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Deondray Peacock of Cleveland plays guitar as the Cleveland Public Library opened the TechCentral MakerSpace, its destination for emerging technologies (like 3-D printing, green screen technology, and a recording studio) on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014 at Cleveland Public Library Main Branch Louis Stokes Wing. Peacock, who took guitar lessons when he was a child, said, "I think it's brilliant. It makes a venue for musicians that don't have a high-end studio."

(Lonnie Timmons III, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Whoever thought a library could replace necessity as the mother of invention?

With the stroke of a laser, the Cleveland Public Library cut the ribbon Saturday at the grand opening of MakerSpace -- a technological wonderland that promises to be a destination for everyone from engineering students to home craftspeople.

MakerSpace is in the 7,000-square foot TechCentral area on the lower level of the Stokes Wing of the library at East Sixth Street and Superior Avenue downtown. TechCentral, which opened in 2012, established the library as a leader in making emerging technologies accessible to the general public, mainly through computer use.

Now, with MakerSpace, the library remains in the forefront of major urban libraries by giving the public computer-driven tools that will unleash their imaginations and creative energies.

The center already offered 3D printers that can turn a design into a three-dimensional plastic object. Now, with the opening of MakerSpace, the tech tools include a laser cutting and engraving machine, and a vinyl-cutting device that can generate signs, stencils and other two-dimensional graphics.

There is also video and digital-photo equipment, along with editing software and special-effects machinery that includes green-screen and stop-motion technology.

Another view of Deondray Peacock of Cleveland and some of the music-making and recording equipment in Cleveland Public Library's new MakerSpace.

There is a station with guitars and professional-grade recording equipment that will allow library patrons to create, tweak and record their own music, said C.J. Lynce, manager of TechCentral.

In addition there is design software that includes CorelDRAW, Google Sketchup and Blenders, allowing blueprint grade designs.

Felton Thomas, executive director of the library, said the organization is the first in Ohio and among the first in the country to offer this array of technology.

Lynce, who has a degree in computer engineering from the University of Akron, said all of this is a logical evolutionary step for the library.

Libraries historically have been repositories of information and came to rely on computers to catalog, store and retrieve a lot of that information. It wasn't long ago that the addition of in-house computer terminals allowed patrons to browse a library's collections, or to surf the Internet, Lynce said. Eventually computer labs were added as well as how-to courses for using them.

TechCentral is an outgrowth of it all because much of the new creative technology -- whether for design or execution -- is driven by computer software. However, Lynce said, many of the TechCentral amenities "are not available in the average computer lab."

He said staff members are on site to shepherd people through the different technologies, but he cautioned that some of the technology is so new, "we will be learning alongside the general public."

TechCentral and MakersSpace keep the same hours as library's main branch -- 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Use of the new machinery is free, but there small fees for materials, such as raw plastic, vinyl sheeting, metal and wood that go into the creation of tangible objects.