We did it. The Ames Free Library has been awarded a $40,000 Community Innovation Challenge Grant! Elated, incredulous, excited; when pressed for the reason we were among the chosen the answer was simple and succinct: INNOVATION. That is what the library strives for, and what we, as librarians who serve such a diverse community, are trying to communicate: the library is a place for innovation, for production and creativity, just as much as it is a place for consumption. Information comes in myriad forms, and sometimes you learn by doing. Why not be a doer at the library?
There are so many creative folks working hard all over town: cooking up new recipes in the kitchen, using yarn and thread to craft something beautiful, functional, or both, creating video, music, writing books and poems, welding in their garages, turning wood in their workshops, using found objects to remake something wonderful. There are so many diverse ways to create, and still such a great need for information, the exchange of information, and resources. Let's get to work and create something TOGETHER.
At the Queset House we have a vision, a "classy exterior, savvy interior." Taking that gorgeous building and transforming it into something the original architects could have never dreamed of. But something I think they would smile about just the same.
You can check out our Press Release HERE.
Very exciting. I am confident this well deserved funding will help to turn the Queset house creative common into a model facility and valuable asset for the town.
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