After a couple of years in the planning and building – I finally managed to take a walk through the new Granite library in South Salt Lake City today. I’ll be honest it’s been a while since I’ve wandered a library, and wow, the times have changed. Open since mid July this year, the library has really embraced the opportunity to offer something unique and new to the local community. There are of course books, plenty of them, but that’s really just a jumping off point as the facility re-imagines with a modern library can offer to the neighborhood.
Central to the 33,000 square foot facility for me is the new creator space – a loaded room of gadgets that grant access to a range of advanced tech that many won’t ordinarily be able to afford nor operate at home.
3D printers greet visitors to the creator space, a duo of machines to the left of the entrance. The library charges a tiny fee of $0.50 per print and $0.05 per gram of filament used. From there, plenty of other high end stuff is all available for use by would be makers and creators.
The facility also offers VR gadgets, robotics, laser cutters, sublimation printers and equipment for sewing and embroidery. As you walk through the room be sure to head to the back where you will find a fully loaded AV suite. The room is setup to the nines with gear for podcasting and video production. There’s even a full “walk in” green screen backed stage. It’s seriously impressive stuff – and it’s free – as long you have that library card handy.
Now where did I leave mine…
