Tools and tech from Stratford library's MakerSpace now available to borrow
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With another provincewide stay-at-home order limiting access to in-person services, Stratford’s public library is expanding the number of items users can borrow to include the popular tools and technology available in its MakerSpace.
Slide scanners, vinyl cutters and heat presses are part of kits borrowable now for up to a week. More recording and design equipment, such as podcast mics, halo lights and drawing tablets, will also become available throughout the spring.
“These kits are a wonderful creative outlet and an important way for the community to access new technologies,” systems librarian Krista Robinson said in a press release. “We know that during the pandemic, people have been exploring new skills and hobbies. However, with many people out of work, purchasing specialty equipment is not always possible. That’s where the library comes in.”
The MakerSpace has already pivoted once during the pandemic by introducing virtual appointments for users interested in learning new software, getting advice on a project, or sending designs to be printed or cut by staff.
“It’s been a new, awesome challenge and it’s been picked up quite well,” MakerSpace assistant Eric Ball said.
One of the benefits the virtual appointments have offered is more one-on-one time with staff, but Ball has missed the sense of community the MakerSpace was fostering when it could host up to 10 people working on a variety of different projects. Offering the technology to people at home could be a way to reconnect, he said.
“The whole idea of it is to provide tech to anyone who already has a library card to take home, to try it out, to learn a new skill and experiment with it without any cost to themselves.”
Some of the more involved tools do require a training session before they can be borrowed, Ball added. Staff are also available to anyone who encounters a problem with borrowed equipment.
The library is making its MakerSpace tools available to borrow with funding from Perth Community Futures and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, who believe the program can be especially beneficial to small business owners now working more from home.
“This is an incredible opportunity for our community to access tools that will help to support and grow their business at a critical time, said Meghan Marshall, the general manager of Perth Community Futures.
More information is available on the library’s website.
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