Bethlehem Library Notes for Tuesday, October 25, 2022

In 2014, we added a MakerBot 3D printer to our collection of tech tools. It was one of the first 3D printers in the area available to the public, and it saw steady use, from everyday tinkerers to library programs for children and adults. We have to admit, that original MakerBot was a workhorse, even churning out dozens of specialty pieces for face shields to be used by frontline workers in the early days of the pandemic. 

As we prepared to reopen our Studio Makerspace this summer, there was a renewed interest in bringing back the 3D printer. Sadly, our eight-year-old MakerBot had given us all it had and could not be brought back online. With demand for 3D printing still high, we decided to replace that trusty original with a sleek new MakerBot Method. 

The MakerBot Method is just as user-friendly as the original with some notable improvements, including dissolvable supports, a non-stick build plate, enclosed build space, video monitoring and more. Our new 3D printer has both practical and whimsical applications. Bring your ideas to life when you use it to print spare parts or tools, jewelry, home decor, figurines and so much more. Build your own 3D files or download a ready-to-print file from www.thingiverse.com. 

The MakerBot Method is part of a collection of tech tools available through our Studio Makerspace, where you’ll also find a FASTphoto scanner, podcasting and video equipment, a VHS-to-DVD convertor and more. Studio Makerspace time can be booked in two-hour blocks on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays up to two weeks out through our Book a Space webpage at www.bethlehempubliclibrary.org. 

Founding Mothers of NPR 

You’re invited to an enlightening hour with highly acclaimed writer, journalist, broadcaster and speaker Lisa Napoli as she discusses her group biography of the four women whose voices defined NPR, “Susan, Linda, Nina, and Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR.” This virtual author talk, facilitated as part of the Library Speakers Consortium, takes place Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 4 p.m. 

In the years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, women in the workplace still found themselves relegated to secretarial positions or locked out of jobs entirely. This was especially true in the news business, a backwater of male chauvinism where a woman might be lucky to get a foothold on the “women’s pages.” But, when a pioneering nonprofit called National Public Radio came along in the 1970s, and the door to serious journalism opened a crack, four remarkable women came along and blew it off the hinges. 

Hear Napoli’s captivating account of these four women, their deep and enduring friendships, and the trail they blazed to becoming icons. They had radically different stories. Based on extensive interviews and calling on the author’s deep connections in news and public radio, this book is as beguiling and sharp as its formidable subjects. 

Visit libraryc.org/bethlehempubliclibrary/20031/register to sign up.