How-To festival at JMRL teaches people of all ages new skills

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Learning the cello, printing a book, and 3D printing are just a few of the new skills people learned at the “How-To” festival. The Jefferson Madison Regional Library is teaching new skills from test driving a fire truck to learning a new instrument.

“There are so many interesting things. There are people demonstrating how to play musical instruments. There is someone who is doing small demonstrations of yoga, and you can participate in them,” Addeane Caelleigh with Virginia Center for the Book said. “Three of our members are here demonstrating how to print on small presses and we’re getting a lot of interest from both adults and small children.”

The festival offers free 15 minute hands-on workshops

”You could probably walk away today having learned 25 new things,” Heather Pehnec with JMRL said.

The fest emphasizes the importance of learning a new skill, no matter your age.

”I think it may open up a whole artistic world that they may not know about and also you can see immediate results of what we’re doing,” Caelleigh said.

This is the festival’s first year back since the start of the pandemic.

”One of the missions of the library is to help people experience lifelong learning and find joy in that and so it’s great for us to be able to offer programming that you know, adheres to our mission,” Caelleigh said.

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