Bring Your Ideas to MiY
Make It Yourself (MiY) gives residents of all ages access to tools, techniques and hands-on learning experiences that will spark their imaginations and enrich their lives. A particular focus will be given to young people, with the goal of inspiring/nurturing their interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). STEM education is increasingly important as students prepare for careers in our 21st century, technology-dependent, global economy. Looking at global technology trends, these learning and "making" experiences are going to be vital for current and future generations.
MiY provides a variety of opportunities for the public to learn new skills, cultivate and prototype new ideas, as well as collaborate with others to create things :
Weekly makerspace open hours Thurs 2:30-4:30pm (and by appointment) when visitors can freely use the space to access information, tools and resources to learn or work projects.
Our annual "Summer of MAKE" intiative which provides children and teens with a stimulating and experience rich environment making STEM based projects and builds.
Monthly and bi-monthly instructor led activities for children, teens and adults
Large-scale family-friendly events such as Art-tronics, Cardboard Challenge, New Jersey Makers Day and our Mini Maker Exhibition
Use of our makerspace, by appointment, for individuals and groups (including meetings, demonstrations and tours)
Piscataway Library has always been a destination for consuming content. Now the library is a place you can go to create, too!
For more information about our MiY makerspace, please contact Doug Baldwin, Head of Technology at dbaldwin@piscatawaylibrary.org
The Piscataway Public Library is pleased to offer a wide range of STE(a)M programming this summer (2019) for those entering grades K-12. Along with our MiY makerspace, we continue to support opportunities for young people to learn and explore through hands-on making, building, design, and iteration.
Here are highlights of the workshops and events we have to offer!
Tinker Camp
With support from the Friends of the Piscataway Public Library, we are pleased to once again be offering our our Tinker Camp workshop series for those entering Kindergarten through 5th grade. There will be one workshop each week (for 5 weeks) for those entering grades K-2, and 3-5 in September 2019.
Each Tinker Camp workshop is 1.5 hours in length offering experiments, activities, and making sessions covering topics such as physics, engineering, circuitry, chemistry and more.
For more information on Tinker Camp, including dates/times, locations, workshop descriptions and online registration, please visit our Tinker Camp 2019 page.
Teen Maker Institute
Our STEM workshops for teens is back once again for the summer. These immersive workshops will allow participants the opportunity to design, build and create complex take-home projects in our newly renovated makerspace.
Teen Maker Institute workshops are for those entering 6-12th grade in September 2019. Participants may only register for ONE workshop for Teen Maker Institute. However, they will have an opportunity to rank the other offerings and possible be invited to join additional workshops if there are seats available.
Note : All Teen Maker Institute workshops will take place on Tuesdays from 2-4pm in the Kennedy Library MiY Makerspace.
To register online, click on a workshop title below :
Week 1 / Tuesday, June 25th
PVC Water Launcher / Food Chemistry - Participants will use various pieces of PVC to cut, design and assemble their own personal pump-powered water launcher, as well as have some fun with food related experiments.
Week 2 / Tuesday, July 2
Voice Changer - Have you ever wanted to sound like a robot, or do crazy things with your voice? In this workshop we will be building and soldering a circuit to do just that!
Week 3 / Tuesday, July 16
Wooden Table (Stool) - Participants will have the opportunity to customize and build their own wood table or stool, while learning to use basic wood cutting and hand tools to do it.
Week 4 / Tuesday, July 23
Cardboard Pinball Machine - Participants will design and create their own unique pinball machine with working flipper, plunger, and obstacles. Who knows, maybe we can add some buzzers and lights too!
Week 5 / Tuesday, July 30
LED Origami Flower - Participants will create, design and solder a circuit that will light up a beautiful paper folded flower bringing some of the ART into STE(A)M.
Build it Better
Friday, July 12th / 10am-4pm (note this an all-day program and lunch is provided)
The Build it Better Design Challenge is a one-day competition designed as a bridge experience in areas of both STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and entrepreneurship.
High school students (Grades 9-12) will be exposed to essential team-building, product pipeline, presentation, and design thinking skills. By exposing students to these embedded experiences, we hope to stimulate self-learning practices and reinforce critical skills applicable in today’s modern workforce and entrepreneurial market.
Each member of the winning team will receive an award of $100.
Lunch will be provided to all participants. This challenge is limited to students in grades 9-12.
Priority consideration will be given to teens who attend school or reside in Piscataway.
The Build it Better Design Challenge is the result of a partnership between the Piscataway Public Library, Stepping into STEM, Dream it. Do it. (NJIT), MacEwan Consulting, and NJIT. This year’s event is generously supported by funding from the Kajima Foundation and the Walmart Community Grant Program. We also recognize the significant contribution of George Tsacnaris, whose generosity provided initial seed funding for Build It Better.
Coding and Robotics with Likeable STEM
We are once again please to be able to offer three workshops this summer to support children and tweens interest in learning coding and robotics! Registration for all the courses below begins Monday, July 1 at 10am
Jumpstart Coding with Python for Data Science
7/9, 7/11, 7/16 and 7/18 (all times are 2:30-4:30) / Kennedy Library
Get a jump start on 21st century skills! This fun, interactive and engaging workshop introduces you to Python programming for Data Science. Students will use Python to explore data structures, as well as analyze and manipulate data, which will enable them to build essential skills in the field of data science.
This workshop is for those entering grades 7-12.
Note : By registering for this workshop series, you are committing to attend all FOUR workshop sessions.
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Interactive Programming with Arduino
7/29 and 7/31 (2:30-4:30pm) / Kennedy Library
This engaging workshop introduces you to electronic basics with Arduino. Through hands-on learning, you will be able to learn about the software and hardware behind the Arduino, and create cool and interactive digital and robotics projects!
This program is for those entering grades 5-8
Please note that by registering for this workshop, you are registering for BOTH sessions.
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Little Coders : Programming with Bots! – K
August 1 ( 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm) / Kennedy Library
This fun and interactive workshop introduces young minds to the world of coding. Kids will engage in activities and games that teach them to code and control robots.
This program is for those entering grades 3-5
Makerspace - MiY Lab
OPEN SEW
Open Sew is every 2nd and 4th Thursday's of every month (2:30 pm - 4:30 pm) where visitors can freely use the library's sewing machines to work on ongoing projects.
DISCOVER: Sewing 1 (Meet Your Machine)
Monday, June 10 - 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
DISCOVER: Sewing 2 (Zippered Tote Bag)
Thursday, June 20 (Part 1) 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
Monday, June 24 (Part 2) 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
DISCOVER: Sewing 3 (Upcycling a Store Tote Bag)
Friday, June 21 (Part 1) 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
Friday, June 28 (Part 2) 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
DISCOVER: Sewing 4 (Sun Hat)
Thursday, June 13 (10:30 am - 12:30 pm)
DISCOVER: Sewing 4 (Basic Tank Top)
Thursday, June 27 (10:30 am -12:30 pm)
The following area available in our MiY Makerspace for use during our open hours :
- Prusa Mk2 3D Printer
- Printrbot Play 3D Printer
- Glowforge 3D Laser Printer
- Silhouette Cameo
- Singer Sewing Machines (including ironing boards and sewing supplies)
- Snap Circuits
- Dash and Dot Robots
- Vex IQ Robotics Kit
- Finch Robots
- Ozobots
- BBC Micro:Bits Micro-Controllers
- Makey Makey
- Oculus Go VR Headset
The following are additional resources available upon request for use in our MiY Makerspace :
- Soldering irons
- Japanese hand saws
- Miter saws
- Portable table saws
- Hand tools (hammers, mallots, screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters, etc)
- Power drill
- Arduino boards and kits
- Heat press
- Laptops
The Piscataway Public Library offers a 3D print on demand service for producing 3D prints. 3D CAD files can be emailed in .stl or .obj format to dbaldwin@piscatawaylibrary.org to receive a customized quote for your print job. The Library charges $0.10 per gram for 3D printing.