Albany County Library offers free Artist Trading Card supplies

Albany County Public Library is turning a corner of its Laramie branch into a free art station, offering everything needed to make an Artist Trading Card at 310 S. 8th St. The setup gives families, kids and teens a no-cost way to make something original without buying supplies or enrolling in an art class.

Artist Trading Cards, or ATCs, are small, self-produced works designed to be traded rather than sold. The format began in Switzerland in 1997, when Swiss artist M. Vänçi Stirnemann launched the project, and it was built around exchange from the start. Cards can be traded in person or through online communities, which makes the library’s supply station more than a craft table, it is a local entry point into an international creative network.

That fit matters in Albany County, where the public library system serves Laramie, Rock River and Centennial and functions as one of the few free civic spaces available across the county. ACPL’s website also offers online and digital resources, reinforcing its role as a community-services hub that reaches well beyond book lending. For residents who want an affordable creative outlet, the ATC station is a simple option with little barrier to entry and no admission fee attached.

The appeal is partly practical and partly social. A single trading card can be made quickly, shared in person, or posted into wider ATC circles, giving people a low-cost way to participate in an art form that depends on connection as much as technique. That makes the library’s offering especially useful for anyone looking for something hands-on to do in town without spending money on materials, studio time or a formal workshop.

The ATC station also fits a broader pattern at ACPL, which has been promoting major renovation work and public-facing art programming in 2025, including a mural-painting event tied to its construction kickoff. Taken together, those efforts show a library that is still redefining itself as a practical community resource, one that gives Albany County residents a place to read, learn and make something with their own hands.