How is a sewing machine or a 3D printer like a book?
Suburban libraries have plenty of answers to that question as they outfit so-called makerspaces with equipment intended — like books — to offer public access to new ideas, promote learning and innovation, and share a wide selection of items among people who otherwise wouldn’t have them.
It’s not so different from the philosophy of 150 years ago and the civic sentiments that led to the spread of public book-lending libraries across the land.
Now, Arlington Heights is opening one of the most ambitious makerspaces, housed in 8,000 square feet in a 69-year-old building that’s come full circle since it was built as the village’s original stand-alone library, as Daily Herald reporter Christopher Placek wrote.
The renowned main library now occupies a huge building a few blocks away,…
