HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Public Library will partner with the Reno County Historical Society on Thursday for a program focused on the importance of preserving local history and how historical records can still serve the community today.
“Digging Up History” will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 23, in the library’s second-floor sunroom.
Adult Program Coordinator Katie Broker said the partnership brings together the different ways libraries and museums preserve the past.
“Both libraries and museums do a lot to preserve local history through different means,” Broker said. “Museums use artifacts with more of a three-dimensional, physical variety on top of paper documents and photos, and libraries tend to have local documents, newspapers and things of that nature.”
Broker said the goal is to show how those collections remain useful.
“We thought we’d combine forces and share how some of that history applies in the present day in real-life situations,” she said.
Representatives from the Reno County Historical Society are expected to discuss several examples, including how historical records were used following the deadly Hutchinson gas explosions in 2001.
“That’s one of the things they’re going to share,” Broker said. “They’re going to share how that went down and more details of that particular example, and maybe a few others as well.”
The program will also include information about prehistoric history.
“I’ve been told there’s going to be a mammoth tooth there that we’re going to be able to handle and see up close and personal,” Broker said.
The event is open to people of all ages. Registration is available through the library’s website at hpl.org or through the library’s Facebook page.
“We’ll take as many as we can fit in the room,” Broker said. “We’ve got some space considerations considering our construction, but we’ll do our best.”
Broker said the library is also nearing the end of its summer programming schedule, but several events remain.
“We’re kind of winding down from our summer programming at the end of this month,” she said. “All of our regular programs for adults are going to continue, including book clubs.”
A hands-on painting workshop for adults is scheduled for July 30. Participants will paint dinosaur fossil designs.
“We’re going to paint some dinosaur fossils on that day,” Broker said. “If you want to paint a T. rex fossil and get some hands-on experience with art, it’s great for beginners. It’s great for practiced artists as well. It’s just a good time to hang out and get creative.”
Meanwhile, work continues on an expanded makerspace at the library.
Executive Director Gregg Wamsley said the project remains on schedule despite the challenges of renovating an older building.
“As with most construction projects, and this one’s been a complicated one because it’s a remodeling of an older building, we’ve had some challenges,” Wamsley said. “But Wiens has been doing a great job of staying on track and getting us moved toward completion.”
Wamsley estimated the project is between 60% and 75% complete.
“We are on track to be open in the new makerspace by the end of the year,” he said. “We’ll have grand openings and invite people to come in and tour the new space and see what we’ve done down there.”
The makerspace remains available in a temporary area, although Wamsley said space is limited.
“They were space constrained before,” he said. “Their temporary quarters are even more cozy, and so they are probably more than any of us looking forward to being able to move into their new space.”
The project has also reduced the number of meeting rooms available to the public.
“We have such a demand for meeting rooms, and it’s been a real challenge,” Wamsley said. “That’s been one of our biggest challenges.”
The expanded makerspace will include laser engravers, larger computer-controlled carving machines, a commercial-grade embroidery machine and additional 3D printers.
“One of the things that folks have asked us for for a long time is laser engravers,” Wamsley said. “We will have that ability in the new space.”
The library will also have larger CNC machines and additional room for computer-aided carving projects.
“We’ll have more space for that,” Wamsley said.
A multi-thread, multi-needle embroidery machine will allow patrons to create designs for caps, shirts and other items.
“We’ll have what I would say is more like a commercial-grade embroidery machine,” Wamsley said.
The number of 3D printers will also increase.
“We’ll have about twice as many 3D printers as we do now, including some large-size 3D printers that will be able to print larger projects,” Wamsley said.
Patrons will not be charged to use the equipment, though they will be responsible for disposable materials.
“There’ll be no charge to use the machines,” Wamsley said. “As with most things now in the makerspace, there’s no charge to use any of the equipment. It’s just a cost recovery for disposable things like plastic for the 3D printers.”
Training and certification will be required before patrons can operate certain machines.
“There are certifications for all the different equipment that we have in the makerspace,” Wamsley said. “When we get the laser machines and some of that stuff, those will be required before you’re allowed to have free rein over those machines because there’s an actual little bit of danger with some of that stuff. We want to make sure everybody’s trained and safe.”
The library is also continuing its partnership with Hutchinson USD 308 to provide library cards to students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
“One of the programs that we started about a year and a half ago was making sure that every kindergarten through sixth-grade student had their own library card,” Wamsley said.
He said the program is now fully operational.
“Any student in Hutch School should be able to come to the library, get some supplemental reading and check things out that they might not have been able to check out before because they didn’t have a card,” Wamsley said.
The library’s children’s story time programs will continue through the end of July before taking a brief break.
“We have story time programs going on for kids through the end of the month,” Wamsley said. “Then we will be back with State Fair story times and our fall story time programs after that.”
Residents can also support the library through book, material or monetary donations.
“If they want to donate materials, staff go through those, and materials that we can’t add to our collection go to our Friends of the Library group, which sells books to generate money for the library,” Wamsley said.
Financial donations can be made through the library office, while larger planned gifts can be arranged through the Hutchinson Community Foundation.
“If it’s something where they want to be planning for the future and want to set up something in their own name or in honor of somebody else, they can do that through the community foundation as well,” Wamsley said.