NJ Maker's Day Celebrated at RPL

On Saturday, March 19, the Ridgewood Public Library participated in the state-wide event, NJ Maker's Day, making it the second successful year for the event. The "Maker" movement has been widespread in libraries throughout the country in recent years, and this event contributes to the ongoing effort to educate people of all ages of new and emerging technologies. The RPL staff planned multiple demonstrations with our generously donated equipment, including Makey Makey kits, Arduino, 3Doodlers, Makerbot 3D printer, Silhouette Cameo, Little Bits, and a Finch Robot. Lower tech activities including Frankentoy creation and button making also drew a crowd. Patrons particpated in our Face Swap station, where staff members used Photoshop to insert participants' faces onto famous images varying from the Mona Lisa to Frozen's Elsa. The six-hour drop-in event had a consistent flow of eager onlookers of all ages experimenting with all that RPL has to offer. Special thanks to the Ridgewood Library Foundation and the Friends of the Ridgewood Library for equipping the Library with incredible gadgets to share with our community and partake in this event.