The Joliet West library held its first Crafternoons meeting of the school year on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Students were invited to the Media Center to learn how to make tangle-free headphones.

Amy Lingafelter, Joliet West librarian, described, “This year, we wanted to start with [a craft] that was a little bit easy, but portable, too, and everyone has headphones, so it was really popular.”

Students styled their headphones by wrapping them with embroidery floss.

Freda Hogan, a sophomore at West, commented, “I thought [the tangle-free headphones] looked really cool and served their purpose.”

Lingafelter agreed. “I think it makes sense, and it makes the headphones look really cool.”

The library started Crafternoons two years ago. At past events, students have been invited to make duct tape wallets, rubber band bracelets, and “modified” t-shirts.

Lingafelter stated, “It’s something a lot of libraries do. They like to have ‘maker spaces,’ they call them, where people can come in and use library resources and also learn how to do something.”

She explained that she finds new crafts online and in ideas from other West librarians.

“We’re going to be weeding the collection — that’s the librarian way of saying ‘getting rid of some older books that don’t get checked out a lot,’” she said, laughing. “And we’re looking at ways to use pages of books to do things, so that’s one we’re thinking about doing in the future.”

Hogan said that she liked the tangle-free headphones for their usefulness and that she “would like to see more school-supply related crafts” in the future. She said, “I love fun, creative things that make my life easier.”

Lingafelter stated that she plans to hold the event twice a semester. Crafternoons is held during all lunch and advisory periods and also during first period as an option for upperclassmen. Lingafelter estimated that roughly 50 students participate in each meeting.

“Anyone can come to Crafternoons! It’s open to all, and we even want to encourage teachers to come too,” she said.

Hogan reported, “My favorite part of Crafternoons was spending time with the other people there. Crafternoons attracts a really nice group of kids, and we have some fun conversations.”

Lingafelter related, “We like to see kids in the library using the library.” She continued, “I want students to view, not just their school library, but public libraries … I want students to see public libraries as a place where you can go fill out a job application, or you can go learn how to do something, or make something, and you can sort of take charge of your own learning.”

*story originally published on Mash Insider http://themash.com/insider/2015/10/16/crafty-tigers-detangle-headphone-cord-conundrum/