Yesterday afternoon, McGraw Hill Education hosted The Everyday Importance of STEM, a moderated discussion featuring Amy Koester of Skokie Public Library and Claire Moore of Darien Library. The discussion focused on the many ways librarians can incorporate STEM and STEAM activities into their repertoire of programming, and was moderated by John Rennie, the editor of Access Science.
Rennie started off the discussion with a few sobering facts. We are fortunate to live in a time of unrivaled scientific discovery, and since the mid-20th century more than 50% of the sustained job growth in this country has been in STEM related fields. Yet more than ever, Ameircan youth are falling behind the rest of the world in interest and participation in science activities. How can libraries help bridge that divide?
Koester pointed out that the ‘A’ we add to STEAM does not have to be crafts, but rather can be the creativity aspect that is so missing from much of education these days. Science is about “trying, failing, and trying again” but children are rarely able to learn in this manner in school. Moore noted that the lack of programs which offer these creative opportunities to learn at the school level almost give libraries a mandate to offer STEM/STEAM programs.
How do you incorporate science and creativity into your library?