The L.E.A.F. Initiative is a Commonwell program to support capacity, resiliency and growth in the communities we call home.

Norfolk County Public Library: Expand Makerspaces for Enriched Community Engagement

48 Colborne St. S. SimcoeN3Y 4H3

Target Completion Date: April 29, 2023

What is this project about?

Norfolk County Public Library will refresh, improve, and expand the equipment and technologies offered at the MakerSpaces in each branch with well-equipped spaces, available for people of all ages and abilities to engage in multi-level learning opportunities using technologies, digital equipment, and software programs. The Library will offer learning and training opportunities at all five branches, in these spaces, and with the proposed equipment, focused on building skills and competencies for participants to use technologies and prepare our community for cities, workplaces, and more technologically enabled resources.
New and additional technologies and equipment provide opportunities for engaging with the community, allowing patrons to problem-solve, express themselves creatively, and collaborate with others in the MakerSpace. The community comes to the Library to learn to use the equipment to support local causes or their own small businesses, both in terms of public promotion and creating purpose-built tools and solutions. This enhanced space will be suitable for STEAM programming for children and teens, community groups, and individuals.
To bring awareness of these learning opportunities and resources to the community, the Library plans marketing strategies in partnership with local agencies and the County. A component of these learning opportunities includes developing partnerships with professionals to lead educational sessions designed to meet community and individual needs. The Library will develop a plan for staff training to build skills and expertise and a capacity to teach library patrons and community members to use this equipment and technologies.

Why is this project important to the community?

Norfolk County is a largely rural community with an acute economic and digital divide. Access to these versatile, high-end, and practical technologies, out of reach on an individual direct-to-consumer basis, instills a notion of being valued within the community. This feeling of being valued and included among individuals inspires participation and engagement, strengthening the community. We believe that these additional technologies and equipment will become the hub of the MakerSpace centres at each Branch. These have the potential to become places that foster a spirit of collaboration and creative problem-solving. Libraries are community hubs, bringing people together, fostering lifelong learning, and helping address the digital divide. This project to expand and refresh the MakerSpaces offers an opportunity to help close that gap by providing free access to technologies, software, and technology training through which we help facilitate deeper connectivity to bridge the acute economic and digital divide within our rural community.