Perceiving Libraries in a Making Context: Voices of Arts and Crafts Hobbyists

The burgeoning popularity attained by the maker culture has enlivened the library environment regarding its approach to engaging patrons. Despite the extensive makerspace literature, little is written on making from the hobbyist perspective, particularly beyond youth. To tackle inquiry about the potential relation between libraries and hobbyism as a form of leisure, we recruited 25 arts and crafts hobbyists and conducted a qualitative project. Combining diary studies and individual interviews, we aim to explore the perception making hobbyists have of libraries. Grounded upon the empirical data, we found that hobbyist participants mostly considered libraries a resource provider whose informative provision could go beyond traditional forms of print and digital collections. We also identified the value of librarianship to bolster inclusion in a making context to involve people of all ages, demonstrating the underlying need to reconsider the current support of libraries to the making activity. This is especially true in unexpected situations, like when physical library access is discouraged during the pandemic.