GPLS Lit Lab on the Road

Submitted by Wes Simms

I recently had the opportunity to attend the latest tech event sponsored by GPLS - Lit Lab on the road at the Statesboro Bulloch- County Library in Statesboro, Georgia. 

This event was created to introduce and showcase the tech loaner kits provided by GPLS, and to let attendees get familiar with (or should I say play with) the latest technology that library staff across the state can check out and use for their respective library system.

There were a variety of tech loaner kits on display at the conference:

Retro Kit - For digitizing and preserving legacy formats such as VHS, DVD, and cassette. 

3D Printer Kit - Whatever your mind can conceive, the Bambu Lab X1 can help bring it to life. You can create sculptures, models, or custom tools. This kit is perfect for library programs/workshops and for patrons who want to flex their creative muscle. 

Laser Cutter/Engraving Kit - The XTOOL dual laser cutter is designed to introduce users to laser cutting and engraving. You can create custom engravings on wood, acrylic, stone, and even a custom engraving on a Chromebook! 

Hard Drive wiping Kit - This is the perfect tool kit for library IT departments who need to securely wipe sensitive data from multiple storage devices at a time, such as Hard Drives and SSDs, before equipment upgrades or disposals. 

I would have to say of all the kits that caught my attention was the Laser Cutter. This fascinating machine caught my eye for the majority of the conference. The laser cutter can engrave a premade image or you can upload your own. You then place either a wooden or stone coaster on the cutting surface, and then begin the process from the xtool application. For my first ever design, I uploaded our FCPL logo on a stone coaster- it turned out very well: 

I am very thankful for the opportunity to attend this conference and I’m just as thankful to see these toolkits up close and in real time. I appreciated the GPLS IT team going over each tool kit and answering any questions I or another attendee might have had during the conference. They want libraries to use these toolkits, and that was very encouraging.