Curious about other Canadian cities, as well as other US cities, if people will speak up. I believe the suburban libraries in my area (Chicago) are all creating maker labs, with a wide array of devices, down to button makers. The Chicago public library has a BIG one (IIRC think that was even before covid), not sure if the branch libraries do. My library also has "build family history" kits and other things I don't recall, that can be checked out. I remember when a copier was a large device, you took a sheet of paper out of a light tight drawer and put it over your original on top, turned on a bright light for multiple seconds, then put that sheet in a liquid in the bottom for some time, then through wringers and heat to dry it out. I was a kid, doing volunteer work in the local alderman's office, just watched, never actually did it. Carey
On 04/20/2026 1:44 PM CDT D. Hugh Redelmeier via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
From: Giles Orr via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org>
On Tue, 7 Apr 2026 at 05:54, CAREY SCHUG via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
1. you can likely go to your local public library and fax documents for free (i have done this). You may be able to do this from home, but that will require a library card, I am sure.
You haven't done it in Toronto - or if you have, the staff were helping you above and beyond the call of duty.
Carey is in the US. It's great that he participates in GTALUG, but some of his experiences will not carry over to Toronto.
If I were to guess, each library system might be different. Certainly the TPL tries to innovate to become more relevant. At this point, FAX service might not be innovation.
I remember when Xeroxing was new and expensive. In 1967 or 1968 I used a copier at the old TPL Central Reference Library at College and St. George. I paid something like $0.25 a page! Real money then. It was some chemically thing, not Xerox. (I now have that book from which I copied a paper. You can too <https://archive.org/details/programmingsyste0000saul>) ------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/I3CDEXI...