{"id":16081,"date":"2025-10-17T20:57:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/10000-grant-to-enhance-cortez-public-librarys-teen-tech-space\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:53:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:53:30","slug":"10000-grant-to-enhance-cortez-public-librarys-teen-tech-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/10000-grant-to-enhance-cortez-public-librarys-teen-tech-space\/","title":{"rendered":"$10,000 grant to enhance Cortez Public Library\u2019s teen tech space"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Cortez Public Library on Thursday. The library received a $10,000 LOR Foundation grant to expand technology and STEM programming for local teens. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

When Youth Librarian Aidan Grego first arrived at the Cortez Public Library, he noticed a certain hole in the floor where an Ethernet cable poked through.<\/p>\n

So Grego did what any creative mind with a 3D printer might do, he sketched out a blue plastic cap, hit print.<\/p>\n

His same imaginative spirit is driving the library\u2019s latest project: a grant-funded technology program seeking to provide local teens the ability to design, tinker and build.<\/p>\n

Cortez Public Library is funneling $10,000 into the program to buy 3D printers, as well as gaming computers and other tech. The expansion, which stems from funds given through the LOR Foundation grant, hopes to bridge a technology gap in Cortez and spark STEM intrigue.<\/p>\n

\"Cortez
Cortez Public Library staff plan to use a LOR foundation grant to purchase 3D printers, robotics kits, laptops and gaming computers for teen programs. \u201cIt feels so good to see this happening and also having a dream team behind it,\u201d said libtrary director Beth Edson. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cIn our area, we have a lot of people who just don\u2019t have access to that. The high school has their own STEM program, but that\u2019s brand new,\u201d Grego said.<\/p>\n

A library\/Pueblo Community College partnership hosting 3D-printing classes was \u201cwildly popular\u201d among teens and young adults, said Public Library Director Beth Edson. The success initiated efforts to go after the grant to make the in-house purchases.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Youth Librarian Aidan just took it head-on and learned how to operate the 3D printer and learned about the software Tinkercad,\u201d Edson said. \u201cA lot of the maker space equipment like 3D printers has been around in the library world for about a decade, but it was pretty new to the Cortez library.\u201d<\/p>\n

The grant covers purchasing all the equipment, which is two 3D printers, 10-12 laptops, robotic kits and two gaming computers for coding and music, video and photo editing.<\/p>\n

New gear, curriculum and program instruction are expected to roll out early next year. The teen area will receive a small redesign to house the gaming computers permanently. The library hopes to eventually develop a dedicated lab space in a future remodel.<\/p>\n

\"Aidan
Aidan Grego points to new books Thursday in the teen area at the Cortez Public Library. The library\u2019s teen area will be redesigned to house new gaming computers for coding, music, and photo editing projects. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Aidan
Aidan Grego lost a bet playing Mario Kart with a group of kids at the library and the result: a beard dyed pink. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

To go 3D, the library uses a website where teens tool around with custom designs or tinker with pre-built elements \u2013 say, an elephant, alligator or car figurine. Grego says, from there, you edit by \u201cchanging the shapes or curves\u201d or whatever else until satisfied. The next steps involve transferring it to the printer, hitting start and then \u2026 Well, it takes about four hours for the machine to work its magic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a quiet whirring most of the time \u2014 sort of like a fan moving in the background,\u201d Grego said.<\/p>\n

For head librarian Edson, not only will the new tech fill a void in a rural community, it also brings another tool of engagement and purpose to the library.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople still think of libraries like how they were 50 years ago \u2014 just housing books, shushing librarians \u2014 and we\u2019re so different than that now,\u201d she said. \u201cWe provide creative programming and creative spaces just to let kids and adults and teens go wild and be creative and explore different information.\u201d<\/p>\n

The library hopes to have two 3D-printing sessions for teens once a month, ages 10-17.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favorite things was being out on the desk when Aidan would get done with a program, and the families coming out and the kids being like, \u2018Are you going to do this tomorrow?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, and it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, I wish we could.\u2019 Just the excitement they have about it \u2014 it\u2019s so sweet,\u201d Edson said.<\/p>\n

\"A
A blue 3D-printed cap covers an outlet opening where Ethernet cords once stuck out \u2014 a fix designed by Youth Librarian Aidan Grego. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The library\u2019s R2-D2 return-book slip has some 3D-printed elements. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

programming rolls out next year <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[364,21,155,28,60,29,1928],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-community","tag-cortez","tag-education","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter","tag-teenagers"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16081"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20005,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16081\/revisions\/20005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16081"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}