Category: Blog
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Hang Out, Mess Around, Geek Out—Studio NPL Puts Pro-Grade Media In The Hands Of Youth
An initiative to fill community spaces with programs using innovative equipment, software, and professionals is teaching youth how to learn by immersing them in digital arts. Libraries have changed since my childhood in the 1980s. It’s unlikely I’ll ever again hear the soft hiss of a microfiche viewer speeding through decades of newsprint. Card catalogs might…
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Hitting the Library Circuit with Mobile Making
In an effort to reach more patrons and spread innovation, librarians are taking their digital learning and staff development programs on the road. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh offers everything you would expect at a library: books, computers, story time for the little ones. But a few of its branches have become destinations for teenagers…
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How One School District in Ohio Transformed an Empty High School into a Digital Space for Teens
For nearly a century, a beautiful domed building on the south side of Springfield, Ohio, housed a high school. But after a tobacco settlement left the state with additional education funding in 2008, the Springfield City School District (SCSD) made some needed infrastructure improvements. The two high schools were consolidated on the north side of…
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What Libraries Offer the Maker Movement
At the Millvale Community Library in Pennsylvania, toddlers and kids gather weekly to work on creative projects. On those days the library morphs into a “makerspace,” overflowing with sewing supplies, circuitry, yarn, and electronics. The young visitors are encouraged to tinker with the materials and create anything they dream up, be it an animated video…
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YOUmedia Alumni Give Back to Program with Spirited Summer Festival
Lollapalooza might be known for bringing hordes of young people outdoors to celebrate summer in Chicago, but June’s Teens in the Park Fest (TIP Fest) gave it a run for its money. TIP Fest was one part free concert, one part open house for Chicago’s array of summer youth programs. “It was a fun event…