The Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System celebrated a milestone Friday with the grand opening of the Tech Hub, an array of output devices now available to any library card holder.
Located on the second floor of the 823 Telfair St. main library, the hub includes a Glowforge 3D laser printer, two Flash Force 3D printers, a button maker, four PCs loaded with Adobe Creative Suite, a green-screen setup, digital video, still photo and streaming equipment, a MPK mini keyboard and Beats production kit, two Sphere Bolt robots and “much more,” said Emanuel Sinclair Mitchell, library system director.
The tech hub, made possible by the second-oldest library system in the United States, “has something for everyone,” Mitchell said.
The hub will “eliminate barriers” and enable makers to “dream big,” he said.
“If we do not create a successful gateway to inspire the next generation, who will? The library is here to make the impossible possible,” he said.
View a video of the grand opening here.
Morris Porter, chairman of the library system board, said the hub houses equipment typically only available at a college-level institution.
The hub is “a gateway to a world which can foster and inspire creativity.,” he said.
Noah Abrams, a fellow with Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson’s office, recalled visiting the new hub headquarters as a child, when it was simply a quiet place to read.
“Now, this is where we can go to create and making something of ourselves and something of our dreams,” Abrams said.
Former Mayor Hardie Davis said the hub would help bridge “the digital divide” in the cyber capital.
“This is what Augusta really should be about. We can’t call ourselves the cyber security capital of the nation, and we are, without creating an opportunity like this,” he said.
