Nearly $1 million donation fuels Creation Station project in libraries

Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation's $947,000 grant will help county libraries to install 3-D printers, sewing machines and more.

By Amelia Hanks
| 4:51 p.m. December 10, 2018

Laura Hampton is one of the librarians who teaches people who come to the Creation Stations how to use the technology.

Sarasota
News

There will soon be a spot in nearly all of Sarasota County's libraries for patrons to sit down and use a 3-D printer, sewing machines, virtual reality goggles and more.

Creation Stations are now accessible for library cardholders in two locations, but thanks to a nearly $1 million donation from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, the program will be expanded in the next few years. All libraries except for Osprey Library at Historic Spanish Point and Venice Library at the Hamilton Building will have Creation Stations.

Sarabeth Kalajian, the director of Sarasota County Library System and Margery Barancik catch up.

Teri Hansen, the president and CEO of the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, said libraries should be for everyone, and the foundation's donation helps make that possible.

“These Creation Stations keep the libraries relevant and bring young and old together,” she said. “Where else can we give a gift where everyone in the community can have access?”

The grant consists of $947,000 specifically for the Creation Station initiative.

The Selby Public Library in downtown and Shannon Staub Library in North Port are the only libraries with Creation Stations. The Selby Library’s Creation Station is equipped with a 3-D printer, sewing machines, virtual reality machines, computers and green screen technology.

Sarabeth Kalajian, the director of Sarasota County Library and Historical Resources, said libraries keep reinventing themselves through the use of technology and new forms of media.

“We see kids all the times sharing with seniors at the Creation Station. Seniors are showing kids how to sew and kids are showing seniors how to use a 3-D printer. It’s decreasing isolation,” said Kalajian.

Once the plan is fully implemented, each Creation Station in the Sarasota Public Library System will be tailored to the community it anchors and will feature a different mix of equipment. A mobile Creation Station will also be set up, said Isabel Norton, chairwoman of the Library Foundation of Sarasota County.

“We’re going to bring a mobile station wherever we need to,'' she said. "We can bring it to the Boys and Girls Club or wherever it needs to be. It’s important to keep changing and growing with the communities. When I’m gone there might not be books on these shelves, and the library has to grow with the community.”