Tech & MakerLab Playground at CECH Library

Join us Wednesday, April 2 from 3-5pm in the CECH Library for our 2nd annual Tech & MakerLab Playground.

This open-house style event will offer a variety of hands-on exploration opportunities with our MakerLab and STEAM Kits. Check out projects from Trends in Learning Technology Innovation students, play with robots, and see demos of our newest MakerLab equipment. We’ll also offer visitors a special sneak-peak of our new Study and Focus Tools Collection.

Light refreshments available courtesy of the CECH Dean’s Office.

We hope to see you at this fun event — celebrating the intersections of learning, tech, and creativity.

See you in the library!

On behalf of Team CECH Library,
k

Katie Foran-Mulcahy
Head, CECH Library

Adventure is out there with the CECH Library & IMPACT Innovation

Travel the world this March at the CECH Library with a special display created in collaboration with the IDD Education Center’s IMPACT Innovation associates!  

As a part of the collaboration, IMPACT associates had the opportunity to become more familiar with library collections and engage in concepts of display building, such as creating visual elements to a theme. The beautiful visual elements found on the display were created by associates to represent places in the world they’d like to visit. Explore what wonders the world holds by reading books set in or about the places they’ve selected!  

Rachel Hoople, CECH Library operations manager and student supervisor

Empower yourself in CECH Library

The College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and IT (CECH) celebrates Stress Less Week this semester Monday, March 10th– Friday, March 14th. This semester the focus is on YOU! Explore resources that allow you to empower yourself all week long at the CECH Library.  

CECH Library Programming for Stress Less Week:  

  • 3/10-14 - Stress Less & Empower Yourself with the CECH Library. Visit the CECH Library and explore the Stress Less display to find resources and materials to help you feel empowered. 
  • 3/10-14- Sticker-by-Number with the CECH Library. Visit the CECH Library during Stress Less Week to contribute to our community sticker-by-number art project. Don’t forget to stop by to see the finished product any time throughout the month of March. 
  • 3/12 10am-12pm- Study Tools Collection first look – Visit the CECH Library and learn from a CECH librarian about a NEW study tools collection coming soon to the CECH Library. 
  • 3/13 12pm-4pm- Study Tool Petting Zoo – Visit the CECH Library MakerLab to try out NEW study tools the library will be adding to our collection in AY26.  

Visit CECH Student Services Center on Get Involved UC for a full list of events.  

Rachel Hoople, CECH Library operations manager and student supervisor

Fidgets, sound muffs, and more coming soon to CECH Library

Sometimes the hardest part about studying is staying focused. Whether you’re antsy or someone’s phone call is more interesting than tomorrow’s exam, focusing on school work can be a challenge.

CECH Library is building a new Study and Focus Tools Collection (SFTC) to debut in Fall 2025. Checkout two great opportunities to get a sneak-peak of the collection and play with some awesome fidgets!

Wednesday, March 12 (10am-12pm):
Get a first look at the collection. We’ll be tabling in the Teachers-Dyer Complex lobby (3rd floor).

Thursday, March 13 (1-4pm):
Come to the CECH Library and visit our Fidget Petting Zoo. A table will be set up near the MakerLab.

Wednesday, April 2
(3-5pm):
See our fidgets and study tools during the Tech & MakerLab Playground in CECH Library.

After doing research and surveying library users, CECH Library selected 20 items to support students’ focus and study habits – white noise machines, sound muffs, fidgets, and more! These items will be available for anyone in the UC community to use and checkout beginning Fall 2025. 

–Madeleine Gaiser, CECH Library

Workshop Series: Teachers Are Makers

CECH Library is proud to offer a variety of workshops in the MakerLab this semester in support of our pre-service teachers — as well as anyone in our UC community interested in making.

As we did in fall, the library is offering workshops on using the Cricut Maker 3 and Autopress. The Cricut Maker is ideal for cutting paper, vinyl, and more to create custom projects, while the Autopress makes heat transfer projects (i.e. t-shirts and tote bags) quick and easy. Our Intro to Cricut workshop will have two offerings in the spring term, Thursday, February 20 from 3-4:30pm and Thursday, March 27th from 1-2:30pm.

New this spring are MakerLab workshops on 3D printing and sticker making. This equipment for 3D printing and sticker printing/cutting is currently available on a pilot-only basis, but workshop attendees will have special access to these tools during the workshops. Our Tinkercad and 3D Printing workshop will be offered on Wednesday, April 9 from 3-4:30pm and our Sticker Making 101 workshop will be offered on Thursday, April 17 from 1-2:30pm.

Space is limited, so register ASAP to reserve your spot.

See you in the MakerLab!

MakerLab Spring Pilot

The CECH Library is proud to announce that our newest MakerLab equipment is now available on a pilot basis for students of IDT 4015/7115 course, Trends in Learning Technology Innovation. Co-taught by Sarah Schroeder and Katie Foran-Mulcahy, the course focuses on making and makerspaces in K-12 environments.

IDT 4015/7115 students will assist in piloting the newest MakerLab technology acquisitions, including a Bambu x1C 3D printer, a Roland BN-20A printer/cutter, and an xTool F1 Ultra laser cutter and engraver. Students will also provide feedback on the future service model for the MakerLab. With these students’ assistance and expertise, our newest equipment available to all users in fall 2025.

As always, feel free to visit our MakerLab whenever the library is open, and view our website for a complete listing of equipment currently available for use.

See you in the MakerLab!

Spring workshop offerings from CECH Library

CECH Library is excited to announce our workshop offerings for the Spring 2025 semester. Workshops are open to faculty and graduate students across the UC community. Check out all our offerings below. 

You can see a full listing of CECH Library workshops and all UC Libraries workshops on Faculty OneStop, including descriptions, times, locations, and how to register.  

Children, Youth and Environments exhibit in CECH Library

Join us in celebrating 40 years of Children, Youth and Environments (CYE) with a special exhibit in the CECH Library, inviting you to explore the journal’s mission to foster inclusive, sustainable environments for children and youth worldwide.

Managed and published by the University of Cincinnati’s Arlitt Center since 2015, CYE connects a global community of research, policy, and practice, highlighting diverse perspectives on the spaces where young people live, learn, work, and play.

This special exhibit will be available to view in CECH Library through January 2025.

Leslie Kochanowski, PhD
Director of Research & Initiatives | Arlitt Center for Education, Research & Sustainability Managing Editor | Children, Youth and Environments
University of Cincinnati

MakerLab Glow Up

You may have noticed that our CECH Library MakerLab has had a bit of a glow up in recent months. The first phase of improvements was completed this summer, just in time for the fall 2024 term.

Initial phase improvements in our MakerLab include:

  • Re-organization of the space
  • Improved signage
  • A co-located collection of books and resources about making pedagogies
  • Artist prints from iconic picture book illustrators Eric Carle and Christian Robinson

We hope you’ll join us for the first workshop in our Teachers are Makers series, Intro to Cricut on Wednesday, November 13 at 2pm. This workshop is on-site in our MakerLab so participants can practice hands-on with some of our newest tools and make a project to take home.

We are appreciative for the advocacy and support of our colleagues in the 1819 Groundfloor Makerspace, the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative, and the CECH School of Education. Thanks for helping us get this “glow up” off the ground and bring new tools and ways of making to our users.

Stay tuned for additional phased improvements. Hope to see you soon in the MakerLab.

Fondly,
Katie Foran-Mulcahy (she/her)
Head, College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) Library


CECH Library Book Returns

Did you know? The CECH Library services two book returns outside of the CECH Library to make book returns easier than ever!  

The first is located just outside the CECH Library entrance on level 3 of the Teachers-Dyer Complex. This book return is serviced immediately upon opening and multiple times a day while the library is open.

The second book return is in the lobby of Edwards 1, next to the WEPA printer. This book return is serviced by CECH Library student employees and staff 2 times a week. Items returned to this book return are backdated upon check in to ensure overdue fines do not accrue between service.  

Library books may be returned to any UC Libraries location during their open hours as well. Special collections such as mixed materials, equipment, and reserve items belonging to the CECH Library should be returned to the CECH Library Info Desk. If you are unsure about the return policy for your item, please call us at 513-556-1430. 

Rachel Hoople
operations supervisor, CECH Library