Watertown Library Looking for Space to Allow Residents to be Creative and Learn Skills

Libraries have long become more than a place to read and check out books, and Watertown Free Public Library Director Leone Cole wants to expand the resources offered to residents by hosting an area for residents to be creative.

Cole told the Town Council she wants to add a "maker space" to the Watertown Library, which would have equipment and tools and even host classes. 

"With a maker space, people come to create with a printer, hand tools, a sewing machine or other tools," Cole said. 

Maker spaces cater to a variety of interests. Beehive Sewing in Northampton offers sewing equipment to people to use by the hour; Wheaton College has one with robot equipment, a 3-D printer and other tech equipment; and the Chimera Art & Maker Space in California has equipment for sewing, jewelry making, a 3-D printer and more. See more maker spaces here.

Watertown could have one area for adults and another for children.

"We have space for the children, but not for the adults (at the library)," Cole said. "We toured the basement of the former Police Station and it seems like a perfect size."

Councilor Cecilia Lenk liked the idea of the library hosting such a space.

"A lot of people in the community want programs where they can learn skills and at the library they can come together and create," Lenk said. "It would be very exciting for our community."

A maker space could help people learn about skills, both new and old, said Councilor Angeline Kounelis.

"We certainly have the marvels of technology," Kounelis said. "But we shouldn't lose sight of all the crafts that have been here for decades and centuries."