Slots for the West Library advisory fill up every day, but many students still don’t realize all that the library has to offer. There are so many untapped resources available that most simply don’t know about. Everyone in the school has access to a craft room and a 3D printer that can be used at any time before school and during advisory. There’s almost always some sort of fun activity going on, between coloring competitions and bracelet making. Many also overlook the actual books in the library, not realizing that they can check out more than just their assigned readings for English class.
Just left of the entrance to the Lincoln Way West library, there is a room full of materials such as beads, markers, and yarn along with tools like scissors, crochet hooks and even knitting needles. The craft room has so much to offer, yet few students take advantage of it. One frequent crafter, Jalina Klingler, recommends using the craft room if interested. She told us that her favorite pastime in the room is bracelet making and says that the craft room has “many miscellaneous activities and supplies, so you can do different stuff all of the time.” Another user of the craft room, Abigail Rickey, says that she enjoys coloring. It is a safe space for all to express their creativity together at Lincoln Way West.
Another feature of the library seldom taken advantage of is the 3D printer available for any student to use for free. There are so many possibilities with this printer, yet many don’t realize its potential. To get more insight on the printer and its functions, we asked Noah Stamborski, who runs the printer and takes student submissions. According to Noah, nearly anything that isn’t overly complicated can be made by the printer, like Labubus, movie characters, animals, or flowerpots. He has printed “over two hundred unique objects” in his four years running the printer. The most common submission by students are dragons, like Toothless and the Ender Dragon. But how do you go about submitting a request? A likely reason more students don’t make use of the library’s 3D printer is that they don’t know how, although it is an extremely simple process. To make a submission, there is a QR code to the left of the printer, which is to the right of the librarians’ desk. When scanned, the code leads to a form which lets a student request any item they can think of. It’s very simple, as Noah explains, “There are only two things you actually need to fill out, that being your name and what you want.” Despite the simplicity of the process, only fifty-seven students this year have made submissions. The creation of a typical object, such as a Labubu, only “takes about eight hours.” The opportunity to have a 3D printer available to use at nearly any time is something that many students at West don’t take advantage of, and another amazing feature of the LWW Library.
