A 3D printer is set up for use at Hatch
By Megan Miras.
Hatch is a room set aside in the Kirkendall Public Library in Ankeny full of twenty-first century software and equipment to educate the public about technology used to communicate and design.
The official ribbon cutting was Monday, Sept. 16. It has since been open to the public for tours. They are currently taking reservations to use the equipment.
Hatch contains a 3-D printer, green screen, high definition camcorder, digital camera, photo printer, lego robotics, audio cassettes, Singer 9960 sewing machine, Serger, body forms, and more!
About $12,000 was invested in Hatch, which came from the library, the Kirkendall Public Library Foundation and Friends of the Library.
As far as Public Services Librarian Joy King knows, there are a couple of places in Chicago, but Kirkendall is the first in Iowa to make equipment like that found in Hatch open to the public.
According to King, the philosophy of Hatch is, “the library is a community center…information and creativity have always been provided to us in books, now we are looking for it in technology.”
Hatch is free for the public to use as long as you have a Kirkendall public library card. A driver’s license with a current address or driver’s license with a piece of mail containing a current address is needed. To use Hatch, you must only pay for your materials. For sewing, it is fifty cents per bobbin. Photo printing ranges from twenty-five cents for a 4” by 6” to five dollars for a 13” by 9”. For the 3-D printer, they charge twenty-five cents per 15 minutes of printing. This is still a fairly new concept, so to make something with the 3-D printer is time-consuming. To make about a 3” by 5” by 3” pencil holder made of plastic took about four hours. Patrons are allowed to begin printing the process, leave and return when it is finished.
The equipment can all be rented out in two hour blocks of time. It is recommended patron reserve their spot seven days in advance.
Hatch is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday 2-4 p.m. The library staff is available to help 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, and 10-2 p.m. Saturdays. The staff is not always available, the library is strongly encouraging people to come in and apply as mentors. Mentors are people who are experienced enough with the technology to train others how to use it. Patrons would need to contact a mentor and schedule an appointment. To be a mentor, contact Joy King for an application.
The Serger is a partner to the sewing machine for making t-shirts and more. The library has considered offering a class to make cloth bags. They have someone experienced in creating, so they are now looking for enough people to show an interest in taking the class. To join the class, contact Joy King at the Kirkendall Public Library.
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