Broken Bow Library Continues Growing Through Grants and Makerspace

Broken Bow Library Continues Growing Through Grants and Makerspace
All ages attended the Broken Bow Public Library's Makerspace open house in August.

BROKEN BOW – On August 23, the library hosted an open house for their new, permanent Makerspace. Over $9,000 in Grant money was awarded to the library as part of the ARPA Library Improvement grants to be used to create a library Makerspace and Explore Center.

Now available at the library is a Glowforge Laser Cutter which can cut, engrave, and score on a variety of materials, two Cricut cutting machines for cutting paper, vinyl, and fabric, a button maker, two Oculus Quest V.R. headsets, and a Nintendo Switch.

The open house was attended by over 70 people. The Makerspace is open during library hours for individuals to use for their DIY projects, with Tuesday afternoons from 4:30-5:30 and Friday Mornings from 10:30-11:30 for training sessions with library staff.

The library will also be hosting project programs where staff will be training and walking patrons through the process of a DIY project on one of the pieces of equipment.

The library also purchased an AWE Learning Tablet through the ARPA Youth Services Grant. AWE Learning provides literacy-focused digital learning solutions for early learners.

As the world changes, the library strives to offer resources to support the community through the changes. The library was one of 150 libraries nationwide selected to receive the PLA Digital Literacy Workshop Incentive. This grant will make available the resources needed for the library to offer free technology classes to the community.

These grants are great opportunities for the library to add new resources and experiences for the Community and reduce the tax dollars required for the library.

In August the Broken Bow Library was selected to represent Nebraska libraries in the ALL 50 2022 Project and received a letter from the Governor congratulating the library on the selection. This project highlights the services that rural libraries provide to the community, a copy of which is below.

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