Dakota County Newsletter - Fall/Winter 2024 - iLAB Creative Spaces

Getting creative

iLAB Creative Spaces give you access to technology and tools

Dakota County Library customers can explore their creative side at all 10 library locations.

We’ve expanded iLAB Creative Spaces, giving you more opportunity to work on creative projects and to share ideas and collaborate with others in your community.

iLABs offer technology and craft tools to help residents of all ages and interests. iLABs provide technology and equipment that some residents may not have access to due to availability, high costs or other factors.

Using the iLAB

Whether it’s digitizing old family photos, making a dress, creating a 3D object or trying new technology for the first time, the library’s iLAB Creative Spaces offer residents a convenient place to explore, create and learn.

Dakota County residents can make all kinds of projects in an iLAB anytime they want during regular library hours for free. We offer classes and online tutorials to help you get familiar with the equipment as well as one-on-one appointments with staff or volunteers. You can reserve equipment through the library’s online reservation system for up to four hours at a time. There were more than 6,300 iLAB equipment reservations in 2023.

Creating memories, making connections

Beyond the opportunity for individuals and groups to explore their creativity, iLABs give users opportunities to make meaningful connections and memories.

A pair of friends began meeting and using the sewing machine at the Heritage Library iLAB space in Lakeville a couple years ago to make bags and other items together. The space, which they typically visit at least once a week, not only provided a place to make creative projects, but also to catch up with one another socially.

Using the iLAB as frequently as they did, one of the friends also took advantage of a scanner to digitize old family photos.

iLAB users at other locations reflect the usefulness of having a dedicated space to collaborate, share and create their own projects.

Wanting to make all her late husband’s photo slides accessible to future generations, a resident visited the Wescott Library iLAB to scan and digitize the images he captured during his years as a photographer.

An electronic paper-cutting machine that connects to a computer was used by a resident who worked in a birthing center at a hospital to cut stickers to label bottles.

A girl scout worked alongside a volunteer sewing mentor to create a fidget lap quilt to donate the VA Hospital.

These are just a few of the many ways residents use iLAB Creative Spaces. They’re the perfect place for you to learn about new technology and work on a wide range of projects in a collaborative and accessible space.

For more information, visit www.dakotacounty.us/library, search iLAB.