A new weekly club for young digital creators is launching at Armidale Library next month, giving teenagers and young adults access to a professional-grade studio, expert mentoring and a community of like-minded people — all for free.
The Digital Creators Club is open to anyone aged 14 and over and will meet every Tuesday evening during school term from 5:30pm to 7:30pm, beginning 21 July. Sessions run for two hours and are split into a 40-minute instructor-led skills workshop followed by an 80-minute collaborative session where participants can work on their own projects, use specialised equipment and get targeted guidance from mentors.
The club will use the library’s existing Digital Creative Studio, which is already available to library members and houses two fully equipped workstations. The main audio and podcasting station includes an iMac, Sony 4K video camera, green screen, studio lighting, RODE microphones and a RODE Caster Pro, with software including Adobe Creative Suite, Final Cut Pro, GarageBand and Unity. A separate sound-reducing recording booth is set up for music production, with Ableton Live, Nuendo, a Line 6 guitar pedal and a Faderport 8 production controller among its tools.
The club will cover a broad range of creative disciplines using that equipment, including audio and film production, digital art, podcasting, animation, game development and engineering.
Library Team Leader Liz Thomas said the aim was to grow something bigger than a skills program.
“The initiative aims to build a community of local digital creators who can support and encourage each other.”
“The club creates space for collaboration and innovation — and potentially new creative projects, games, or tech start-up businesses. I’m looking forward to seeing what emerges!”
Armidale Regional Council Mayor Sam Coupland said the Digital Creative Studio was already a strong community asset and the new club would put it to work in a new way.
“The library’s Digital Creative Studio is a fantastic resource for our community,” he said.
“The club will be putting it to great use, while building skills and a community of practice that supports digital industries in our region.”
The program is open to all experience levels. The library is also welcoming expressions of interest from potential mentors who would like to contribute their expertise to sessions.
Registrations and further information are available at armidale.nsw.gov.au/Our-region/Libraries/Digital-Creators-Club.
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