BLOG: Amazing New Idea at the Library

Halftime of the Patriots game, and I had to go to a dinner at the Ames Free Library. Not just any dinner, but a jacket and tie dinner. This was a very special special occasion because the library was announcing its plans for the Creative Commons at Queset House. Rumors of a new idea had been circulating for months but what was a Creative Commons?

As more folks are learning every day, the Library is the busiest place in Easton.  Various groups meet there weekly and hundreds of programs take place annually. Also, I’ve visited libraries in Stoughton, Raynham, Mansfield, and Norton recently and I can tell you that, while those are all excellent libraries, the friendliest and most helpful staff is located right here in Easton.

The new library makes use of the old space gloriously and the Italian Garden is becoming a must see destination with plans for more work this summer. Queset House, the other part of the library campus, has lagged a little behind the other developments, but now it is set to take off and lift our library even further beyond other small libraries in Massachusetts. 

What is a Creative Commons? You’ll soon be seeing a trifold that explains it in detail soon, but the idea is to build a space where people of all ages can use new technology and old fashioned networking to spark a creative renaissance in Easton.  The slogan is “Classic Exterior, Savvy Interior.” One of the great thrills of the main library building is having modern library services in an extraordinary building that is a pleasure to visit. At the Creative Commons state-of-the-art media will be housed in a beautifully restored,  elegant 19th century mansion.

Each room will be a module in a site designed to encourage creativity and collaboration. There will be a recording studio, a lab devoted to digital imaging, and a studio for video editing. Creativity needs more than media and the Creative Commons has set aside a room for craft activities, two meeting rooms with TV capability, and a quiet reading area. While I love the technological whiz bang, my favorite room concept is using the house’s original library as the quiet area with the books from the library’s original collection lining the shelves. The modular idea carries through into the old dining room that can easily be converted into a sophisticated new dining room or a high tech meeting area.

The point of this grand idea is to get you, dear reader, to be a media creator not just a consumer. You’ll be able to record family stories, convert old photos to digital ones and retouch the wear and tear of the ages, design a color poster or piece of original digital art, build a website, write an ebook, or simply host a meeting of your favorite group. Young people will be able to work on multimedia school projects. And, something dear to my historian’s heart, you’ll be able to add your reminiscences and photos to the library catalog making them available to future residents.  And, using excitedly bad sentence structure once more, this will be a collaboration, a sharing of ideas, concepts and skills between people of all ages. The Creative Commons at Queset is an opportunity to build a true “artist’s” colony right here in Easton, and you can be the artist! 

Neighbors, don’t expect the landscaping at my house to improve, I’ve gone to the Creative Commons at Queset!

You can learn more and find out how to participate by contacting Uma Hiremath at uhiremath@easton.ma.us or Assistant Director Jason Bloom at jbloom@easton.ma.us