3D printing chicago public library

3D printing for all: Inside Chicago library’s new “pop-up maker lab”

Tech —

Jacqui Cheng - Jul 8, 2013 7:30 pm UTC

CHICAGO, IL — If you've ever had a hankering to try out a 3D printer, a laser cutter, or a milling machine without dropping thousands of your own hard-earned dollars, the Harold Washington Library in Chicago is the place to be. Starting today, July 8, Harold Washington has become the first major urban library to open a pop-up "maker lab," allowing members of the general public the opportunity to experiment with the cutting-edge technologies. And while there are still a few wrinkles to iron out before the public can use all the machines, the Chicago Public Library (CPL) system is already looking forward to where this project will go next.

"There's more buzz about this on social media than anything we've ever done," CPL's First Deputy Commissioner Andrea Sáenz told Ars.

What exactly is the pop-up maker lab? CPL partnered up with Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry—which is offering its own maker lab to museum visitors—in order to put together the program. Unlike the museum's lab, however, the maker space at Harold Washington is completely free and open to the public. Chicago residents will be prompted to use a library card to gain access, but Sáenz told Ars that out-of-town visitors won't be turned away if they don't have a card of their own.

Chicago's first public "maker lab" is located at the downtown Harold Washington Library.

Jacqui Cheng
The maker lab comes equipped with a handful of laptops and open source software so people can design their own projects.

Jacqui Cheng
The lab has two laser cutters enclosed in custom casing in order to protect people from accidents.

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The inside of one of the laser cutting machines.

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An example of some keychains that were designed and cut using the laser cutting machine.

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Goals of the library project.

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A side shot of the wood milling machine with some vinyl plastic sitting on the outside (used with the laser cutting machine).
The milling machine also has a protective case. Wouldn't want to mill off a finger or two, would we?

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The Chicago Public Library staff got excited about using the milling machine to make their own iPhone docks.
A cheese board version of the Chicago Public Library logo that was cut using the milling machine.

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A fleet of MakerBot 3D printers.

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A chess set: the board was made using the maker lab's milling machine, while the pieces were 3D printed.

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More examples of 3D-printed trinkets.

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Another shot of that chess set. What would you 3D print?

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Jacqui Cheng
A display case located just outside the pop-up maker lab showing off some of the projects people have made.

Jacqui Cheng

Visitors will eventually be able to make use of three MakerBot 2 3D printers, two laser cutters from Inventables, and one milling machine, in addition to open source software on a fleet of computers so that people can design their own projects. In the weeks leading up to the public opening, members of the CPL and American Library Association staff have been using the machines to make wooden iPhone docks with the milling machine, craft their own custom keychains with the laser cutters, and even print an entire chess set with the 3D printers, though they're eager to see what the public will come up with following the launch.

"We have our own pre-set ideas of what people are going to make and what will draw people in, but we also just want them to be exposed to new tools and technology," Sáenz said. "If the lab is super popular, there is a possibility for a larger space in this building, or we could take it to another branch where folks in that neighborhood would be able to use that kind of thing. "

Harold Washington's maker lab is in just one room on one floor of the massive downtown library, and it's not permanent. The current grant that allows the library to run the space goes through the end of the year, meaning the staff will then need to evaluate the success of the project.

"We can decide if the maker space makes sense for the library, period. We'll ask ourselves: does it fit nicely into this whole informal learning environment that we're trying to create?" Sáenz said.

Some of those lessons have already come from smaller communities that have installed similar maker spaces into their libraries. "They tend to be a little smaller scale, as most of those libraries just jumped right in," Sáenz said, "but we really took our time so we could figure out what it is about this whole maker thing that fits into a library setting."

One such lesson is that the machines are loud when being used—not exactly ideal for a library. Additionally, since some of these machines are relatively new technology (3D printers, we're looking at you), they tend to break down easily. In fact, that's why the Harold Washington library decided not to make its three MakerBot printers available for public use just yet, despite the buzz around today's launch. "That will be coming very soon, but on launch day, we'll probably just have the MakerBots printing our own projects to give people a feel for how they work," the library's head of business, science, and technology, Mark Andersen, told Ars.

"Our goal was to make our staff comfortable enough with them to fix them," Sáenz said as she described some of the hacks the staff came up with in order to keep the machines running smoothly. "I'm pretty sure they've become experts at re-threading the machines." (Indeed, as someone who has had access to a MakerBot 2 in recent months, I can attest to their occasional flakiness.)

Despite these setbacks, Sáenz and Andersen believe it was a good decision to use consumer-grade machines for the lab—and not just because the grant limited their ability to spend too much money on individual technologies. "We couldn't buy super expensive equipment, but it turned out well because we have equipment that's a little more likely to be in someone's home one day," Andersen said. "These are things that a family could buy today if they wanted to spend the money on it, and we want to teach them how to use it."

So far, it seems the public is dying to jump into the lab—teachers, instructors, and even business owners have reportedly been e-mailing nonstop to find out how they can get involved. "When school gets back in, we have a few high school teachers and principals who want to use that space as a hands-on lab for a class," Sáenz said. She then told a story about an instructor who asked about the output capacity of the maker lab's machines. "If you're asking me about capacity, you're already thinking too big!"

Perhaps the pop-up maker lab isn't quite ready to start churning out custom chess sets with all your friends' faces on the pawns. But the interest in doing so is there, and the library wants to tap into it. Said Sáenz, "We really designed it as an introduction to maker tools, culture, and economies with the hope that people will continue on their own."

Listing image by Jacqui Cheng

Computer/Digital Services - West Chicago Public Library District

PUBLIC COMPUTERS AND WIFI:

The West Chicago Public Library District offers free access to the Internet through public computers and Wi-Fi to users with their own personal devices.

Adults and those that are 12-17 years of age with signed Internet approval from a parent will be directed to use the computers in the Adult Services Department.

Adults and those that are 12-17 years of age with signed Internet approval accompanied by children younger than 12 years of age must use the computers in the Youth Services Department.

Children under 12 years of age may only access the Internet on the computers in the Library’s Youth Services Department with a parent or guardian present during all Internet use.

Time Limits Users with a valid West Chicago Public Library card will receive a 60-minute computer session. Extended time is available for any computer session until there is a reservation made on that computer.

Guest Passes Adults without a library card who are 18 or over will be issued a guest pass by showing a valid photo ID. Children 12-17 years of age who show a valid photo ID may only receive a guest pass if they have forgotten their library card with signed Internet privileges. Children 12-17 years of age without signed Internet privileges may NOT use the computers

Printing: Printing is available for a per- page fee of .10 cents for black and white and .50 for color.

View Internet Policy

CHROMEBOOKS

Chromebooks are available for checkout at the Circulation desk for in-house use only to West Chicago Public Library district patrons age 18 or older with a valid West Chicago Public Library District card. A picture ID (No School ID) and Library card is required for checkout. Contact the Circulation desk (630) 231-1552 X 2 for details

CRICUT MACHINE

The Cricut is an electronic cutting and drawing machine. Designs created on your computer can be cut or drawn into material such as paper, cardstock, vinyl, fabric and certain types of wood. The Cricut can be used to make signs, custom t-shirts, labels, greeting cards and stickers. Printing times vary between 15 to 30 minutes depending on the size and complexity of the design.

Click here to learn more.

3D PRINTER

3D printing can be used to make 3 dimensional objects.

Patrons must use an existing design from the 3D sharing site www.thingiverse.com or provide their own design on a flash drive in an .STL format.

Patrons must have items pre-approved by library staff members before an item can be set to print.

Library staff members must set and release 3D print jobs.

Print jobs may be declined at the library’s discretion.

No inappropriate materials may be printed as per the West Chicago Public Library’s Policies regarding computer usage and conduct.

Printed items will be charged to the patron by weight at $.10 per gram.

DVD CONVERTER

Patrons 18 and older can convert home movies from VHS to DVD. Conversion happens in real time and patrons must stay with the machine while the conversion is in process. Patrons can reserve the converter for up to three hours up to a week in advance. Reservations for the converter will not be made after 5:00 p.m. (Monday through Thursday) and 1:00 p.m. (Friday through Sunday). All materials for converting (VHS tapes and DVD-R or DVD-RW) must be supplied by the patron. Patrons must read all directions before converting. The Library is not liable for damage to personal items or loss of data while using the converter. The viewing or converting of explicit materials will not be allowed and will result in immediate dismissal from the converter. The use of the converter and associated equipment shall follow all legal guidelines under the U. S. Copyright Law. Information on copyright law can be read online here.

HOT SPOTS

Internet hotspots are available for checkout to West Chicago Public Library District patrons age 18 or older with a valid West Chicago Public Library District card and less than $5.00 in fines on their account. Up to 10 devices can be connected to one hotspot with an unlimited data plan. Hotspots may be checked out for 2 weeks with one renewal if there are no holds. The overdue fine is $3.00 per day to a maximum of $24 until returned. Service will be suspended on devices not returned by the due date. Mobile hotspots may be checked out from and returned to the circulation desk. Patron is responsible for costs associated with loss or damage of the Mobile hotspot or peripherals.

ROKU

Rokus are available for checkout to West Chicago Public Library District patrons age 18 or older with a valid West Chicago Public Library District Card and less than $5.00 in fines on their account. A Roku is a streaming player device that can stream video content on your television via a WI-FI connection. In-home Internet access and a television with HDMI input is required. Devices are configured with the library’s account with access to free channels and the library’s digital movie collection. Patrons cannot use their personal accounts to operate the devices. The loan period is 2 weeks with 1 renewal with an overdue fine of $3.00 per day to a maximum of $24 until returned. Borrower is responsible for damages to any part of the Roku kit including the Roku device, remote control, and HDMI cable.

KINDLE

Kindle ebook readers are available for checkout by West Chicago Patrons 18 or older for a loan period of 2 weeks with one renewal if there are no holds. Overdue fines are $3.00 per day to a maximum of $24 until returned. The Kindles come pre-loaded with a suite of genre specific popular reading titles; Adult contemporary, Mystery/Suspense and Romance. Users may not access their own Amazon accounts from the library devices.

Libraries become start-up incubators

In order not to die, libraries must reinvent themselves and create a role for themselves in the new digital world.

Compared to what is happening now with the book depositories, the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, perceived by contemporaries as a colossal blow to world culture, may seem like child's play.

According to one version, the famous library of Alexandria perished after a fire in 47 BC, when Caesar, in order to prevent the capture of the city from the sea, ordered the fleet in the harbor to be set on fire, and the flames engulfed, including storage rooms with books.

What the fire did not destroy was completed by the edict of Emperor Theodosius I the Great on the prohibition of pagan cults. The so-called "small" Library of Alexandria was destroyed by Christians at the end of the 4th century AD.

Just as the great library of antiquity became an accidental victim of a fire, modern libraries as an institution have become a collateral victim of new digital technologies. No imperial edict is required for them to begin to close as unnecessary. As the Skolkovo expert says Anton Titkov, director of the interuniversity student business incubator "Druzhba" of the Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics , "the classical version of libraries, I think, is unpromising. "

“As it stands, [libraries] have no future,” agrees Skolkovo expert Varlam Keshelava, commercialization adviser to the leading Research Institute of Chemical Technology RID VNIIKhT . “Reading paper books has become the lot of grandmothers who have not adapted to electronic readers, and a luxury for business class passengers.”

The reading room of the New York Public Library is not crowded

Or are libraries still needed in a changed era?

Provincial American city of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The population is 73 thousand people. The per capita income is 18 thousand dollars, 20% of the population lives below the poverty line. Youth under 18 - 20%.

In 2011, the Fayetteville Library became the first public library in the United States to host a maker lab, a cross between a classroom and a start-up incubator, on its premises. Instead of rows occupied by outdated novels and encyclopedias, there are 3D printers, laser cutters, plumbing tool kits and sewing machines.

After Fayetteville, similar incubators sprang up in libraries across America, including Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Denver, and Detroit, New Scientist reports. According to the American Library Association, one in six libraries in the country are involved in this movement to some extent. One of the largest in the United States, the New York Public Library, is closely following what is happening and intends to introduce these approaches into its practice.

To make room for laboratories, libraries are reviewing their collections. In Tennessee, the Chattanooga Public Library auctioned off a third of its holdings - encyclopedias, scientific journals, and novels that were not in demand by readers. A whole floor was vacated, on which the laboratory was set up. The University of Nevada Reno Academic Library has put more than half of its prints and books into storage, freeing up 1,700 square meters of space for a workshop.

It's one thing to clear the area for workshops, it's another thing to equip them. 3D printers are not cheap, not every library is able to purchase them on their own. State investments come to the rescue. A government organization such as the Institute of Museum and Library Services financially supports this movement. She provided $2.6 million in grants for the purpose of creating a laboratory in the libraries.

Although the "library incubators" are only a few years old, there are already some impressive results. In the library. Harold Washington in Chicago, users created a prototype satellite tracking system. Two university graduates produced an innovative model of the brain canal in the Fayetteville Library Laboratory, which was then licensed to a medical device company. A library incubator does not necessarily mean that high-tech breakthroughs will be made every day. At the Chattanooga Library, a cheesemaker 3D printed a logo, which he then pasted onto cheese circles.

The transformation of a library from a temple of knowledge into a bustling laboratory or workshop can really be seen as a return to basics, says Tod Delgrove of the University of Nevada Library: Library of Alexandria, ”New Scientist quotes him as saying.

Such an environment, the publication notes, is perhaps what is needed to save libraries. “Book knowledge is now easy to acquire digitally, but creating and managing tools and devices – something that characterizes modern society – requires specialized skills. The only way to master them is, as they say, to hold these devices in your hands.

Sk.ru conducted a mini-survey among Skolkovo ecosystem participants in an attempt to understand how they feel about the rapidly changing role of libraries.

A library in America is bigger than a library

Yury Nikolsky, Director of Science at the Skolkovo Biological and Medical Technologies Cluster , who has worked in America for many years, believes that the library revolution taking place there now is “an interesting concept, based on a long American tradition."

Yuri Nikolsky: The library in America has always been a gathering place for people. Photo Sk.ru

According to Nikolsky, for some time he lived in "a real one-story America", in a small town in Indiana. “Traditionally, the city library has been a gathering place. People came there not only to read books - I lived there before the advent of electronic books - but also, for example, to make some transactions, for example, buying a home, - he tells Sk.ru. - Housewives came, some groups gathered to drink tea. It was such a communal meeting place. There was also a church, but the church was only on Sundays. And on other days, the library plays such a role.

What is happening now, from this point of view, is nothing new, since the library in America has always been a gathering place for people. Turning libraries into centers of technological growth makes perfect sense. People already know where to go. If this place acquires new functions, this is logical. The same story with university libraries, they also stopped going to. 20 years ago they were full of people reading magazines; Now all magazines are electronic. So university libraries are now looking for themselves too.”

Yuri Nikolsky illustrates the possibilities of a communal center using this example. In April, he was at a biotechnology conference in Boston. “There was an amazing presentation by Heather Dewey-Hagborg from Brooklyn; she is not a biologist - a sculptor. She became interested in checking what genetic traces we leave, and what can be learned about it (remember the movie "Gattaca"? This is about the same thing). She started by collecting cigarette butts, traces of lipstick on a glass ... She collected a whole collection. What happened next surprised me the most. Brooklyn has a local center where anyone can come - people from the street, locals - and do a little bit of molecular biology. Such a communal molecular biological laboratory. Since technology is constantly being simplified, it has already been brought to such a level that any unemployed person can come and learn how to climb databases, how to sequence DNA ... This woman also had no training. Within two months, she managed to genotype the DNA that she had collected. I looked up about 50 loci in databases, options for how we look: height, to some extent weight, facial features, eye color, hair color . .. Based on this, she made a whole gallery of portraits of people she never knew - people who left cigarette butts and lipstick marks."

Libraries have a "revolutionary future"

Doctor of Biological Sciences Alexander Kaplan project ExoAtlet, which received the main prize at the Startup Village-2014 conference) admits that the last time he was in the library was fifteen years ago. But he has no doubt that libraries have not only a glorious past, but also a future.

“Libraries, by definition, are institutions for the storage and lending of printed materials,” says Prof. Kaplan in an interview with Sk.ru. - In this sense, libraries not only have a future, but a revolutionary future. The vast majority of libraries will restructure their work in connection with the transition to digital media, the creation of network structures on a planetary scale and, in connection with this, the involvement of cloud storage systems. What tens of thousands of amateur sites are doing now, by hook or by crook creating pantries of digitized books and magazines, should become the main function of libraries united by unified systems for codifying publications and ways of providing them to users. Of course, there is also a separate library area - children's editions. Probably, paper children's libraries will be preserved, but also on the basis of digital media, with the only difference being that books in a good cover and with pictures can be ordered on paper in the same library. To do this, it will be enough for the library to have a desktop printing house with a binding machine.”

Professor Alexander Kaplan: "Libraries have a revolutionary future." Photo Sk.ru

3D printers in American libraries do not impress Alexander Kaplan. “The American experience with 3D printers in the library is a myth,” he says. - The journalists didn't understand. Renting out unused space for 3D printing has been taken as a new trend in librarianship. Not to print books on a 3D printer, except perhaps the spines of books for unpretentious users?

Another thing is that the so-called Fablabs are developing in the world - small halls in which high-tech equipment is installed, usually controlled by a computer. These are digital metal processing machines, and units for creating composite materials, and the same 3D printers. In these Fablabs, those who wish can translate their ideas into concrete physical forms and devices.

Whether it makes sense to combine libraries and Fablabs is a big question, the scientist believes.

“Russian libraries, just like American ones, should do their own thing: digitize paper products that do not have digital copies, store and organize now digital versions of books and journals, and also maintain a user-friendly system of access to digital library funds. Over the next 10 years, there should not be a single paper sheet with text from the collections of libraries and other repositories in the world that does not have its own digital copy.

Fablabs, original circles of scientific and technical creativity for teenagers and adults, should develop independently.”

Skolkovo expert, managing partner of the company Global Innovation Labs Igor Balk agrees with Alexander Kaplan that libraries have a future. “Yes, there is such a future,” he said in an online interview with Sk.ru from Boston. - Especially in universities. Plus, libraries give access to unique archival documents and should be a kind of community centers,” the IT expert believes, who does not agree that libraries and, relatively speaking, Fablabs (communal centers in his terminology) should exist separately.

However, when asked when was the last time he himself was in the library, he answers: “I use only online versions.”

Representative in Russia of a Finnish company Nordic ID Dmitry Artemiev ( used to work for the Skolkovo company Talksum) goes to libraries “not out of personal necessity”, as he puts it: he is engaged in library technologies - the introduction of radio frequency identification (RFID) for books and documents. This year, RFID technology, which allows readers to receive literature without the help of a librarian, will appear in 10 Moscow libraries.

Local club for the educated.

“In my opinion, the future of Russian libraries is very similar to what, judging by the article, American libraries expect,” the expert tells Sk.ru. - Traditionally, this is a place where, without buying, you can take a popular book; plus local clubs, circles, etc., for adults (actually, what different "palaces of pioneers" are supposed to do, but in the existing education / financing system they are designed exclusively for children and are quickly and confidently blown away). That is, it is not 3D printers that are important. Today a 3D printer, tomorrow maybe plasticine and clay again - the point is that the library remains a local “club for the educated”.

There is also the function of the archive, which will not go anywhere, but these are rather large city libraries, and the whole story is about regional ones,” Dmitry Artemyev explains his thought in an interview with Sk.ru.

“There will be adequate funding (and reasonable reporting) - librarians will figure it out themselves, traditionally enthusiastic people work there,” he continues. - Perhaps it will even be enough to declare that the library is becoming such an educational platform, and - funding for the elementary organization of the process.

And the installation of equipment (3D printers, just like printers, copiers, etc.) is quite a commercial project. It is inexpensive to install, and the visitor will pay for the consumables.”

Skolkovo expert, Executive Director of the non-profit organization "Preseed Investment Fund" Mikhail Rayak (the last time he visited the library while studying at the institute) believes that the functions of libraries should undergo significant changes:

- an increase in the number of services, provided electronically and remotely (via the Internet), including the placement in open access in electronic form of works that have passed into the public domain;

- association with state archives and other similar information bases, creation of a unified information system;

- providing access to works protected by copyright on the basis of an agreement with copyright holders. Access to such works for end users can be both paid and free.”

At the same time, Mr. Rayak is sure that there is no place for non-core equipment in the library: “3D printers in libraries are an absolutely unnatural thing. The main purpose of any library is to provide access to certain information. Accordingly, the development of libraries should be aimed at achieving this goal in the fastest and most comfortable way.”

In the summer, the threadlike pulse of Moscow libraries is hardly palpable. Photo Sk.ru

In Russia, “the American experience is not applicable for libraries,” Varlam Keshelava is convinced. On the other hand, the expert believes, "the initiative with folk 3D printers" can be used on a different basis: "former pioneer houses (if preserved), former DOSAAF offices (if preserved), Houses of Life, REMBYTTEKHNIKA workshops, TsNTTM youth creativity center, etc. Yes, even a garage cooperative: we have a lot of them, the people are technically advanced, a 3D printer will be useful to them if someone allocates a grant. ”

I don’t go to the library myself, but I often take my grandmother there

Out of a dozen and a half experts interviewed by Sk.ru, only one, Professor of the North Caucasus Mining and Metallurgical Institute Vladimir Tsarikaev, , said that he regularly uses the library for work: “I go to the excellent library of the North Caucasian Mining and Metallurgical Institute two or three times a month: without this it is impossible to effectively conduct pedagogical work, I constantly have to look through new acquisitions in subjects. I also use the electronic catalog of the library. Professor Tsarikaev is convinced that “libraries in Russia have good prospects, because due to the high cost of books, many will not be able to replenish their personal libraries with new acquisitions. A professor I know says: "Earlier in Soviet times, I often visited bookstores: everything was available. Now I bypass them, my pocket does not allow it." Mr. Tsarikaev also believes that Russia is not ready to use the American method: “there are no conditions for this, and should libraries be turned into a scientific institution, taking away functions from such departments of universities as the NIS, the department of scientific research?”

Skolkovo expert Anton Titkov, director of the Druzhba interuniversity student business incubator at the Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics (TUSUR), answered the question of whether he had a chance to go to the library: “I periodically bring my grandmother to the library. There are various activities for pensioners. I don't go to the library myself, because Everything I need is on the Internet. By the way, this is not an isolated case. Another Skolkovo expert, Varlam Keshelava, admits: “About once a month I accompany my wife to the city library, who chooses another batch of women’s novels for her grandmother.”

Yuri Kotelevtsev: Marriages take place in the Edinburgh University Library. Photo by Skoltech

One of the few participants in the Sk.ru survey who was relatively recently in the library for his own pleasure, - Yuri Kotelevtsev, Deputy Director of the Biomedical Center for Science and Education of RNA Interference and Integrative Physiology of Skoltech : “Six months ago , and it was a section of artistic historical literature.

When asked whether the American experience could be useful to Russian libraries, Yuri Kotelevtsev found it difficult to answer, but he, like the majority of survey participants, believes that Russian libraries have a future: “Collections of rare editions, manuscripts, etc. »

The researcher has worked for quite some time at the University of Edinburgh. There, “a library is basically a place for students to study at a computer terminal. The library in Edinburgh is open from 8 am to 3 am. She is responsible for maintaining electronic subscriptions. There are still paper magazines that few people read if they have access to them electronically. The library digitizes rare books and makes them available via the Internet.”

If domestic libraries want to take advantage of Western experience, then, first of all, they should install terminals with licensed access to magazines and books, Kotelevtsev believes.

The Skolkovo University of Science and Technology has an emerging library. Does Skoltech need it and what should it be? Yuri Kotelevtsev answers: “It must be like a religious building. The Edinburgh University Library, built around 1750, hosts all sorts of ceremonies, incl. official marriages.

The size of one note does not allow even a casual mention of all the issues that arise when trying to assess the rapidly changing role of libraries today. In Escorial, a castle-monastery built by the Spanish king Philip II, the library is one of the main attractions and it makes an unforgettable impression. Ancient folios stand in bookcases, and between them are genuine 16th-century globes, which were used by a king obsessed with the idea of world domination (it was during his reign that the sun never set over the Spanish empire). If there is a material symbol of absolute power, then the Escorial Library is one of the best examples of this.

The library of Philip II in El Escorial is visited not by readers, but by tourists. Photo Flickr

It is clear that the main purpose of the library of Philip II is to serve as a museum.

Respect for public property

In August 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising, whose seventieth anniversary is celebrated this summer, the Polish poet Czesław Miloš (future Nobel Prize winner) lay under fire, pressed into the asphalt. A hundred meters separated him from the nearest shelter, but they had to be overcome somehow. “Despite all this,” he later wrote, “I did not part with the book: first of all, out of respect for public property, since the book was stamped by the University Library; secondly, I needed her (although I might stop needing her). These were "Selected Poems" by T. S. Elliot, in the edition of Faber & Faber.

It is difficult for modern schoolchildren to explain what made a person risk his life in order to return a book to the library. Each era has its heroes and its values. The question of what will happen to libraries after, in the words of Alexander Kaplan, not a single paper sheet with text from library collections remains undigitized in the world, remains open. It is possible that one of these answers will be the transformation of book repositories into some kind of start-up incubators. But even in this case, paper books turn into decorations that are not directly related to the new function of the physical premises that house them. However, the fate of the paper book is an even broader question.

3D printed plants defy nature

Endangered plant conservation scientists at the Chicago Botanic Gardens have 3D printed "flowers" to fool weevils and save the most important species of waterweed.

“Weevils in the Great Lakes region are an example of biological control going awry,” says researcher Dr. Pati Witt. "Given that Pitcher's goat weevil is already under threat due to habitat destruction, its abundance was unchanged until the advent of Larinus planus, a species of weevil that feeds on plant seeds."

Balance in nature is a very complex phenomenon, and even minor changes in the biological environment can have undesirable and long-term consequences. When this type of weevil was introduced into the country in the 1960s, it was called upon to control the spread of the weevil, which was considered poisonous. However, along with the plant that the weevils were supposed to destroy, the insects also began to harm Pitcher's watercress in the sand dunes in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois and Ontario.

To combat weevils, Witt and a development team at the Harold Washington Library Lab in Chicago created a 3D printing technology that mimics the look of Pitcher's boletus. Within a year, the team made 60 plastic flowers and analyzed the smell of Pitcher's butcher.

Over the past month, Witt and her colleague Jeff Gorra have placed artificial plants next to real ones and treated them with a special preparation that smells like Pitcher's allure. During the experiment, the flowers printed on a 3D printer were placed in the most successful places, mixing them randomly with real plants.

According to the results of the experiment, scientists noted that the plants did not produce the desired effect on weevils. However, during the second attempt, the researchers made an interesting discovery about artificial flowers.

“They were of great interest to other insects, including pollinators,” says Witt. – Comparing the level of attractiveness of real and artificial flowers, we noted that the insects were approximately equally interested in both.