About the Studio

In 2019, Hastings Memorial Library collaborated with the Library Innovation Studios: Transforming Rural Communities project to host a rotating Makerspace in the library. This learning environment provided the opportunity for adults and young people to access technology and stimulate creativity, innovation, and the exchange of ideas to facilitate entrepreneurship, skill development, and local economic development.

The library partnered with the Nebraska Library Commission, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska Innovation Studio, Nebraska Extension, and Regional Library Systems to enable collaborative community development efforts that bring together local libraries, extension educators, 4-H youth development specialists, business leaders, development professionals and volunteers, community organizations, educators, and other community stakeholders to take charge of the community they want to build—and to experiment with using a library Makerspace to help build it.

A National Leadership Grant of $715,732 awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to the Nebraska Library Commission supported this partnership effort. The project began July 1, 2017 and concluded June 30, 2021.

Upon conclusion of the Library Innovation Studios project, based on feedback from our hosting period, the library applied for and received a grant from the Nebraska Community Foundation to establish a permanent Makerspace at the library. This grant, along with support from local residents and the Hastings Memorial Library Foundation, allowed us to create a space for our community that supports the library’s mission of providing resources to further lifelong learning, cultural enrichment, recreation, and solutions to everyday problems.