We’re finishing 2023 with something we’re really proud of! This spring, PBS came to our library to film for Craft in America. The episode is titled “Play,” and it’s now officially streaming! Our segment of the episode is a tribute to Lloyd Cotsen, and his marvelous vision and gift that resulted in the creation of the Cotsen Children’s Library.
For those of you who are not familiar, Craft in America is an non-profit that is “dedicated to the exploration, preservation and celebration of craft, the work of the hand, and their impact on our nation’s cultural heritage.” The episode also features artists Roberto Benavidez, Schroeder Cherry, Calder Kamin, Lorena Robletto, as well as the Noah’s Ark installation at the Skirball Cultural Center.
This link will take you to the episode. Cotsen’s section begins at 37:24 (and Katie’s chin has a cameo at 41:47), but we highly encourage you to check out the entire “Play” episode, it’s simply wonderful!
The Cotsen Library would like to thank PBS, Craft in America, and the awesome crew that came to our library to showcase our little world so perfectly. We appreciate you so much!
The event was a collaboration with our colleagues at the Princeton University Library’s 
Makerspace Specialist Ariel Ackerly made our gallery the first stop on her innovative “Mobile Makerspace” initiative, bringing a 3D scanner, custom stickers, button makers, and a Cricut machine to the Cotsen Library. She’s planning to visit other destinations on campus too!
There were two sets of images available for stickers and buttons. The first were Pokemon-esque folk tale creatures from a 2016 Cotsen event. Drawn by student 
The second set of illustrations were from the 
Many thanks to Ariel Ackerly for making this event happen! A big shout out to April C. Armstrong at Mudd Library for the historic Princeton University tigers, and to Brianna Garden for digitizing them. Additional thanks to Brandon Johnson, Office of Library Communications, for the event images!
Once the box animals are complete, loop together a pipe cleaner, then tape it to the top of the box, right in the middle. At the top of the loop, either attach a large paperclip to form a hook, or use a carabiner (we had some leftover from 
Your animals are ready to race! We set up two zip lines using coated wire. One end of each wire was stabilized on the ceiling of the library, and the other end was held by a volunteer, who could adjust the slope of the zip line to make the box animals go slower or faster. Each kid brought their box animals to the starting line, then scooted over to the finish line (which we marked on the floor with red masking tape). We clipped the boxes to the wire, counted to three, and the race was on!
