Monroe Lions Club Makes Donation for Library Project

The Monroe Lions Club President Adria Pearlman, Friends of the Library President Lorraine Riedel, and Library Director Lorna Rhyins announced a major donation from the Lions to the Friends of the Edith Wheeler Memorial Library to support new facilities for the public.

During the past year, and with input from the community, the library has worked with a designer to establish a plan to revitalize library services. Lions Club funds will support the majority of construction, equipment, and furniture costs for a new Makerspace, a coffee lounge, and a rejuvenated teen space. The entire area will be dubbed The Monroe Lions Club Co-op and Coffee Lounge in recognition of the $93,000 gift from the Lions to the Friends of the Library that is making the renovation possible.

The Makerspace is designed to be a town hub for creative thinkers to meet and collaborate on innovative projects. The space will contain a variety of equipment including but not limited to a 3-D printer, a Glowforge laser cutter and engraver, an embroidery machine, a Cricut digital cutting machine, a high resolution scanner for photos and slides, and a digital converter for VHS and DVD technology. Classes will be offered to teach people how to use the equipment with a focus on useful projects and cooperative enterprises. Once patrons have been certified to use a piece of equipment, they can schedule time in the Makerspace to pursue individual and group projects on their own time.

Located next to the Makerspace, the new coffee lounge will be a place to meet with friends and chat over coffee in a club chair next to the window or sit at a counter with a laptop. Patrons can purchase a good cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate or a cold drink and a pre-wrapped locally made muffin or pastry.

In addition to these new spaces, a relocated teen space will be updated with teen-friendly furniture, as well as a television with video games. Finally, a co-op area will include tables containing drop-in activities that lend themselves to collective creativity for all ages, such as a jigsaw puzzles, Lego kits, and sticker-by number posters.

“The goal of the project is to encourage creative community interaction, provide hands-on learning opportunities, and offer spaces for people to work independently in an environment that promotes a sense of inclusion,” says Rhyins. “On one side of the library, we will have a humming, active social space while the other side of the building will be dedicated to quieter pursuits.

“We are grateful to the Monroe Lions Club for making these exciting upgrades possible. Their generous donation will make the library a center for innovation and collaboration in the community.”

The library hopes to have all spaces updated and available to the public by the end of the year.

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“The mission of the Edith Wheeler Memorial Library is to enrich lives, foster success, and build community by bringing people, information, and ideas together in a welcoming environment.”