Florida: Orlando Public Library’s New $2.5 Million, 26,000 Sq Ft Tech-Learning Center Opens this Weekend

From the Orlando Sentinel:

After almost eight months of construction, the Orlando Public Library [part of the Orange County Library System] is set to unveil a groundbreaking high-tech learning and job-training center.
The Dorothy Lumley Melrose Center for Technology, Innovation & Creativity opens to the public with a ribbon-cutting at noon Saturday, following a preview gala for public officials and other dignitaries on Friday night.

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The 26,000-square-foot center, which takes up about half of the downtown library’s second floor, includes a recording studio, sound booths, film studio with green screen, simulators, and a fabrication lab with 3-D printers.
Mary Anne Hodel, CEO and director of the Orange County Library System, expects the center to serve as a model for other libraries, noting that she’s fielding inquiries about it from around the country.
“There are individual libraries that will have a fab lab or a small video studio,” she said. “But no public library in the country has all of these features in one space. I think it is trend-setting.”

Direct to Lists of Equipment Available at Melrose Center for Technology, Innovation & Creativity
Direct to The Dorothy Lumley Melrose Center for Technology, Innovation & Creativity Web Site
Direct to Melrose Center Blog and “Behind the Scenes” Posts
See Also: Orlando Library Donation to Build Creative Technology Center (via LJ; April 18, 2012)

Filed under: Libraries, News, Public Libraries