Did We Build What We Promised? Evaluating Maker Culture and Practice at a Public Historically Black University​

Authors

• Harvey D. Long, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State UniversityFollow
• Nicole Whetsel, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State UniversityFollow
• Darian Quick, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State UniversityFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6668-8843

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Fall 10-11-2026

Abstract

In 2021, F.D. Bluford Library at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (North Carolina A&T) received a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant to establish a makerspace to expand access to making, support project-based learning, and foster a sense of belonging at North Carolina A&T. Although the College of Engineering has a makerspace, North Carolina A&T did not have one available to students across all majors.

North Carolina A&T is a public, land-grant historically Black university, serving more than 15,000 students. As an institution with a longstanding emphasis on STEM education, entrepreneurship, and innovation, North Carolina A&T provides fertile ground for examining making within an academic library.

Five years after its establishment, this poster examines the extent to which the makerspace has fulfilled its original purpose.

Comments

Poster presented at the International Symposium of Academic Makerspaces (ISAM) 2026 at Rice University in Houston, TX. 

Recommended Citation

Long, Harvey D.; Whetsel, Nicole; and Quick, Darian, "Did We Build What We Promised? Evaluating Maker Culture and Practice at a Public Historically Black University​" (2026). Faculty Publications. 242.
https://digital.library.ncat.edu/facpub/242