Goessel Public Library

It is great having a drop box for patrons to use at any hour on any day! EXCEPT….

Except … when it is used when we are open…. and we have already checked the box … IF we hear it drop, then we MAY check it again… and again…. and again…   Or a patron complains about fines because they know they returned it on time … and maybe we didn’t check the box (for the thousandth time) …

Except … when patrons include fine money with their books…and the money or envelope ends up separated from whatever item had the fine… and there is no way to tell to whose account it belongs…. or it slips into the bin never to be seen again….

Except …. when patrons have discovered that they didn’t include the dvd with the cover and drop it in the box .. sometimes using a ziplock…

Except … when kids use it as a trash bin…

 

Tonight I used the 3D printer to make a star for the Christmas tree.

First, I used a preprogramed star shape and placed a cone into the base. Then changed the settings to make the cone a hole so that it could be placed easily on the treetop.

The first print moved around on the base to much…..

Added some supports to widen the base.

And now our tree has a star for its top!

Our December preschool story times have been shapes, and sizes … and of course Christmas!

SHAPES!

 

AND SIZES!

For the last story time of the year and to celebrate Christmas, we had cookies (along with listening to Christmas books and a craft)!

 

Happy Halloween! Come Trick-or-Treat at the library!
Monday, Oct.31 from 4-8 pm! We will be set up on the north side of the library.

What are you scared of? Thunder and Lightning? Spiders? Snakes? Ghosts? or Monsters?

We decided monsters aren’t real but had fun pretending!

It’s time to move on from printing uploaded files to creating 3D objects to print. Tinkercad is the perfect site to begin. (I learned about tickercad from our NCKL Youth Consultant who pointed me to the blog: LIBRARY As MAKERSPACE!) With Halloween coming, a Jack-0-lantern sounded appropriate.

I found the program to be challenging – probably because I’m not one to go through the tutorials – just like to jump right in!  I did however refer back to the blog several times. Uploading a pumpkin 3D file was the easy part. Carving out the inside and the face was challenging! I learned how to do sizing, grouping and adding workspaces.

 

After using the Tinkercad program to “carve out” the pumpkin and the face. I uploaded the file to the flashprint program adding the supports and base.

And now… it’s printing.

The Jack-o-lantern is facing the back of the printer.

Live and Learn – another day!

 

 

 

Isaac dropped by on Thursday to update us on his progress with his lightsaber.

He has it all glued together – next the painting!

Today was a no school day, so there was a lot of action at the library with over 40 patron visits!

The 3D Printer also ran constantly today. We are excited to see a student attempt a multi piece project – the Lightsaber! The saber was printed in six files with sometimes up to three items printing at once. Isaac loaded and sized his project on his home computer, bringing the files in on a flash drive. After loading on to our program, I double checked the filament side (PLA) and added a raft to each piece. Originally, we planned to print the small pieces without the raft but were unsuccessful. If they are too small the filament doesn’t adhere to the bed which results in a jumbled mess.

Here the small parts have been printed and we are watching the lightsaber’s handle print. This was the biggest file taking an hour and a half to print. The whole project took just over 3 hours for all six files.

Isaac will be taking the pieces home to glue together and paint. You can see that he has removed some of the raft on the small pieces. He will be researching adhesive and paint options – check back to see the finished project!

Drop by and print a project of your own!