Press contact:
Bob Jobin
media@nwp.org <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Berkeley, CA, May 25, 2022<\/strong> \u2014 Joining a network of colleagues across the country, the YOUmedia Learning Labs Network is thrilled to extend affiliate status to The Octavia Lab based at the Los Angeles Public Library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The YOUmedia model was developed in 2011 with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Grounded in research that demonstrates how young people benefit from community-based learning opportunities to follow their interests with the support of peers and mentors, a network of libraries and museums worked together to create and expand programs that give them the time and space to create work that is meaningful to them. Ultimately, 30 institutions developed YOUmedia model programs, forming a national network of lead institutions. The Octavia Lab is among several others which have joined as Network affiliates since this time; the lab serves a multigenerational maker-space in the community and joins the YOUmedia LL Network to further support their teen services work within the Lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lauren Kratz, <\/strong>Librarian III, at The Octavia Lab says that “The Octavia Lab is honored to be a part of a unique network of institutions that prioritize and institute maker programming for youth. The purpose of the Octavia Lab is to give our lab users, including teens, free and unlimited access to high-quality technologies in design, fabrication, preservation, and storytelling. The YOUmedia Learning Labs network consists of colleagues who want to support each other to continue providing and improving educational opportunities in technology for all youth. We look forward to joining the incredible YOUmedia team.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, Executive Director of the National Writing Project, a national non-profit that houses the YOUmedia Network, \u201cYOUmedia Learning Labs are creative, transformative, and dynamic spaces that aim to put Connected Learning into action. Institutions that join the network are looking to be relevant, accessible, and central to the learning lives of teens in their areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***<\/p>\n\n\n\n The YOUmedia Learning Labs Network, hosted at the National Writing Project, believes that access to high-quality educational experiences is a basic right of all learners and a cornerstone of equity. The Network works in partnership with institutions, organizations, and communities nationally to develop and sustain leadership for educational improvement. Read more about the network, the research behind the network, affiliate labs, and how to get involved in the network at youmedia.org<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n