Orillia Library News
Despite the Orillia library being absolutely stunning in its appearance and an overall great place to study with a calming ambiance, I think some new inside additions to the library are worth exploring. If you don’t already know, the Orillia Library is located in Downtown Orillia at 36 Mississaga St West, which is directly beside the Orillia Opera house and a short walk from the Heritage Place Lakehead Orillia campus. In the past, I’ve used the library space as a place of productivity and relaxation; I’ve even used it to search for literature for past assignments. I have made two discoveries about the library since I have been there last, and I’d like to share them with my peers here at Lakehead University in hopes that they can be useful to you during your time at the university.
Firstly, Lakehead students can access mobile wifi hotspots (you don’t have to worry about not being a permanent resident in Orillia)! You can rent these mobile wifi hotspots for free if the wifi connection on campus, residence, or home is not acting great. Nonetheless, you can use it anywhere that a cellular network is available. You can borrow the mobile wifi hotspot for 2 weeks. A friendly reminder, you can place a hold on one of the mobile hotspots here, or you can go to their checkout desk during the library operating hours. I have had two friends rave about the wifi hotspot. One of my peers said, “I didn’t have to worry about falling behind on assignments because of a complication with my apartment's faulty wifi that was out for weeks!” Another friend said, “I am so thankful that the option was available and easy to use; I am not tech savvy, but was able to set it up successfully.”
Next, the Orillia Library will open up a Makerspace area in their library! It has not yet opened, but the grand opening will be on Saturday, February 25th, between 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. For all my teacher’s college friends and university club members, this may be of particular interest to you. In the Makerspace area, access to this technology will be available:
3D printing station
Sewing machine
Vinyl cutter
Laser cutter
VHS conversion station
Button maker
and so much more!
These tools come in handy for poster making, DIY Projects, assignments for school, and the library came up with a cool idea of doing your own personalized puzzle with the laser cutter. It is a perfect area to let your creativity flow. The materials listed above may not be convenient for everyone to access, but the makerspace area would be an excellent opportunity for you to test out these items before actually committing to purchasing them yourself (if that is what you desire; I know some of these items may be useful for classroom teachers).
I am learning more about Orillia every day and starting to understand the mutual benefits of building a relationship with the communities around you.