Jul.1, 2012
A few months back, in November 2011 we covered an emerging project led by librarian Lauren Smedley to install hackerspace/fablab in the Fayetteville Free Library with 3D printers, CNC routers and other equipment to enable the public to develop and innovate new ideas and products.
The library's Fab Lab Website notes:
"These spaces, known as Fabrication Labs (fab labs), Hackerspaces, and Tech Shops, share common goals: collaboration and 'making.' They exist to give their specific communities the ability to 'make' through sharing knowledge and skills. They provide the technology necessary to make almost anything.
However, these spaces often provide services to a specific or targeted group and are not easily accessible to 'outsiders' - traditional Fab Labs are tied to MIT and are generally found in underserved communities, Hackerspaces have membership fees, and Tech-Shops, on average, cost around $1.5 million to start. Imagine - what if the Fayetteville Free Library had similar tools as MIT at its fingertips (at an affordable cost), with the knowledge necessary to use them?"
The Fayetteville Free Library is the first library in the United States to offer a free, public access Fab Lab. According to its blog, the FFL fab Lab recently won an award of $10,000 at the Contact Summit in NYC and they are currently exploring capital funding from multiple arenas one being a final approval for a NYS DLD Library Construction Grant for $251,000.
Lauren Smedley says she wants to prove that libraries aren't just about books. They are about free access to information and to technology — and not just to reading books or using computers, but actually building and making things.
last Friday, June 29, the Fayetteville Free Library launched officially the FFL Creation Lab. New York State Senator John DeFrancisco joined the opening, together with FFL Executive Director, Sue Considine and FFL team.
Fayetteville Free Library Press Release:
"Community members will have the opportunity to use this digital media lab to create and edit videos, podcasts and use design software that might otherwise be out of reach. The Lab will also offer: Mac desktop, Podcasting station, 2 MakerBot 3D Printer Stations, Adobe Suite, Mac Creative Suite, a Green Screen Wall, Camcorders and digital cameras available for check out. Patrons can use the lab for two hour blocks of time when they present a valid library card.
FFL Executive Director, Sue Considine, states, "The Fayetteville Free Library is emerging as a leader in the effort to create public access to the technologies, equipment, and software typically found only in specialized non-public environments.""The FFL Creation Lab will offer library patrons free and open access to the tools they need to 'create' and 'make.'"
Images credit/ source: FFL Fablab
Posted in Fab Lab
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The Librarians from Alexandria are doing their happy dance !!!!!