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Since late 2011, when the Fayetteville Public Library received widespread media attention for its hackerspace, 3D printers slowly began appearing in libraries around the world, particularly in the United States.
By Cory Doctorow: "New Scientist Smithsonian building archive of printable 3D scans -Boing Boing..." "Sarah Taylor Sulick from the Smithsonian sez, "Unfortunately we have no plans to make 3D scans of our collection freely available for the public to print. The CNET story is a bit misleading on that point. Our 3-D team mentioned that we COULD go there theoretically, but as of right now it is not part of our plan. The reality is also that we have 137M objects in our collection and only 2 people working on this project. So we are no where near being able to scan everything and essentially never will be." Now, with that high-end scanner, as well as less expensive tools that include normal digital cameras and freely available cloud-based digitization software, Metallo and his fellow 3D digitization coordinator Vince Rossi are slowly setting out to begin building a new Smithsonian digital archive. They hope this initiative will eventually lead to scores of 3D printed exhibits, as well as countless 3D models that could theoretically be used in the museums, in schools, or just about anywhere people have an interest in the Smithsonian's vast physical holdings..."
'As information becomes more and more digital, public libraries are striving to redefine their roles. A small number are working to create "hackerspaces," where do-it-yourselfers share sophisticated tools as well as expertise.' 'The Allen County Public Library, which serves the city of Fort Wayne, Ind., has a modest hackerspace inside a trailer in its parking lot. Library director Jeff Krull says hosting it is consistent with the library's mission.' "We see the library as not being in the book business, but being in the learning business and the exploration business and the expand-your-mind business," he says. "We feel this is really in that spirit, that we provide a resource to the community that individuals would not be able to have access to on their own."
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By LAURESHA XHIHANI: WESTPORT, Conn. (AP) — The hottest attraction at the Westport Library is not a book or collection of DVDs, but rather two manufacturing units. At the heart of the spacious library, an area called MakerSpace has been carved out to encourage creativity and the spirit of invention. Inside the space are two MakerBot Replicator machines — 3D printers, as they are more commonly known. The stuff they can do is amazing.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/3D-printers-turn-library-into-place-of-dreams-4265293.php#ixzz2KZd7GCqz
Westport Public Library unveils "Maker Space"- The Hour "The "Maker Space," located in the Great Hall of the Westport Public Library, provides a place for people to tinker with their ideas by taking them on a journey from imagination to actual production. Unveiled on July 2, the space is the first of its kind to be opened inside a library in Connecticut under the notion that libraries should adapt to meet the modern needs of the people they serve." [...] "Equipped with a 3D printer, which creates three-dimensional objects from digital files, the interactive workspace crafted to resemble a house, is chock full of technology to help bring your invention to life. In essence, the Maker Space acts as a home for the "garage inventor" and tinkerer who uses technology to create something new."
Video of Lauren’s final project for the “Innovation in Public Libraries” class taught by Meg Backus and Thomas Gokey "We want to see 3D printing, FabLabs and Hackerspaces become a regular feature--in addition to its other services--at every public library in the country. This is a description of our proposal to create a FabLab in the Fayetteville Free Library and gives a brief introduction to what 3D printing is and how revolutionary it will be for those who are unfamiliar with it. A FabLab is a fabrication laboratory (or a fabulous laboratory). A hackerspace is just a public library under a different name (although I’m not aware of any hackerspaces that are publicly funded, its time to change that!). It is a place where people gather to share their knowledge and help each other make whatever project they are currently working on. This video was made in support of Lauren Britton-Smedley’s proposal to create a pilot FabLab at the Fayetteville Free Library.
"The Fayetteville Free Library is installing a hackerspace/fablab with 3D printers, CNC routers and other equipment, available free to the public as a community space for making. The project is led by librarian Lauren Smedley..." "The Fayetteville Free Library where Smedley works is building a Fab Lab — short for fabrication laboratory — that will provide free public access to machines and software for manufacturing and making things." "The potential for 3D printers to revolutionize manufacturing as we know it is huge: imagine being able to design and then manufacture — or “print” — whatever you want. Moreoever, imagine the tools of manufacturing being in the hands of everyone, not just giant factories (and remember, since this is a public library, this is really putting the technology in the hands of everyone, not just those that can afford a membership at a traditional hackerspace)."
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