UC Berkeley Library Update

By Ava Gessl, Undergraduate Library Making Fellow, 2024-2025

As my final semester at Berkeley comes to a close, so does my time at the Makerspace. Over the past three years, I’ve had the chance to be a part of the development of this space and have been able to interact with so much of the Berkeley community. More than anything, what stands out to me is the community we’ve built. I’m so happy that the Makerspace is something that many people hear about through word of mouth, with people who attended Drop-in Hours or workshops enthusiastically sharing the space with their friends. 

When I first started working in the Makerspace, we were out in the open of Doe 190, with less people milling about and getting the chance to see us. Since our move, the surrounding tables have filled with students and more people are able to curiously glance around our space as they walk by. There’s been a steady flow of students coming through the space, and it’s always exciting to learn about how they found out about the Makerspace. 

One of the biggest changes that I’ve appreciated is how workshops are structured. We work together as a team to draft comprehensive guides for how the workshops should run and try to prepare for different levels of student experience and attendance. Behind every sewing, vinyl, papercraft, felting, and every other workshop there is a surprising amount of coordination. We choose materials, write clear instructions for attendees, and estimate how long each part of the workshop should take. I’ve come to really love that behind-the-scenes work, especially having a chance to try the craft out myself to try and identify areas where students might get stuck. It’s fun looking for ways to improve instructions and finding new ways to use the given instructions to make something else. 

Over the years, I’ve helped with many workshops and each one has taught me something new. Not just about the craft, but about teaching, patience, and how to create an inviting learning environment. I’ve worked with students who’ve never touched a sewing machine before, and others who’ve come in with something they thrifted that morning and are coming to adjust the hems like they’ve done dozens of times before. 

I came into the Makerspace with sewing as my biggest skill, with an interest in other crafts but not much experience outside of an art class. The Makerspace has allowed me to develop more skills and made me fall in love with felting, stamp carving, and crocheting. Each new skill makes me think about how to plan ahead, visualize each step, and how I’d teach it to someone else so they could avoid some of the mistakes I made. Those one-on-one interactions are some of my favorite moments, the small moments of sitting next to someone and teaching them something whether I’ve done it a hundred times or I just learned it last week. One such interaction has been when someone came to the Makerspace with a big plan of learning to sew and make a shirt. Though we weren’t able to get to the shirt that day, I was able to direct them through different sewing exercises and give them advice about their fabric and pattern choice. When they returned the next day, they came to show me their fabric and tell me about what they planned to do that day. It was such a nice moment to have someone come back to the Makerspace and excitedly tell me about how they planned to use the skills I helped teach them to complete a project. 

As I wrap up my time here, I feel grateful for everything this role has given me. I’ve gained practical skills, yes, but also a deeper understanding of how to lead with empathy, how to collaborate with a team, and how to support others in their creative journeys. I’m leaving the Makerspace better than I found it, but I also know it will keep growing after I’m gone. Thank you to everyone I’ve worked with, learned from, and taught along the way. I’ll forever be grateful for my time here, and I hope to continue to use the skills I learned to craft new things to share with others.

By Kati Khov, Undergraduate Library Making Fellow, 2024-2025

During our Fall program evaluation meeting, my cohort and I reviewed Makerspace highlights and opportunities for growth. We reflected on our accomplishments by discussing our strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and what results we can predict. One thing we noticed was that these quotes are often said by visiting students:

“I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this place before!”

“Wow, I’ve been here since I was a freshman and never utilized these great resources!”

A common theme emerges. The Makerspace needs to increase and innovate its current outreach methods to catch the eyes of more undergraduates. Serving as a resource hub with a generous amount of creative supplies and tools, students deserve to know they have opportunities to utilize the Makerspace right at their fingertips.

Aside from the physical perks of having access to the Makerspace, the inclusive community in the Makerspace serves as an example of enhancing students’ quality of life, particularly for vulnerable populations such as LGBTQIA+ individuals.

As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I can attest that being in a creative space where I can find like-minded people makes me feel welcome. When our cohort and an additional four people are cramped together in the Fiber Arts room, loudly chatting and laughing, it’s so rewarding when our conversations entice other participants to chime in and form connections. There’s something so special and intimate about having a shared space built on a supportive and inclusive foundation. You don’t need to be a crafting expert or pay for materials and tools to use the Makerspace. In the same vein, you don’t need to fit into a specific mold around your identity and self-expression to belong here. The Makerspace allows everyone to express themselves in ways beyond creative methods.

Not to mention, arts and crafts has also played a lasting impact in queer culture. The Makerspace supplies crafts like buttons and zines, which have historically been used by queer folks to identify one another, advocate, and share their life experiences. 

As reflected in the City of Berkeley’s recently published Community Health Assessment (CHA), a project I was fortunate to provide input on, LGBTQIA+ safety was noted as a high priority:

“Young people who identify as LGBTQIA+ experience higher rates of attempted suicide, depression, and anxiety. There are very few programs that provide mental health services to this demographic”  (Jon Snow Inc., 29).

With the current gap in mental health services for young LGBTQIA+ individuals, the Makerspace has become an ad hoc community space to bridge the lack of resources. It is abundantly clear that increasing its outreach is necessary.

Previous 2021-2022 Makerspace fellows, Maura Adela Cruz, Chloe Chu, Alysa Liu, and Christina Park, also worked on a similar project to increase outreach for the Makerspace. From what I gathered from their blog posts, there was a focus on increasing outreach specifically for non-traditional students. Their research and outreach approach served as a great inspiration for my pitch to develop a qualitative research project.

Although I had come prepared with a detailed outline and timeline, flyers, and digital and physical survey formats for both focus groups and surveys, I may have overestimated the feasibility of conducting this study. And that’s okay! I’ve learned that showing intent and passion demonstrates a strong commitment and initiation for the project, and there’s always the option to scale back if necessary. With my mentor and cohort’s feedback, I narrowed the study’s scope to focus on one survey dedicated to assessing the discoverability of the Makerspace for undergraduate students. 

The survey was separated into two sections to discuss specific themes around participants’ choice of communities and increasing outreach. I first asked students to identify any clubs or organizations they belonged to in a short answer summary, then followed up with a multiple-choice selection to ask if these communities had physical venues and what makes them appealing to visit in person. Participants were able to select multiple of the following:

• Close to where I frequently visit (home, school, work, third spaces, etc)
• I can easily find relevant and updated information
• I enjoy the outcome of each event. I learn something new and/or can bring something back home, such as food or supplies.
• There is a strong sense of community. I can make new connections through these communities.
• They can accommodate my needs and/or their venues are accessible.
• They offer a wide range of services and resources.
• They offer a wide availability of hours. I can drop in at this location and/or the events have long run times during hours I can attend.

The next section determined where and how students discovered events and resources, including the Makerspace. Lastly, the survey included a section for students to share their thoughts in greater detail. 

In just two weeks, we reached our goal of 30 respondents. We had a lot of input to comb through for our analysis! I was surprised by how consistent our data was right off the bat. I expected to need more time to create conclusions, but many shared similar sentiments about their preferred community spaces and forms of outreach:

• Students expressed a desire for longer drop-in service hours, but deeper analysis concludes this may not be a primary solution
• Students suggest that online outreach methods, such as newsletters and social media, drive discoverability
• Community impact goes a long way in sustaining students’ well-being

Now, for those reading with a background in data science, you might identify some of the gaps in how I structured the survey. I should have 1) avoided using a short answer format to collect data on students’ spaces of belonging and 2) avoided multiple choice selections. While I was moved by how thoughtful people’s short answer responses were, it was harder to categorize people’s answers when moving into the data analysis portion. This demonstrated an important lesson about how survey structures should account for how you plan to interpret your data. A decision as simple as using multiple-choice selections can create complexities when generating pivot tables accessible to a broader audience.

My lived experiences shaped how I wanted to analyze the effectiveness of certain outreach methods to support community resources. The goal of this project was not to specifically target a single demographic, but to identify opportunities for growth regarding outreach methods relative to the needs and attitudes of people across different identities and spaces they belong to. 

When I presented my project to my mentor and cohort at the end of the semester, it was important to emphasize that the Makerspace has an underlying responsibility to fill in resource gaps for Berkeley’s youth population. As many of us are also LGBTQIA+-identifying, our history demonstrates the need for advocacy to make change. As the present calls for us to advocate once more, we must strive to ensure resources are accessible for everyone. 

I want to acknowledge and express my gratitude to my mentor and cohort, resources such as D-Lab, and friends who participated in the survey and provided advice on the project. As I will be graduating this semester, I hope this project invites future fellows to consider self-initiating their own projects to work on alongside their fellowship. I went from having little experience with data analysis to suddenly learning about different programs and research methods! To those interested in working with the Makerspace and for those who just want to visit, this is my advice: when provided with an opportunity to explore something you’ve always wanted to, take it and never stop learning.

By Madison Lee, Undergraduate Library Making Fellow, 2024-2025

As my time as a Makerspace Fellow comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the past year—and realizing the Makerspace has become so much more than a workplace. It became a second home.

Some days, I’d stop by just to finish a 3D printing project. Other times, I found myself in the Fiber Arts Room on a quiet weekend—not to sew, but simply to sit, fold a piece of origami, or breathe in the calm energy of a space filled with texture, color, and possibility.

This semester wasn’t about tying up loose ends. I knew my fellowship was ending, but there are still unfinished stitches on the embroidery I started last fall. The serger machine I wanted to try on a hem is still waiting. A potential Makerspace website redesign still lives in a PowerPoint. And yet, I’ve learned not to measure this experience by a checklist of completed tasks. If I had, I might have missed the joy of turning a personal experiment—the paper flowers I once made for some friends—into a full-fledged Valentine’s Day workshop, with students designing heartfelt bouquet cards of their own. 

In preparation, we experimented with different petal shapes and sizes to add variety, created card templates, and even designed a 3D-printed rolling tool that students could attach to a pencil to make flower assembly easier. Some students were hesitant at first—unsure how a flat spiral could transform into a flower—but we worked through it together, modifying layouts, adding leaf cutouts, and building layered bouquets on cardstock that opened like pop-up scenes. One student even turned theirs into a lily pad design with floating flowers and hot glue dew drops. It was exciting to see everyone personalize their cards with unique color combinations, messages, and interpretations. The workshop reminded me that making is never a one-size-fits-all process, but rather a shared act of discovery, with space for every style, pace, and idea.

What stays with me most are the small, vibrant moments: The joyful chaos of the Cal Merch workshop, where even a misbehaving Silhouette cutter couldn’t stop students from printing their own tote bags. The Fiber Arts room buzzing with activity—tables covered in fabric, stickers, stamps, and sewing machines humming as students helped each other troubleshoot. The thrill of watching someone discover they can make something with their own hands.

Beyond the hands-on projects, I also had the chance to reshape our digital space, such as revamping our LibGuides to feel more visual, more intuitive, more Makerspace. Shifting the tools page design from a carousel to a gallery format became its own form of crafting: thoughtful, iterative, and grounded in empathy for the user.

Throughout the semester, I kept hearing students say, “I wish I had found the Makerspace sooner.” I used to feel that way too. But now, I think we all found it when we were ready—when we needed it most.

In a campus culture where productivity often overshadows presence, the Makerspace taught me how to slow down—to make room for creativity, imperfection, and spontaneous joy. It reminded me, and so many others, that creativity doesn’t have to be perfect or even purposeful to be meaningful. Sometimes, it’s enough just to show up. To experiment. To be surrounded by others who are also figuring it out.

I’ll carry that mindset with me through the rest of my time at Berkeley—trying new things, savoring moments, and resisting the urge to reduce everything to a checklist. Because the most meaningful things we make here aren’t always physical. Sometimes, they’re the quiet moments of connection, the confidence built one attempt at a time, the joy of learning something unexpected. Those are the memories that last.

Looking ahead, I know I’ll return to this lesson—not just in how I make, but in how I live, learn, and show up for others. And for that, I’ll always be grateful.

In a campus culture where productivity often overshadows presence, the Makerspace taught me how to slow down. How to make space for creativity, imperfection, and spontaneous joy. The Makerspace reminded me and so many others that creativity doesn’t need to be perfect or productive to be meaningful. Sometimes, it’s enough to show up. To experiment. To be surrounded by people who are also figuring it out, together. 

Looking ahead, I carry that lesson with me—not just in how I make, but in how I live and learn. And for that, I’ll always be thankful.

By Willow Beyer, Undergraduate Library Making Fellow, 2024-2025

One of the best parts of working as a Makerspace Fellow this past year has been showing new people around and watching the space fill up. During Drop-in Hours in the past weeks have seen all of our sewing machines in use, at least one project 3D printing, and several people in the button maker room. People come with very specific plans, an idea that needs support in execution, or just wanting to wander through and see what we have to offer. Whatever brings them, the energy that comes from people learning, collaborating, and making together makes the space feel so alive.

Our users teach each other newly learned skills, trade old tricks, and compliment each others’ design choices. As a fellow, I get to do tons of button making and sewing machine tutorials, troubleshoot with heat press complications, and answer questions about miscellaneous materials, but mostly I just watch the space breathe. On one particular occasion, a student was working on a sewing project and needed help with garment construction. I had a few ideas, but the four or five other people also sewing were able to come up with a whole range of possibilities to choose from. The collaboration was not only helpful for her project, but gave everyone a chance to get to know each other. 

The Makerspace is for anyone who wants to explore, experiment, or just take a break from the rest of their day. You don’t need to be any kind of expert or even know what it is you want to learn. The materials and support are here, and I’ve witnessed how our growing community is more than ready to welcome new people and fresh ideas. During our Cal Merch Workshop, participants complimented each other’s designs, taught each other how to use the equipment, and provided support in troubleshooting issues as they came up. We are always looking for ways to make the space more fun and inviting, so whether it’s signing up for a workshop, dropping in for the Make of the Month, or bringing in a project of your own, stop by and see what the space can do for you!