Project Director
Associate Professor
Director, The Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab
School of Information Sciences
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Project Co-Director
Associate Professor, Educational Psychology
University of Illinois Chicago
Project Coordinator
Instruction and Engagement Coordinator, The Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab
Informatics, School of Information Sciences
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Team Members
Creative Technologies Librarian
Indiana University Libraries
Creation and Innovation Services Librarian
Miami University Libraries
CEO, Regallium Consulting
Project Director, Library Makers [IMLS Grant]
Innovation and Makerspace Manager
Greene County Public Library
Organizational Partners
CU Community Fab Lab
The Champaign-Urbana (CU) Community Fab Lab is a makerspace on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, open to both the university and the broader community. We provide access to tools, technology, and expertise through open hours, university courses, community programs, professional development, summer camps, research initiatives, and design and fabrication support. We are committed to creating an open, community-oriented, and capacity-building makerspace, fostering an experiential learning environment, and sparking interdisciplinary groundbreaking discoveries.
ALA Core Maker Technology Interest Group
The Core Maker Technology Interest Group is intended to be a space within ALA/Core for library makerspace practitioners to connect, network, and share ideas about library makerspaces. Our main activities include virtual library tours of library makerspaces, and occasional virtual discussions.
Everyone is welcome to join us for virtual tours, virtual discussions, and to post or respond to messages on our message board on CORE Connect. No ALA Membership is needed.
Library Makers
Library Makers is a practitioner-led community for people who run maker programs and/or manage makerspaces in libraries of all types. Whether you are just starting out in the world of making, or you have been at it for years, this is the place to collaborate, connect, learn and grow. The newsfeed provides a centralized space to ask questions, share knowledge, celebrate successes, and exchange ideas with a diverse group of professionals. And the monthly learning events provide a more in-depth way to engage with members around a particular topic.
Library Makers is free to join for anyone who adheres to the Community Guidelines and is currently working in or with libraries who have, or are considering starting, makerspaces and/or programs.
Nation of Makers
The Nation of Makers Libraries Working Group formed at NOMCON (Nation of Makers Conference) in 2019, when we realized that many library makerspace folks were looking for ways to connect with one another. Since then, we have held dozens of virtual discussion sessions with library makerspace organizers from all over the country. Our work surrounds holding meaningful conversations amongst library makerspace organizers that help us all make our work more meaningful, effective, and equitable.
Everyone is welcome to join the Libraries Working Group. We ask folks to join our Slack channel where we will post about all upcoming events. You can email Sarah Nagle or Cara Kouse to be added.
National Maker Collective
The National Maker Collective is an organization for all types of makerspaces to find community, share ideas, foster discussion, and connect in a myriad of ways. Born out the Nation of Makers Libraries Working Group in 2025, the National Maker Collective sought to continue creating connections between makerspace organizers while also extending our reach to include non-library makerspaces.