Current Policies
- Masks are not currently required, but please be prepared to wear them upon request, or in high-density situations such as checkouts or classes. Masks are available in the space when needed.
- Safety glasses are provided to use in the space. Please place them in the “dirty mask” bins when you are done so they can be washed before they are used again.
- If you are feeling sick or have tested positive for Covid-19, please stay home.
We’ve also amended our class and membership policies in light of the current situation as follows:
Classes
Participants who feel unwell, are self-isolating, or choose to practice social distancing can request to move to a later class session or request a refund by emailing education@lansingmakersnetwork.org. Please note that we are unable to refund Eventbrite’s portion of the class fees (moving to a different session will not involve any fees, however).
Members:
Members who feel unwell, are self-isolating, or choose to practice social distancing may request an extension of their membership by emailing membership@lansingmakersnetwork.org.
Open-Hours Members:
Currently, there are no plans to curtail or cancel existing open hours schedules. We have, however, made clear to our volunteers that we will work with them to cover shifts if needed. As such, we may find ourselves in a situation where specific shifts may not be able to be covered. We’ll communicate these situations via talk.lansingmakersnetwork.org as soon as we are aware of them.
Our goals with these policy changes are to provide community members with the opportunity to make the best decisions without the pressure of financial implications. While we recognize that the potential exposure risk may seem small in comparison to the more significant closures and cancellations that we have seen in the last few weeks, we realize the importance of limiting the spread of COVID-19 and want to give our volunteers and members the opportunity to make the best decisions regarding their own exposure risks. We’ll continue to heed the advice of our local, state, and federal health agencies and strive to make the best decisions for the safety of our community and staff. As such, we’ll be meeting regularly to review our ability to remain open to members and make decisions about upcoming classes. For perspective on some of the research that influenced our decisions, we’d invite you to view/read the resources below:
Coren, Michael J. “This Chart of the 1918 Spanish Flu Shows Why Social Distancing Works.” Quartz. Quartz, March 11, 2020. https://qz.com/1816060/a-chart-of-the-1918-spanish-flu-shows-why-social-distancing-works/
2 Blue 1 Brown. “Exponential Growth and Epidemics” YouTube video, 8:56. March 8, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kas0tIxDvrg
History of policy changes
UPDATED: 9/07/2022
Masks are no longer required when visiting Lansing Makers Network. However, in situations of close contact such as during check-outs and classes, please be prepared to accept requests from any participant for the group to mask. We’ll continue to have masks available at the front desk for situations where masking is requested and not all participants have masks available.
UPDATED: 7/19/2021
LMN is now re-opened to full access, 24/7 hour members. To re-activate your membership and ensure your keycard is working, please visit during open hours and ask a volunteer to confirm. Masks continue to be required at all times, as long as there are two or more people occupying the space.
UPDATED: 6/23/2021
LMN will be reopening starting Friday, June 25th. Since we are doing this during a pandemic after being closed for more than a year, we’re going to ease into things with some changes to ensure the safety of our members and volunteers. Here’s what you need to know for this weekend:
- We’ll be open Friday 4-9 pm, Saturday 12-8 pm, and Sunday 12-8 pm, even for 24/7 members.
- Masks will be required for everyone entering the building at all times.
- Bring safety glasses that you can reuse. We’ll also have some you can buy for $1, but please take them with you when you leave.
- We’ll ask some refresher questions about tools and safety before reactivating any membership including 24/7 members, so try to stop by this weekend so we can get you going safely.
- There will be additional intro/refresher checkouts for members who are feeling rusty or curious about new tools.
- We’re limiting new signups to open hour members only this weekend. We’ll open up other types of membership at a future date.
Please consider this a social event! We’re excited to see you back in the space even if it’s just to say hi. Come in for a free tour, and if you’re not a member and would like to volunteer, we’ll gladly accept your help.
Keeping the space staffed may be difficult. We’ll try our best to keep the building open during posted times and communicate any closures as soon as we know about them.
We’ll hold a retrospective about the reopening next Monday and make adjustments where needed. You’re welcome to join that as well and I’ll post a link to the Zoom call later this week on the Talk site. I’ll also share any policy changes on the Talk site as well.
In addition to the policies described above, we will also be following MIOSHA, MDHHS, and CDC guidelines closely and adjusting policies regularly to ensure the safety of everyone visiting our space.
Thank you all so much for your patience. We look forward to seeing you this weekend!
UPDATED: 3/16/2020
In compliance with Gov. Whitmer’s executive order (2019-9) LMN will be closed to members (open hours and keyholding) until further notice. This is a difficult time and we don’t take the decision to close to all members lightly. In keeping with the spirit of the Governer’s order and our responsibility to do our part to keep our members and community safe, we feel this is the only sensible option.
All classes and scheduled events will remain canceled. Participants can expect to receive a full refund for any canceled classes. Memberships will be extended appropriately when the makerspace re-opens. We will make arrangements with any member who needs to access the makerspace to pick up items or projects. Those requests can be made via the Talk site or by calling the makerspace at (517) 234-4566 and following the prompts to speak to an on-call volunteer. If you have other concerns, please feel free to contact us and we’ll help in any way we can. Many of our members rely on the makerspace for their livelihood, and we understand that this news may cast uncertainty into your plans. Many in our community of members are ready to help others so please reach out if you can help or are in need of help. Our leadership team will continue to meet regularly in the coming days and weeks to respond to new information as it becomes available. Watch the talk site for updates.
UPDATED: 3/11/2020
Lansing Makers Network is taking the proactive step of canceling our upcoming blacksmithing and woodworking classes scheduled for Saturday, March 14th. Additionally, we’re cancelling public events through Sunday, March 22nd. This includes our upcoming Maker Meetup and weekly Open Forge events. All participants in cancelled classes will receive a full refund (including Eventbrite’s Fees)