJ 350^th birthday celebration!
• Schools
  • Local public schools
    •  The Maker Movement encompasses creativity.  Think outside of the box and look at the different departments at your school.  
    • Include the vo-techs and specialized schools in your community, as well as the homeschoolers
  • Colleges/ universities
    • Science, Technology, Art, Engineering and Mathematics!  (STEAM)  These departments would be a great starting point at the school.  From there you can look at the individual clubs that are formed around these subjects.  I.e. Coding and Robotics Club
    • These institutions do not necessarily have to be located in your town or county.  Many of these schools would love the opportunity to showcase their students’ work at the library.  New Jersey is home to many prestigious colleges.  Why shouldn’t we tap into each other’s resources?