NORFOLK, VA – The Mary D. Pretlow Anchor Branch will join the ranks of libraries and cities across the country with a maker studio. Norfolk Public Library (NPL) will install equipment, made possible by donation, in late 2021. When the public can safely gather again, the maker studio will serve as a community do-it-yourself center for people of all ages to create, learn, share, and explore.
The maker studio, named “The Randi Marston Peterson Studio @ Pretlow,” will memorialize Randi Marston Peterson, an avid reader and regular patron of the Van Wyck Branch Library. Peterson died in March of 2020 and included a charitable bequest to the Norfolk Public Library Foundation in her will. The 2,000-foot studio will house cutting-edge technologies, including a recording booth, photography equipment, computer systems, sewing machines, collaboration spaces, and other programming equipment.
Additional funds are being raised by the Norfolk Public Library Foundation for the project. For more information about the project and how to donate, contact Tom Jones, president of the Norfolk Public Library Foundation, at 757- 961-0067.