A ball of yarn, a streak of a pen and glue on a marble magnet were all things seen at the University of New Mexico’s seventh and final Crafternoon of the year on Nov. 19 and 20. It was an event for all students to come and choose from the variety of crafts, or create their own, to express their creativity.
Kate Costello, an undergraduate engagement team librarian, said that Crafternoon was created at UNM to take advantage of the chill library environment for students to explore their creativity and catch a break from classes, as well as a hope for libraries to be third spaces.
“Libraries can be third spaces for University students too. There’s a time when everybody just needs to chill. Libraries are pretty chill already,” Costello said.
Holly Surbaugh, also an undergraduate engagement librarian, said another big part of the creation of Crafternoon was a desire to connect with students.
“The undergraduate engagement team is looking for opportunities to do more interpersonal connections with specifically undergrad students, although Crafternoon is open to everybody,” Surbaugh said. “You just really want to get beyond the confines of the classroom. We really want (students) to connect with the library in a personal way.”
Crafternoon began with a sole event last spring, which was so successful that it continued this fall, Costello said. About two sessions are held every month, and participation has varied from half a dozen students to nearly 20.
At the event, students arrived to free and plentiful supplies, and if a participant didn’t finish their project, they were welcome to take crafts home to finish.
“We wanted to do something kind of low-lift engagement where folks don’t have to register. They can just come in and have a seat,” Costello said.
The final Crafternoon’s latest craft was marble magnets. Coloring books, educational crochet kits and needle felting were also available. Senior students Kayla Medford and August Fowler participated in the Crafternoon on Nov. 19. Medford took a stab at learning crochet with a “The Woobles: Pierre The Penguin” kit, and Fowler used color pencils to bring a page from a coloring book to life.
“It’s good (to go to Crafternoon) around this time, because it’s very stressful, and I think I need a de-stresser. I’m learning how to crochet now based on Crafternoon,” Medford said.
Fowler is a returning Crafternoon attendee who participated in the previous Crafternoon, while Medford was a first time attendee, they said. Last event, Fowler colored DIY stickers that decorate her water bottle.
The future of Crafternoon’s content is like unmolded clay, but will continue next semester. Costello said that there have been talks about themes, such as cloth mending, and that student feedback through optional surveys or social media are always welcome.
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“We are still playing around with what works best. We often have needle felting and bead-making, which are very popular. We will almost certainly continue (Crafternoon) in the Spring. We may do fewer of them in the spring to make more room for additional, like different types of programs, but there’ll be at least some Crafteroons in the spring,” Serbaugh said.
Marina Olmstead is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @DailyLobo
