There was a time when noise wasn't allowed in libraries, when people only went to read books.

But all that is changing as officials in Lake County opened the "Go Zone" makerspace at Cooper Memorial Library in Clermont on Monday.

"Libraries are not the place people think of when they think of technology and 3-D printing," said Paul Alford, division manager for Lake County Library Services.

Visitors will find robotic kits, green screens and lights for studio production, vinyl cutters for business logos, and a 3-D printer for making just about anything you can imagine.

"You can actually see the individual layers of that print going back and forth," said Michael Gonzalez of Limbitless Solutions, a team of University of Central Florida students which has created bionic arms for several people in the community, including an "Iron Man"-style prosthetic arm delivered to 7-year-old Lake County resident Alex Pring by Iron Man, himself, Robert Downey Jr.

Gonzalez was excited to see the technology at the new Go Zone open to the public Monday, and see how it will inspire creativity in students and teachers.

"A little kid can print out a new wheel for their toy car that broke, and all the sudden you've gone from a digital file to a physical object, and that really captures the imagination," said Gonzalez.

Books aren't going away, but Lake County commissioners who oversee the library's budget see a big economic return on what turned out to be a minimal investment, thanks to grants and other funding.

"We are transforming our libraries to a space that will be a gathering space for the innovators, the creative class, the self-employed to come and run their business," said Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks.

All of the items, including materials, will initially be available for free, thanks to a donation to the library. The library is looking at possible charges for materials in the future.