The Johnson County Library Foundation recently announced a $70,360 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
The funds will boost the scope of the MakerSpace at the Central Resource Library, 9875 West 87th Street, Overland Park, Kan.
The MakerSpace opened in 2013. It’s where you can learn to sew, record music, or print something in 3-D.
Kate McNair, teen services coordinating librarian, says demand for the MakerSpace, with its tools and technology, exceeds capacity.
"We have a Cosplay group that meets there, with teens who sew their own outfits, and we have a sewing machine and materials for them," McNair says. "We have people in there designing artwork, we have animation, [and] people using the green screen for different projects."
Susan Mong, executive director of the Library Foundation, says patrons have grown to expect participatory learning environments, "areas where the community can be exposed to new technologies, and play and learn and just have that access really."
Mong says plans are in the works to increase the MakerSpace to about six times its current size. There will also be more MakerKits, including laptops and media software technology, to take to other library branches.
