Beyond Books

3D printers, virtual reality, and cake pans—all that you’re missing out on at your local library

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On the third floor of the Lafayette Parish Main Library, hall the way to the back wall, behind the Science section, there is a room that librarian Sterling Birdwell describes as “the best-kept secret of the library.” It’s been there for almost a decade, he points out, but even regular library patrons frequently stumble across it incredulously, muttering “I had no idea this was here!”

Recently, I spent an hour in this buzzing back room that is the Lafayette Main Library’s Makerspace and Tech Lab with Birdwell and a handful of other library card holders, learning the basics of how to use the library’s 3D Printer. As someone with a certifiable ineptitude towards machinery in general, I’ve always been intimidated by the idea of using such a sophisticated apparatus.

“We’ve got a ten-year-old that’s been coming in for months,” said Birdwell. “He’s trying to build a robot, with ball and socket joints that can, like, rotate and move and have full accessibility. It’s been amazing to kind of watch him go through the trial and error process.”

Another guy has been working on a full-on fantasy village, he said—“Little roads and little inns and all.” A few years back, an Industrial Design student at the University of Louisiana Lafayette used the printer to create his final project, a prototype for a collapsible football helmet, designed to better absorb impact. “Really, within the limitations of our materials and time constraints, the sky is the limit to what you can create here,” said Birdwell. Most often, people use the printer to create little keepsakes—toys, replicas of characters they like—or to make more practical things: broken pieces of a sewing machine, a car part, a puzzle piece.

“At the core of it all is just providing something where, if people are willing to learn, we give them the resources and the opportunity that they can dive into something." —Sterling Birdwell

During the class, I kept my eye on the machine as it built micro-layer upon micro-layer, something indecipherable and organized growing taller beneath the buzzing arm as it moved back and forth.

Birdwell very simply explained how the machine worked, exhibiting a spool of the plastic filament, and describing the way it transforms into—well, pretty much whatever you want it to, within reason. With each of us sitting in front of one of the library’s laptops facing a big-screen projector, he walked us—step-by-step—through the process of making a replica of the Main Library using the free Tinkercad program. Quickly, I discovered that while I might be machine-averse, I am assuredly computer literate, and rapidly jumped over the learning curb. This was easy, I was delighted to discover. Possibilities for Christmas gifts, home décor, storage, hair accessories, and more started to run through my mind. For a few of the less-digitally inclined in the class, Birdwell patiently gave them the time they needed to feel comfortable with the program. If we wanted to print this tiny library, all we’d have to do is send it to the printer, and we’d get an email when the process was complete.

At the end of the hour, the printer had made considerable progress on the mysterious object it had been working on since we entered, but was far from finished with it. I asked Birdwell what it was meant to be, and he picked up a rook piece from the shelf: “This guy, he’s building an entire chess set,” he said.

Over the past decade, 3D printers—along with laser cutters, heat presses and other high-tech creative machinery—have become a part of public library offerings across the country. Responding to the rapid acceleration of the role technology plays in our daily lives, which has coincided with a rise in “making” or “DIY” culture—the modern library realizes that today’s patrons gather their information from places far beyond books.

“The mission of libraries are to connect people with information and resources,” emphasized Heather Riley, the Interim Director of Public Services at the New Orleans Public Library. “We traditionally have books, because for the majority of history, books were where you got all of your information . . . But today’s libraries are adapting to the times, and expanding into places we haven’t traditionally been in.”

[Read about NUNU Arts & Culture Collective in Arnaudville's Maker's Space here.]

Part of this expansion has come with the rise of designated Makerspaces, such as in Lafayette’s system, as well as Baton Rouge’s. Conceived as a tinkering paradise, a place to be curious and explore creativity using technology that is often difficult to access, Makerspaces have evolved in recent years from small rooms with sewing machines and piles of construction paper to small-scale factories, totally open to the public for free or for the marginal cost of materials.

Speaking to the rarity of opportunities for people, particularly adults, to experiment with new skills and try new things, STEM Librarian for the East Baton Rouge Parish Library (EBRPL) Adam St. Pierre described Makerspaces as places “for people to come together and be creative outside of those traditional school spaces, and to learn together, maybe fail a little bit, without judgment.”

The 3D Printer tends to be a centerpiece of most modern Makerspaces, and can be accessed by patrons at various library branches in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, and at the New Orleans Main Library’s Best Buy Teen Center—which is targeted to ages thirteen to eighteen. “The cute octopi and characters people make with the printer are a lovely side effect,” said Mary Stein, Assistant Library Director at EBRPL. “But we really got it so that people can experiment and bring their creations to life, or learn to solve problems—to make the missing part on their old Singer sewing machine.”

“We had someone make a trailer hitch once,” laughed St. Pierre. “We had it sent off and printed it, and we were like, ‘Hey, keep in mind that this is plastic.’”

“People really enjoy the personalization stuff, too,” he said, adding that some of the EBRPL branches’ most used machines are the Cricut Maker Electronic Cutters, Laser Cutters, CNC Routers, and Heat Presses—all of which allow patrons to create intricate designs with unparalleled precision on paper, vinyl, wood, and more. “People can use the Cricut and the heat press to make t-shirts, tote bags, personalized mugs,” St. Pierre said. Using the laser cutter, one patron at the Lafayette library engraved a cutting board with their grandmother’s gumbo recipe. “It’s just fantastic to see what people can come up with,” said Birdwell.

Other tools one might find in the makerspaces include sewing apparatuses and knitting materials, sublimation printers—which print designs directly onto fabric, green screens, DSLR cameras, typewriters, binding machines, and even robotics kits. People of all ages come into the makerspaces, said Stein, but it’s been especially popular with adults. “Clubs use it,” she said, as do local organizations and businesses like the Recreation and Park Commission (BREC), the Boy Scouts, the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge,  and Knock Knock Children’s Museum—which has used the printer and laser cutter to create builds of everything from DNA molecules to dinosaur bones. “People make things for family reunions, Mardi Gras krewes. People can make things for their small business.” Birdwell said that he’s seen several Etsy makers taking advantage of the library’s technology and machinery—things they wouldn’t necessarily have access to create with otherwise.

“I learned how to repair my own shirts over here,” he said, pointing out that not only does the library offer the tools, but also education on how to use them. Libraries in the Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans systems regularly host workshops, like the one I attended on 3D printing, focusing on how to use and make the most of the machines in the makerspace; and the librarians make themselves available to assist folks as much as possible. “At the core of it all is just providing something where, if people are willing to learn, we give them the resources and the opportunity that they can dive into something,” Birdwell went on. “They can use these machines, they can try out the software, and we can kind of break it down and just whatever they want to learn about today, we can help prepare that first step for them.”

As these offerings continue to expand and evolve within their communities, new opportunities are always emerging. When plans were initially underway for the EBRPL River Center Library, which opened in 2020, librarians were noticing that the young people taking part in the library’s summer film camps were asking for a way to put soundtracks on their movies. “Teenagers were always asking about some way to make music they could keep and then apply to other projects,” said Stein. So, when planning the makerspace for that branch, the library carved out a corner for a recording studio. “A small band could go in there and make a demo tape,” she said. “Or, you could come in and practice using the deck.” And then, she said, there came the podcasts.

Today, the River Center Branch’s soundproof professional recording studio is used for podcasting more than anything else—granting patrons free access and training to use a state-of-the-art soundboard, microphones, and PreSonus Studio One software. Young people at the New Orleans Main Library can also take advantage of the Teen Center’s soundbooth Music Studio, which is equipped with podcast-friendly tools as well as instruments for patrons to experiment with music-making.

One of the most revolutionary experiences being offered by local libraries at all three systems is the use of Virtual Reality Headsets. These provide ample opportunities for gaming and exploration within the library, as well as for external programming. “It’s one of those things that we’re seeing starting to creep into the mainstream,” said EBRPL librarian Wesley Morgan. “But it’s also this huge thing of, ‘Oh, I don’t know, these are expensive, I really don’t want to get my hands messy with them. And we’re like ‘No, it’s okay, like you can do it.’”

On one occasion, EBRPL brought the headsets to the Humana Neighborhood Center for a program that focused on “touring the world”—setting them virtually in front of the Eiffel Tower, or in the middle of Times Square. “It just totally blew their minds,” said EBRPL Reference Services Coordinator Andrew Tadman. “The look on their faces just kept with me.”

Looking beyond the fun and games, EBRPL recently partnered with Interplay Learning to offer patrons access to the SkillMill training platform, which joins VR and augmented reality with education and training opportunities. “We’re moving into more of the job readiness field, with applications of entrepreneurship,” said St. Pierre. Through SkillMill, users can take part in training simulations—either through VR headsets or on their desktop—that develop skills in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and appliance repair. “There are possibilities for job readiness, for people who just want to be better at maintenance around their apartment complex, who want to be able to fix their air conditioner,” said Stein. “As well as a pre-recruitment tool, or on-the-job training.”   

“And people don’t realize what’s available to them,” emphasized Birdwell. “They don’t even know.”

In this way, technology and experimentation join the library’s long-developed commitment to supporting its community’s workforce. EBRPL’s career center offers free one-on-one career coaching, interview prep, assistance with resumes and cover letters, and more. New Orleans’ “Book a Librarian” program allows you to simply reserve an hour with someone who has expertise in various aspects of technology and job readiness. For small businesses, all three library systems offer extensive free access to business planning tools, databases and demographic reports, training programs, and more.

This is all at the heart of what a library is meant to do, said Riley. “I think that all of these things are just part of connecting anybody who wants it with information and access to resources. It’s a key part of democracy, and a key part of community.”

In New Orleans, the state’s crowned cultural jewel, this extends to patrons’ experience of their city. Through the library’s Culture Pass program, any New Orleans library cardholder can reserve free entry into several of the city’s cultural institutions, including the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Audubon Nature Institute Zoo and Aquarium, the National World War II Museum, and more. More recently, the library launched Crescent City Sounds—a free streaming platform made up of exclusively-local artists. Noting the library’s long-held work of preserving the city’s history in its archives, Riley said that “Crescent City Sounds was our push to sort of start preserving our culture, our current culture, as well as our history.”

The books aren’t going anywhere, and the library will always be built upon the value of literature—and the belief that everyone should have access to the information it holds. But the concept of equal access to enrichment is one with infinite potential, a thrilling truth that has resulted in a spirit of innovation when it comes to community resources. “And people don’t realize what’s available to them,” emphasized Birdwell. “They don’t even know.”

For example, did you know that you can borrow cake pans from the New Orleans library? Or tools? Or use seeds—as many as you’d like—from the Cita Dennis Hubbell Seed Library in Mid City? (These, you don’t have to return.) In Lafayette, you can borrow musical instruments for months at a time—electric guitars, Cajun triangles, dulcimers, ukuleles. And this isn’t even scraping the surface of all of the year-round programming that takes place at each library branch across the state, featuring live music, author talks, workshops in everything from homesteading to robotics, and children’s activities.

“As they say,” said Stein. “Lifelong learning starts at the library.” 

In this article, we featured library programming and resources at three of the biggest urban hubs we cover: New Orleans, East Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. But our efforts are by no means exhaustive. Wherever you may live in our region, Louisiana libraries are likely doing more than you realize. Stop by your local branch to learn more about what’s being offered. You never know what you’ll find.