Launch your business with a library card

unBound business and tech library opens in downtown Meridian

unBound, a unique Meridian Library District location providing access to emerging technology and support for small businesses and entrepreneurs, opens Monday in a permanent new home at 722 NE 2nd Street in downtown Meridian.

The public library location offers flexible meeting space, business-focused programs and books, and access to a range of technology – including the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, 3D printers, laser engravers, and other fabrication equipment. 

“In addition to providing tools and software, unBound staff can help with everything from improving your web presence to designing prototypes and generating an elevator pitch. We will help you identify next steps to turn your idea into a product or business,” said Meridian Library Director Gretchen Caserotti. “At unBound, you can launch your business with a library card.” 

unBound welcomed more than 35,000 guests at a pilot location in downtown Meridian from October 2015 to February 2019. That experience guided planning for the new space, which is designed around the most requested business and technology resources. In the renovated building – the former home of AEI Systems Group – the downstairs is primarily hands-on workspace and equipment, while upstairs offers a podcast recording studio and quiet meeting space. 

“unBound is such a unique community asset, providing a variety of resources to our entrepreneur and student ‘makers,’ small businesses, and the curious,” said Meridian Mayor Robert Simison, “I applaud the Meridian Library District on their commitment to fulfilling this need and investment in our downtown and am excited about the doors that will be opened in this creative space.”

The support available through unBound is more important than ever as businesses adapt to an economic landscape shaped by COVID-19. 

“The Meridian business community is very fortunate to have the resources of the Meridian Library District’s unBound program to assist local businesses in learning to utilize emerging technologies in their business,” said Meridian Chamber of Commerce CEO Sean Evans. “If this last year has taught us anything, it is that we need to be up to date on the use of technology in our workforce and provide our teams with the training on these tools.”

unBound is the first of four projects supported by a $14 million plant facility levy passed by Meridian voters in 2019. 

Learn more about unBound, reserve work space, and set up technology appointments at www.mld.org/unbound.