Brewerton — Thanks to grants from Sen. John A. DeFrancisco and the New York State Library Construction Aid Program, the Northern Onondaga Public Library (NOPL) @ Brewerton has added two unique spaces to its offerings: a creative play area and a preservation studio for old home movies and photos.
“NOPL @ Brewerton is a very small library, but it reflects the same big thinking that is transforming some of the largest libraries across the country into essential community resources for the digital age,” Community Information Librarian Michelle Waltos said in a release.
Nancy Boisseau, manager of NOPL @ Brewerton, said the preservation studio and the creative play area had a “soft opening” in mid-December. To officially celebrate the new spaces, NOPL @ Brewerton is hosting an open house from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 10.
The creative play area provides interactive opportunities for both young children and teenagers. Boisseau said the little ones can enjoy a puppet theater, a toy cash register and play food, large grid building blocks and even a microscope especially for toddlers. Older kids can incorporate STEM into their play with MagnaTiles building sets, Lego Mindstorms technology and a USB-connected microscope that comes with prepared slides to examine.
“I think parents really appreciate having a place where children can play for free with good-quality items, and all the while surrounded by books,” Boisseau said.
As for the preservation studio, Boisseau said patrons have been “very enthusiastic.” The studio features a VHS-to-DVD converter, Kodak photo and slide scanners and a Wolverine film negative converter. Patrons can watch video tutorials of this equipment at nopl.org/services/preservation-studio.
“We realize that a lot of people have things on formats that are no longer viable, like VHS and even paper photographs,” Boisseau said. “I’ve actually had people with tears in their eyes [once they learn that they’re] able to convert their VHS tapes and old photographs.”
Brewerton’s additions are in keeping with the trend of libraries diversifying their offerings as more readers shift to digital platforms. In addition to traditional books, NOPL lends bocce ball sets, thermal leak detectors and bike pumps.
“We are now trying to transition our public library to things that are new to public libraries that we think our patrons our taxpayers will enjoy,” Boisseau said. “We like to say the Brewerton library is more than just books.”
