Chance The Rapper was on hand Wednesday to celebrate the opening of a new recording studio in a South Side library, according to officials and the MC's own tweets.
The new soundproof recording studio at Woodson Regional Library, 9525 S. Halsted St., is part of the YOUmedia digital space that first was unveiled in 2009 at the Harold Washington Library Center in the Loop where Chance The Rapper worked on his first mixtape "10 Day" in the studio there.
Since then 10 more Chicago public libraries opened digital labs with cutting edge technology such as 3D printers and recording equipment as well as classes on coding, web design, video game design, digital photography, video and music editing and podcast production.
"In Chicago, Mayor Emanuel has seen this work as an important part of how we keep teens engaged after the school bell rings," said Library Commissioner Brian Bannon in a phone conversation.
While the newest sites at Woodson in Washington Heights, Sulzer Regional Library in Lincoln Square and Legler Library in Garfield Park opened to the public this month, Chicago Public Library officials and Chance The Rapper marked Woodson's opening on Wednesday.
The idea of the YOUmedia space, Bannon said, is to expose teens to new interests in a fun way and skills that can lead to future career prospects.
Each of the three new sites have a specific focus, he said. Woodson specializes in music production with its soundproof studio while Legler has a heavy focus on making crafts and advanced manufacturing and Sulzer tackles graphic design, Bannon said.
The three sites are each roughly 1,500 to 2,000 square feet, smaller than the 5,500-square-foot space at the flagship Harold Washington Library. It cost a total of $500,000 paid by bonds to retrofit the underused space at the three libraries and renovate them with dry wall, electric utilities, carpet, new coat of paint, shelves, furniture and equipment, Bannon said.
It's a small price considering it costs $15 million for a new library and how popular the features of the YOUmedia labs are, he said. Last year, there were 31,000 YOUmedia visits across eight sites, he said.
"What's cool about this space is we're providing such a broad range of offerings," Bannon said. "It's a safe community space that supports learning."
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