ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Jane Willwerth creates a butterfly with the 3D pen in the teen room of the Saugus Library.
By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
SAUGUS — The Saugus Public Library is finding fun ways to expose children and teenagers to new technology, with 3D printing pens and electronic building blocks.
“We’re exposing them to new technology because they’re going to need it,” said Young Adult librarian Lisa LeJeune. “In school, they’re doing coding projects. They’re going to need (the skills) for their jobs one day — and it’s fun.”
The library has two Soyan 3D printing pens and offers a two-hour instructional class on how to use them to draw personalized creations.
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The classes are given by LeJeune every Thursday afternoon from 3-5 p.m. in the teen room. Two people can participate in each class and should sign up with LeJeune ahead of time to reserve a space.
To create an object, the user chooses a laminated template that the plastic will not stick to. Long, thin plastic ropes are fed through the pen, melted and pushed through the pen’s tip. The process is similar to using a hot glue gun. Objects are created by slowly drawing shapes and melting them together.
LeJeune said the pens were a fairly inexpensive investment that fit with the library’s initiative to offer more marker-style activities. They’re sold on Amazon for $40. Other brands range from about $25 to more than $100.
“A lot of libraries are doing marker spaces,” she said. “I used to do more traditional crafts but there was more of an interest in technology.”
Kai Burgos, 10, has dreams of becoming a computer programmer and designing videogames when he’s an adult. He participated in the 3D pen course Thursday afternoon.
“I’ve tried it before but not too much,” Burgos said. “My cousin got one for Christmas.”
His mother, Jane Willwerth, said he has always been interested in building toys, including Legos.
“It’s a good, quiet, winter activity,” she said. “It’s something to do indoors when it’s cold out and he loves art.”
LeJeune is planning to add a Saturday littleBits course to the rotation. littleBits are easy-to-use electronic building blocks that snap together with small magnets. Each serves a different function. When they are placed together, different things can be created, like a drawer alarm or a small fan.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.
