Imagine you are given a tool, a tool that will make your dreams come alive.

Whether it be a magic wand, an enchanted lamp or a hammer that comes at your command, you can do with it what you please.

Now, imagine that it is a reality.

Because it is.

On September 16th, the Memphis Public Library announced the grand opening of a place where dreams can come true.  

Its name?  Cloud 901.

This is a space where the seemingly unobtainable can finally be obtained in a breathtaking technology lab.  

When walking through the front doors, one sees a floor covered in massive bean bags, a large flat screen, a stairway that seems to lead to heaven and a glassed off room.  

This chamber houses multiple Nikon cameras, computers equipped with Adobe film editing softwares, a wall of green screens, light kits, lining shelves and more.  

This isn’t the only room like this.  The whole area is filled with different multi-media outlets, ranging from audio recording and editing to 3D printing.  

The catch? It is only open for teens.  

You heard me right.  The only people allowed to use the equipment are those who are 13-18 years old.

And it’s free.

No rental fee.  No entrance fee.  Zip. Nada. Nothing.

All you need is a library card.  

Word is spreading fast about the new technology rooms.

“I can’t wait wait for Cloud 901 to open,”  Becca Folkes-Lallo (10) said.  “I think it’ll make the library a better space for youth to come and to work.”

That’s the library’s goal: to allow youth of any background to come together in this environment where imagination is not belittled, where youth have an opportunity to work with equipment that will define the future industry.  

“I hope that we can create conversation and collaboration and cooperation across racial lines, across economic lines,  across public school, private school, charter school, and create a new youth culture in Memphis that is marked not by violence and crime, but is marked by innovation and creativity,”  Janae Pitts-Murdock, the teen services coordinator for the Memphis Public Library system, said.
So whether you are a 13 year old who enjoys drawing or an 18 year old who wants to create a video game –  you can do that in this space – Cloud 901 is meant for all of us.  

“This is a space where you can design and grow.”

-Janae Pitts-Murdock