Community Corner
Studio 300 to Bring Audio, Video Creation Lab to Fountaindale Library
The $3 million creative space is set to open in spring 2013 and will include sound and video recording studios and a media editing computer center.
Want to record a podcast? Make a video? Edit photos?
Starting next spring, Fountaindale Public Library will open an audio and video creative space in its basement.
The $3 million space -- dubbed "Studio 300" -- will include six sound recording studios and two video recording studios. There will be three group collaboration rooms, video conferencing capabilities and a computer center with Mac's and PC's equipped with photo, audio and video editing software. The space will be 7,000 square feet total.
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The recording rooms will vary in size to accommodate both an individual recording a podcast and a dance group making a music video. Studio 300 will be specially sound-proofed to keep noise from bleeding into other rooms.
Don't know how to use editing software? Staff will be on hand to help.
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"The main point is we wanted to give people a space to be creative," said Chrissy Little, communications manager for Fountaindale Public Library.
"I think we're going to be amazed and surprised by what the community wants to do with those spaces," said Paul Mills, executive director of the Fountaindale Public Library.
A new trend for libraries
There's a strong movement for libraries to serve as audio and video creative spaces, Mills said. Libraries have always served as creative spaces, he said.
"Libraries have always been more than a repository of information," Mills said. "People can use the knowledge the library has made available to create something new."
Chicago Public Library and Barrington Public Library both offer media centers. Chicago Public Library's YOUmedia space is an "innovative, 21st century teen learning space," complete with books, computers and media creation tools and software.
But with the features and space Fountaindale will be able to offer, Mills thinks Fountaindale can top both spaces.
"We think ours is going to be one of the best in the country," he said.
The $$$
The space will be paid for using construction bonds from the Fountaindale Public Library's initial construction. The library celebrated its grand opening in March 2011. Studio 300 was part of the original plan for the building, and the library earmarked the basement to serve the purpose.
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