Berea Makerspace is a community workshop with space and equipment for multiple disciplines. It is a catalyst for learning, creating, and doing.

Berea Makerspace is a community and neighborhood development non-profit corporation, 501c3 public charity status. We provide a space, tools, and community for collaboration opportunities for people interested in making of all types, including woodworking, metalworking, fabric arts, programming, photography and fabrication of all sorts. We encourage knowledge exchange and the synergy of diverse disciplines influencing each other.

We are open to creative collaboration and experimentation. We strive to embody a space of respect and trust, as this environment fosters creativity. We adopt the motto of makerspaces across the world: “Be excellent to each other.” In order to be very clear about what this excellence looks like, the Berea Makerspace has an anti-harassment policy (link).

Berea Makerspace rents our physical space. This means that we are not free to modify the building in every way we want: do not modify the building, the electrical work, the plumbing.

Make. Create. Experiment. Learn new skills with a diverse community of doers and life-long learners. Maintain an accessible, shared space which inspires creativity and collaboration with shared resources. Be excellent to each other.

Through community effort and support, Berea makers will gain access to tools, materials and classes in the Berea Makerspace.

A member is a person 18 years old or older, whose membership form has been completed and processed, who has attended general orientation, and who is in good standing with monthly membership dues paid.

A non-member guest may be in the space only if accompanied by a member, and they must sign a waiver. A guest may not use any equipment unless they are attending a workshop.

Children under 18 may be in the space only when accompanied by an adult member, and the parent/guardian of the under-18 guest must have signed a waiver. Both the under 18 maker and the adult member must have undergone training on the equipment they are using.

• Our prime directive is “Be excellent to each other.” Keep things fun
  • All people like to be around things that are fun
  • All people tend to avoid things and events that are not fun
  • Therefore, the best way to keep attendance and occupancy up is to keep things fun

• We don’t abide harassment in any form. Make sure to read and understand our anti-harassment policy

• Fair Warning: Using the collective 'we' can quickly get you deputized
  • This is meant to be a playful way of avoiding 'diffusion of responsibility'. Sometimes when people say “We should _!”, what they really mean is “Someone besides myself should _!”
  • Being deputized doesn't mean you have to do it yourself. But, it does mean you should lead the charge, find people to help you, and cajole them as necessary (free home-baked cookies) to make it happen

• When scheduling something; pick an arbitrary date to start negotiations, thereby avoiding arbitrary non-starting negotiations
  • Sometimes the hardest part of organizing is finding the 'best' time to do it
  • There is never a 'best time' that works for everyone
  • Once a date is set, everything else quickly falls into place

• The fewer rules the better. Don't try to solve problems we don't have
  • We rely on a culture of openness, friendliness and mutual respect
  • If you have a conflict with some aspect of the space or a member, we expect you to try and resolve it with the member on a personal level first. If that is not achievable, then find a Director to help mediate the conflict. Rule-making is a last resort approach for conflict resolution

• Clean up after yourself. Leaving a mess is not excellent, and cleaning up after others is not fun

Follow all safety rules. Make safety a top priority in the space and create a culture of safety. Safety is the responsibility of each and every person at Berea Makerspace. You are primarily responsible for your own safety, but if you see others being unsafe, tell them!

Everyone walking through the door must sign a Waiver of Liability. This waiver absolves Berea Makerspace of responsibility should anyone damage themselves at the Makerspace. All guests MUST sign this waiver, regardless of how long they intend to stay, or whether or not they intend to use any tools. Anyone refusing to sign a waiver will be asked to leave.

It should go without saying, but if you don't know how to use a dangerous tool, don't use it! If you're alone in the Makerspace, refrain from using dangerous tools. Currently, the only tool that requires someone else present in the space is the Table Saw, located in the woodshop.

• First Aid kits can be found in all three rooms of the makerspace. Familiarize yourself with their locations

• Fire extinguishers can be found throughout the space. Make yourself aware of the location of fire extinguishers, they should all be in plain sight

• We have a fridge, microwave, and water dispenser
• That said, food and food waste should leave the building with you
  • If you put food waste into a bin, then that bin needs to be emptied in the dumpster!
  • Again, we, the members, are our own stewards of the space. Food waste that isn't emptied attracts mice and other animals
  • Do not bring other cooking implements into the space, outside of class / workshop purposes

• We have cameras in every work room of the space
• These are not actively monitored
• These are not cached to the cloud. All recordings are local
• These are limited in their accessibility by board members / management
• The only reason we have these is to bring context to emergencies, accidents, or incidents with members or workshops. We are interested in keeping our space safe, and having records for insurance or other purposes

• These tools (homemade, purchased or otherwise) designed to send an electrical current through materials such as wood, using a microwave transformer, neon power supply, or similar device, resulting in a “fractal” pattern or other burns, will not be promoted, demonstrated or taught at the space

• Furthermore, members or visitors of the Makerspace are not permitted to use these on the premises. Unfortunately, the risk associated with these devices does not mesh well with the culture of safety, the safety of those around you, or our insurance. We hope you understand!

Berea Makerspace has open houses approximately every other week, depending on availability of volunteers. Thursday evenings is the general time for these, but date depends on volunteer availability.

We also will hold a monthly board and member meeting online. Our Current Meeting Time is: Fourth Monday at 7pm - google calendar link attached, direct zoom links for this are on Slack, and available on request over email. This is a good time to come and show off your works-in-progress, ask questions, and have fun. Zoom meetings are also where members can raise community issues for a consensus vote.

Every two months, the Makerspace holds a cleanup and open house event to help promote cleanliness in the Makerspace, and to discuss projects and plans for the space.

We make official Berea Makerspace decisions by consensus, which means the willing consent of a majority of voting members. Decisions are typically made at our open meetings or via our online management venues, and items proposed for consensus are announced at least a week in advance to give everyone time to hear about them.

You do not have to be a member to attend meetings, events and workshops at Berea Makerspace. Come on over and see what we are about! All people who are in the space are required to sign a waiver, any guests under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who must sign a waiver for them.

We welcome your communication with us about equipment/materials/monetary donations. Because our workshop space is limited, we are not able to accept all donations, but we welcome emails / calls / in person discussion about what you have available. Do not bring junk in the door (unless it is fun junk, with a plan attached).

Our space is limited (and getting further limited as we expand our toolset. Respect other members and their needs.

There are a limited number of lockers available to members who request one. Members must bring their own lock.

There are open tables in the workshop for working on your active project. If you are planning on leaving a project at the space while you are away:

• Project must be piled safely and compactly such as to minimize space taken up, and left in an appropriate part of the Makerspace
• Project MUST be labeled with a date, name and contact info
• Project MUST be dealt with within a week
• Do NOT leave projects here to be started at a later date
• Make all efforts to remove projects / parts of projects that don’t need to stay in space
• We realize you may need more time, people get sick, cars break down, etc. We will contact you to see how to resolve this after a week
• If we cannot contact you, or we cannot resolve this issue, we will move projects to a location that minimizes the impact on the rest of our members. We will do our best to minimize all chances of damage or negative effects of this, given the room available at that time. In the end, it’s your responsibility. Do not make it the liability of the Makerspace or its Members

Members are welcome to host workshops at Berea Makerspace. Workshops are a great way to spread awareness and grow the Makerspace in knowledge, expertise and memberships. They're also a great way to show off and share what you know.

• Choose an event you want to host. If you're not a member, get a member to agree to be there for the event
  • For long term, trustworthy instructors, the board may choose to give them access to the space for classes without direct member supervision
• Check for conflicts on our calendar
• Talk it up at our meetings, on Slack, on social media
• Be prepared. Be courteous. Be safe
• Clean up and lock up when you're done

Members are expected to bring their own consumables, for their own projects. Leftovers may be organized and stored in the space, but never guaranteed or expected. For some areas, we may request “chipping in” to help continue renewing consumables for equipment that doesn’t fit that model well (welding / blacksmithing fuel, welding sticks and mig wire, etc).

Examples of stuff we expect members to provide for themselves:

• Glue
• Sandpaper
• 3D Printer filament and resin
• CNC Router Bits
• Metal for welding or smithing

If you have consumables left over, feel free to store them safely and responsibly with other, similar materials. We have several spots around the space that are already designated for consumables of certain types