SANDPOINT - The East Bonner County Library District could soon be attracting some more enterprising community members.

Already a house of knowledge with its books, newspapers and Internet access, the Sandpoint Library may soon become a manufacturing center thanks to the addition of 3D printing and e-textiles. An exciting developing technology placing manufacturing capabilities in the hands of the public, the machine will add a new facet to library activities.

The new features come courtesy of Idaho Commission for Libraries, which trained Idaho library personnel at a series of workshops Sept. 25-27. Workshop attendees learned the essentials of 3D printing, including how to operate, maintain and troubleshoot the machine's various functions. They then returned home with a brand-new 3D printer ready to install.

"Libraries are a fabulous place to provide these opportunities for anyone who wants to expand or extend their education," said ICFL project coordinator Erica Compton.

The workshops were an exciting place for library associates like Craig Hofmeister of East Bonner County Library to learn the ropes of 3D printing. A technology with increasing numbers of applications, 3D printers are able to carve precise components from blocks of various materials using models mapped out through computer programming. Considering the machine can print components for assembly, 3D printing an amazing amount of versatility. Compton said even the 3D printers that library employees took home were themselves 3D-printed.

The initiative to install 3D printers in public libraries is a part of the ICfL's "Make It at the Library" project. Since libraries have always been a bastion of local knowledge and education, Compton sees their extension as a center for a community's creative, crafty, entrepreneuring individuals as a natural progression. And while the "Make It at the Library" program initially targeted kids through fun activities like Squishy Circuits - essentially Play-Doh-inspired electronics that can be molded and crafted - ICfL officials now seek to engage all ages.

"Our focus right now is on entrepreneurs and what communities can do to revitalize themselves," Compton said.