Library launching virtual reality space
— Not that long ago, a trip to the public library just allowed you the chance to sign out a book with a paper card.
You can still get books, of course. But a visit to Kitchener Public Library could soon mean the chance to slip on a pair of virtual reality goggles and step onto a computergenerated Icelandic moor, with seabirds wheeling overhead as you toss sticks for a virtual-reality robotic dog.
The virtual reality space is one of the first new features that will be part of the library’s ambitious new Studio Central digital media studio, which the library is unveiling Tuesday at a fundraising event.
The plan is that within the next year or two, the central branch of the library will offer a wide range of digital resources, where patrons can, free of charge, create their own video game, learn to code, record music, edit a podcast or use one of several 3D printers.
“Libraries have always been about literacy,” said library chief executive Mary Chevreau.
“We’re in the information age, and the skills you will need to communicate, to conduct business, to create and enjoy entertainment are all in the digital realm.”
The library believes the target audience for the new digital studios will be broad, from people who would otherwise not have access to digital tools, to budding artists hoping to cut a demo tape, but who haven’t the funds to rent professional recording space. Or businesses and entrepreneurs who want to hold webinars or create podcasts or digital promotional material.
The studio will expand gradually as money becomes available, adding video recording and broadcast studios, editing suites, a green-screen room and a gaming living room where a group of gamers could play together, watching the game on several large screens.
The studio builds on the digital services the library already offers, such as a 3D printer, digital music station, and stations where users can convert photo negatives, slides or VHS videotape to digital files.
On Wednesday, the library unveils the first major addition to the digital lab, a virtual reality space.
Anyone with a library card who’s at least four feet tall can book a session in the three-by-three-metre room, put on the headset and step into a virtual universe. The library offers a mix of virtual games as well as educational experiences such as exploring the solar system or the oceans in virtual reality, or trying out different jobs in a virtual simulator.
More and more libraries across Canada — from Halifax to Vancouver — are offering digital media, said Bob Egan, the former Blue Rodeo pedal-steel player and now the library’s manager of community connections and developments.
Every venue that has offered digital media services has found enthusiastic uptake, Egan said.
“Afterwards, they’re thinking, ‘How did we ever survive without this?’
“Often they’re put in as the demand from the community arises,” he said.
“They’re retrofitted into whatever space is there. We’re going about it much more purposefully.”
The hope is to create flexible space that can pivot between audio and video, production and broadcasting, as demand arises.
The studio space is being paid for entirely out of donated money and equipment, said Chevreau, who said it didn’t seem appropriate to ask the city for money just two years after the library unveiled a $49million expansion.
“We believe there’s enough interest in the community that we can fundraise” the $300,000 the library expects to need to build out the studio, Chevreau said.
“The support and interest I’m seeing from the community is almost, it’s overwhelming,” Egan said, adding that local tech businesses and workers, as well as both universities, Conestoga College and local school boards have all expressed interest.
Offering free access to digital tools is a natural fit with the library’s mission, Chevreau said.
“It’s about literacy, whether it’s print, whether it’s coding, whether it’s figuring out how to mix a record.
“The library has always been about literacy, about learning, about being an open space where everyone can feel welcome.”
Afterwards, they’re thinking, ‘How did we ever survive without this?’ BOB EGAN Manager of community connections