Yost-Ashcroft Family Exploration Center coming to Marshall Public Library

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - The Yost-Ashcroft Family Exploration Center will officially open its doors here at the Marshall Public Library on March 1.

Thanks to the generous donations from the Yost and Ashcroft families, a space made specifically for STEAM related activities will be a part of the library. 

"STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics," said Associate Director Trina Bonman. "Here at the library, we have always been able to offer STEAM programing, but we were able to do so in a really limited way."

Now with the adequate space to offer STEAM activities, they can also invest in what they can offer.

"We were not only able to remodel the space, but we're going to be able to invest in the supplies and the technology," Bonman said. "We're going to look at buying microscopes so that we can explore microscopic things. We're going to have by sewing machines so that we can teach sewing classes."

Bonman says making the space interactive for children was a priority.

"We're going to have the kind of like tactile experiment things, where kids can really just get in and feel it with their hands or build the little structures and stuff like that," Bonman said.

Bonman also believes the community space will help with socialization.

"I think traditionally when people think about a library, they think about it being just a box full of books, and we definitely offer that," Bonman said "We definitely have lots of books so kids can come in and find new things to read. But libraries are also becoming kind of community centers."

In just one week, the space will be fully operational, and will not be just for children exclusively.

"We're going to be able to offer it for all ages," Bonman said. "We're going to have stuff that's specifically for elementary age kids. We're going to have stuff that's middle school and teenagers and will even be able to use this space to host craft nights for adults as well."

A grand opening of the Yost-Ashcroft Family Exploration Center will also be held on March 1, with the celebration coinciding with the First Friday Art Walk in Historic Downtown.