SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah — The library is of course a wonderful source to find reading material.
Row after row of books on every topic known to man.
But there’s another side of the library you might not know about.
FOX 13’s Kerri Cronk took a tour of one branch of the Salt Lake County Library and found a treasure trove of items to either use at the library or check out.
One section of the library is called “Createspace.”
“This is all of our virtual reality and robotics equipment that you can come and play with inside of the branch,” said Marrissa Hodges, Public Relations Coordinator with the Salt Lake County Library. “What would this be used for,” Kerri asked. “That looks like an Oculus.” “So
you can actually break this out here and get a little virtual reality experience,” Hodges answered. “Kids will also play – and adults, I should say, adults, the big kids – robots, make them dance, make them speak.”
There’s a section for textile crafts.
“So we have sewing machines and embroidery machines. So all you have to do here is bring your own project and thread and you can use the machines,” Hodges said. “Back here we have some of our vinyl and sublimation printing. So you can print out items to heat press onto shirts or cups, all sorts of great creative projects that you can do over here.”
There are laser cutters so bring your own wood and make your own creations.
“We charge like a small fee just to keep the equipment running, but it's pennies,” Hodges said. “And then over here we have 3d printing, which we have some, some projects going and several created projects.”
Patrons can submit their project, staff will get the printing going, and the product is usually completed in a day or two.
The “Library of Things” also has some really unique things that can be checked out.
“So anything from Chromebooks and hotspots to get you started on school projects you do have telescopes,” Hodges said. “One item that we are so excited to offer now are our GoPros. These are new to the Library of Things this year, and these are available for checkout to go with you on your next adventure, document your next report or experiment, you can check these out and take them along with you.”
For more information click here.
All Salt Lake County residents are welcome to use any of this equipment, and of course, check out books.
