What is make-a-thek?
make-a-thek is an EU funded project that brings modular, easy-to-replicate makerspaces into public libraries. These spaces focus on fashion and crafts, offering open access to innovative and circular approaches to making and design.
Through community co-creation, the project will develop a practical toolkit and open educational resources (OERs) to help libraries set up their own fashion- and craft-focused makerspaces.
Permeke Library, Antwerp, Belgium
Rooted in New European Bauhaus values:
Inclusivity – opening access to creative technologies and inviting communities to shape the green transition.
Sustainability – encouraging hands-on participation in building a circular society.
Enrichment – enabling personal and shared creativity through fashion and crafts.
Pilot public libraries
The project will pilot these ideas in at least 12 libraries (9 in Europe, 3 internationally), where communities will explore how to combine traditional heritage crafts with modern digital tools like 3D printing and laser cutting. This approach supports sharing sustainable skills and cultural knowledge.
1 mobile makerspace Bus
A mobile makerspace in the form of a bus is also planned, enabling flexible workshops and activities in different regions, especially rural regions.
Long-term goals:
Empower a new generation of prosumers—people who both create and use in sustainable ways.
Position libraries as hubs for circular making and knowledge-sharing.
Preserve heritage crafts through digital innovation.
Foster circular and green innovation in fashion and crafts.
To ensure lasting impact, make-a-thek will also create a scaling guide to help libraries and cultural institutions adopt and spread this approach widely.
“Libraries are the quintessential ‘third places’, public spaces that host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work.”
