[CASL-L] Library/Makerspace Scheduling

[Katie Finlan]

Hi All,
tl;dr how does your school schedule library class time vs makerspace class time? 
We (Hebron Elementary School) are in the process of setting up a Makerspace in a room attached to the library.  Until the room is put together and useable, I am doing "Maker Monday" activities in the library space.  Students have been loving the activities, and I've enjoyed them as well, but I am finding they all require more than the one 50-minute class slot I've allotted for them on Mondays.  Because the maker activities are bleeding over into additional days, my library curriculum is somewhat suffering.  For this year, I will make it work, but I want to be proactive about next year's schedule.
Next year, the vision is that students will do maker activities within my class so that they have guaranteed maker experiences, and then there will be additional opportunities for classroom teachers to sign up to bring their class to the makerspace, while I am teaching library.  My principal is open to ideas about pulling me out of the specials schedule, today he suggested expanding my library class time to 60 minutes (I still don't think this will be enough time, over my 50 minutes).  He also said he'd like to see what we research in library overlap with what we do in the makerspace, which sometimes it will, but not always.
I'm wondering, if you have a makerspace AND a library to manage, how do you do it timewise? I'm trying to think of a creative solution, such as, I see all of third grade in the morning for a week for makerspace, and then 4th, 5th, and 6th in the afternoon for library class, but I can't really wrap my head around it, it seems like there just aren't enough hours in the day!
Also, if classroom teachers access the space without you, how do keep track of when materials run out and how long projects are taking and such? When do you take pictures to share with the school community? When do you get to see finished products?
Thanks in advance for your help and repsonses!
Katie FinlanHebron Elementary SchoolLibrary Media Specialist
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