A library card is the cheapest production budget line there is: edit software, a green screen, a recording booth, a 3D printer for props. What each system offers, and on what terms, varies by library, so this page lists only what the library's own page said on the date shown. Tier is stated on every row.
Best value
Free first, then cheapest per use. Every row is read from the holder's own page on 2026-11-02.
| Rank | Resource | Tier | Cost (as read) | What it gives a filmmaker | Source (read 2026-11-02) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westerville Public Library, Photo, Video & Multimedia Station | Central Ohio (Westerville, Franklin/Delaware) | Free to use, some materials for sale; 3-hour limit; 2 people | DSLR camera, backdrops, green screen, studio lighting, teleprompter; Final Cut Pro, Premiere, iMovie, Blender, After Effects | Station page |
| 2 | Westerville Public Library, Innovation Lab recording studio | Central Ohio | Cost not stated on the equipment list; "Recording Studio in a Box" borrowed at the second-floor desk with government-issued ID | Audio recording studio and a portable recorder kit | Equipment list |
| 3 | Westerville Innovation Lab, media conversion | Central Ohio | Cost not stated on the list; materials prices on the lab's own price page | VHS and DVD to MP4, cassette and vinyl to MP3, 17x22 in flatbed scanner for archival stills | Equipment list |
| 4 | Delaware County District Library, Maker Studio (Delaware and Liberty branches) | Central Ohio (Delaware County) | 3D printing $0.05 per gram of filament; laser cutter $0.10 per sq in of plywood/acrylic/MDF; laminator $0.20 per 8.5x11 pouch | Prop and set-dressing fabrication: four Prusa MK4 printers, laser cutter, vinyl cutter, sewing machines, design computers; staff train you | Maker Studio |
| 5 | Cuyahoga County Public Library, free recording studios | Statewide (Cleveland area) | Free; short orientation class first, then one hour a day per booking; library card or photo ID | Soundproof booth, Macs with Adobe Creative Suite, GarageBand, mic and keyboard controller; green-screen videos, podcast and audiobook recording; four branches (Garfield Heights, South Euclid-Lyndhurst, Strongsville, Warrensville Heights) | Recording Studios |
| 6 | Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, MakerSpace | Statewide (Cincinnati) | Cost not stated on the landing page: pricing not verified | Audio Recording Station and Photography/Video Station among 18 listed pieces of equipment | MakerSpace |
Columbus and Franklin County
Columbus Metropolitan Library. The library's site returned an automated-access block (HTTP 403) on every page tried on 2026-11-02, so MOFA could not read its equipment, studio or room terms and lists nothing from it as fact. The existing guidance stands: ask at a service desk what your card includes. See Needs verification below for what a search snippet suggested and why it is not published here.
Central Ohio
Westerville Public Library — 126 S State St, Westerville, OH 43081, 614-882-7277 (from the library's own footer). The station page warns it "is not sound-proof or sound-dampening", so audio captured there will pick up room noise: use it for picture, green screen and cutting, not for dialogue you cannot re-record. The page also carries an alert that some equipment may be temporarily unavailable; confirm with staff first. The library's FAQ says some items need a Westerville library card; which ones was not read.
Delaware County District Library, Maker Studio — Delaware Branch and Liberty Branch; the system's main address is 84 E. Winter St., Delaware, OH 43015, 740-362-3861. Not all equipment is at both branches. Equipment is booked online through the studio's reservation page, and staff train you on each machine. Community rooms are open to groups at the Delaware, Liberty, Orange and Ostrander libraries with a library card and a reservation 5 to 45 days ahead, but "use of the rooms for financial gain is prohibited" and the fee, if any, was not stated: community rooms.
Elsewhere in Ohio
Statewide systems are listed in the table above. Cuyahoga's studios are the only ones read that spell out a free booking rule (orientation first). Cuyahoga also runs a free Memory Lab (orientation first) for digitising VHS, 8mm, Super 8 and Hi8 film at its South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch: Memory Labs.
How to use a library like a production office
- Book the slot, then bring a drive. Westerville's station lists cloud storage, email, external drives and flash drives for file transfer; assume nothing stays on the machine.
- Plan for the time cap. Three hours is a half-day of green-screen inserts or a rough cut, not a shoot.
- Props before rentals. A 3D-printed prop at $0.05 a gram costs less than a day's rental of almost anything in Gear Rental & Purchase.
- Ask about your card. A card from one system may not work in another's studio.
Needs verification
- Columbus Metropolitan Library equipment, Barnett Branch and Reynoldsburg Branch recording studios, Makerspace Central, meeting-room fees. Tried:
columbuslibrary.orghome,/locations, a Barnett press release (HTTP 403 for curl and for WebFetch, 2026-11-02). A search result summary mentioned recording studios at the Barnett and Reynoldsburg branches; it was not read from the library's page, so it is not stated here. - Worthington Libraries, Upper Arlington, Bexley, Pickerington, Licking County, Fairfield County District home pages were read; none named a camera, studio or recording room on the home page (Pickerington lists 3D printing and Cricut). Deeper pages were not read. A Grandview library domain tried (
grandviewlibrary.org) served spam content and was dropped. - Westerville card rule for the Photo, Video & Multimedia Station was not stated on the page read.
- Cincinnati MakerSpace prices and eligibility were not on the landing page.
Related
- Gear Rental & Purchase — when the library is not enough
- Post-Production — free software that runs on the library's computers
- Screening Venues & Exhibition — meeting rooms as screening rooms
- Props, Wardrobe & Art Department
Back to Filmmaker Resources.