Next month, the Fayetteville Public Library is hosting its next Maker Faire. Touted as the Greatest Show and Tell, the event brings together all kinds of makers — from artists to crafters, engineers, chefs and more — to show off their projects.
Ozarks at Large’s Daniel Caruth visited the library’s Center for Innovation to learn more about this year’s event.
The sound of kids and parents shuffling through the halls mixes with a low hum of 3D printers on the first floor of the Fayetteville Public Library
In the lobby of the Center for Innovation, Harrison Grimwood moves over a robotic torso placed on a sofa.
“Nothing may really come of it, but we’ve been talking about having some sort of naming contest. The model’s called Dummy 13. And this is, if you’re about 5’8”, it’s a life-size one. I think it’ll be tall. I think the legs are a little bit longer.”
It’s an unexpected sight for a public library, but not unusual here at the Center for Innovation, which boasts an impressive collection of equipment from those aforementioned 3D printers to sewing machines and even audio and visual studios.
Bradley Thompson is the fabrication and robotics lab coordinator for the Fayetteville Public Library and says this program is part of the library’s push to bring in more inventors and craftspeople.
“Some people like to just be in a public space where there’s a lot of other creative people, a lot of great classes going on. And that third space these days is getting harder and harder to find. So that’s, I think, another big reason.”
Grimwood, the center’s AV coordinator, says that goal is exemplified through the annual Maker Faire.
“Maker Faire is Fayetteville’s biggest, weirdest, most eclectic show and tell. If you make something and you want to show it off, this is the place to come do it. If you’re selling something and you want to come vend, you’re more than welcome to. And if you’re unsure if you want to come show something off, just show up. There are a lot of cool people who do cool things.”
The Maker Faire is now in its fourth year, and Thompson says the event has brought people from all different backgrounds and skill sets to the library.
“Yeah, it’s a pretty large variety of things. The term makers kind of applies to a lot of different things. We’ve seen everything from needlework, woodworking, robotics. This year we’re going to have a local indie game developer group come out, have a bunch of demos that you can play. So it’s all kinds of things. We won’t know until the day or until all the applications come through, but it should be pretty fun.”
And what started out as a way to get more people in and using the library’s new, state-of-the-art equipment has turned into an opportunity to pool resources and even expand the center’s own programming.
“When we started this about three years ago, we mainly thought 3D printing, laser engraving, and we just went from there. But every time Maker Faire rolls around, you see something, you’re just like, whoa, I didn’t even realize you could do that. So we slowly expand the resources that we have here at the library, and it’s really informed by the things that you see online or you see in the community. And Fayetteville has a pretty crazy scene. Fayetteville has a lot of people that are doing some really cool stuff.”
Grimwood says this may not seem like the normal work of a library. There aren’t a lot of books or study spaces in the center, but this work is fulfilling the exact mission of a public library. It’s all about knowledge sharing and breaking down the barrier to access that often stops people moving from idea to action.
“It is just a fabulous amount of resources we can make available to anybody with a library card. That is the barrier to entry. We have some other auxiliary requisites, like attending a class or two to access some of these things. But after that you can just come spend time working on these things, developing these things, new skills. We’re talking audio production, video production. We are talking prototyping.
“We try our best to encourage. Some people might get themselves stuck in a rut where they’re just doing 3D printing. But we have lasers, CNC, we have soldering irons. We really try to encourage people to find ways to combine those modalities into producing something besides just a 3D print or just a thing that was laser cut and engraved, because you can use the tools together. It just isn’t always the most obvious how you do that. So just the sheer amount of access to cool stuff is what excites me about it.”
Vendor applications for the Maker Faire are due on Aug. 18, and it’s open to any makers. Thompson says you don’t have to be a Fayetteville resident or even have a library card to apply.
“We have people from around the region come down from Tulsa, up in Missouri. We have people drive down just to show off what they do because this is their community. There aren’t always a lot of opportunities to meet this many people in one setting. So it’s great to come down, to ask people their process and what inspired them.
“And I think the only other logistical thing — just a reminder that this is free, open to the public. Everyone can attend. Everyone can showcase if they want to. Vendors — there is a $50 vendor fee. But other than that, yeah, everyone’s welcome.”
The 2025 Maker Faire takes place Saturday, Sept. 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the Fayetteville Public Library.
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