If you make it, they will come. That’s the message behind Creative Spaces Showcase at the Woodland Park library this month.

“We want people to come in and show off what they’ve learned over the last three years since creative spaces have been open,” said Belva Yost, the library’s makerspace and studio coordinator.

For Teller County residents, three creative spaces are intended to spark ideas or at least elicit enthusiasm about possibilities. From creating products with 3-D printers, sewing leather, recording in the studio to perhaps writing a novel, or editing photographs on computers, the library has it all.

A challenge as well as an opportunity, the showcase takes off from the library’s open house in July, when people either dove in to start creating or learned from watching others.

“The open house in July was fantastic! More than 400 people were here,” Yost said.

Users of the equipment in the library’s creative spaces have earned certification during orientation sessions.

To spice up the challenge this month, the library is offering cash prizes for items created in three categories: handmade, machine made and audio visual, wrapped up with an award for people’s choice.

There’s a catch, however.

“The project has to be made in here,” Yost said.

Envisioned by Tim Miller, executive director of Rampart Library District, which invested $40,000 in the equipment, the Rampart Library District Foundation added a $10,000 donation.

The challenge began Oct. 1 and runs through Oct. 17. Voting for items submitted in the categories will be from Oct. 18 to Nov. 5. When the contest is complete, the library will showcase the items in the galleria, in the display case or on a monitor, depending upon the item. The public is invited to the showcase event from 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 8 to include an awards ceremony.