The Solon Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL) is currently undergoing an expansion to make space for a new Innovation Center. The “pardon our dust signs” went up as soon as construction started in late May of 2024. The manager of the Solon Branch Darlene Davis said some regular patrons are confused or uncertain about the expansion and overall changes being made to this branch.
The CCPL Innovation Centers aim to provide resources, knowledge and job skills to enrich their communities, and by doing so hope to create more equal opportunities for their citizens Innovation Center Specialist Jennifer Johnson said.
“The goal of the Innovation Center is to provide a space where people can learn new things, and connect, and further their individual goals in new ways by providing them with technology they wouldn’t otherwise have access to,” Johnson said. “Most people can’t afford to have their own 3D printer, or their own laser cutter, or even the specialty printers that we have– most people don’t have any kind of printer at home anymore, so the fact that we can provide those things for people allows them to be able to do crafts, and creative pursuits, and further their small businesses and all kinds of cool stuff as well as just the enrichment of learning new things.”
Out of the 27 branches of the CCPL,six have Innovation Centers. These Innovation Centers offer services and advanced technology to the public such as 3D printing, embroidery machines, laser engravers and much more. The success of Innovation Centers at other branches encouraged Solon City Council to invest in an Innovation Center at the Solon CCPL branch. Solon Councilman Robert Pelunis of Ward 2 mentions the benefits of the Innovation Center in his Ward Newsletter.
“Over the past several years, City Council and the Administration have discussed modifications to the Solon branch of the Cuyahoga County Library,” Pelunis wrote. “The plan was finally approved and a 4,000 square foot expansion of the Solon Library will commence. Construction is . . . estimated at $7,000,000. The City of Solon is committed to $1,000,000 and owns the property and building. The Innovation Center will provide residents and students in Solon job skills training and knowledge that supports needs of the local workforce.”
There are some current downsides of the expansion that mainly involve the construction. Julia Wang and Victoria Dai are the co-founders of Study Buddy Tutoring– an in-person tutoring company that hosts private tutoring sessions mostly at the CCPL Solon Branch.
“The lack of tables sometimes makes it hard for us to find space to teach kids,” Wang said. “Plus if the [kid’s] or tutor’s computer dies, there are less outlets for them to charge them because the tables with the outlets have been moved for construction.”
However, her co-founder hasn’t experienced as many issues with the construction.
“Honestly, the renovations haven’t affected us that bad besides there being less space,” Dai said.
This inconvenient lack of space will be solved with the expansion, and construction is set to finish in either winter or spring of 2025. The expansion is not only opening an Innovation Center, it is also providing more space and private study rooms that will minimize the current issue of only having one highly in-demand private study room.
According to Johnson, every Solon citizen and everyone in the general area is encouraged to use the Solon Branch Innovation Center to its full potential. The advanced technology can be used by anyone, not just professionals, after completing a required basics/orientation class. The machines are either free to use or their only cost is for the materials of the project and not the use of the machine.
“I want the public to know that this is a really exciting and accessible space for everybody,” Johnson said. “And I want people to know that this isn’t something that’s scary or dangerous or expensive or anything like that– it’s not just for professionals with really high training, there’s really exciting stuff that anybody can do in this space so I hope everybody takes advantage of it.”
