Tag: Maker programs

Blogger Children and Technology Committee

Engaging Families and Technology with Byte-Sized Programming

| ALSC Children and Technology committee|Leave a comment
Bee Bots, Osmos, and iPads are a great introduction to early technology.

Ready to introduce new technology, but uncertain about patron interest?  Why not try what we call “byte-sized programming”?  It introduces a variety of tech in a station-based environment.  The more stations, the more entry points you have to engage your families with tech.  You can introduce a variety of topics that appeal to all generations.  Plus, these programs are easily customized to your space, patron interests, and budget, and are held on a come-and-go basis.

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ALA Midwinter 2017

Libraries are incubators of innovation! #alamw17

| Laura Simeon|Leave a comment

This afternoon Dr. Sara Duvall, a librarian from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor showcased her incredible student-led project in the session “TEDx and TED Ed: How Kids and Communities Can Create an Innovative Event to Learn Forward Forever.” As the curator of TEDxYouth@AnnArbor she recruits student organizers from the 13 public and private high schools in the city who work together to put on this event (this April will mark the fifth anniversary). What distinguishes the Ann Arbor version from other TEDx events is that the students do all the work! The event brings together a group of kids who are diverse in many ways, and together they organize into various committees: marketing/PR, tech (this group receives free training from the local public access television station), design, etc. They audition young people from across the city. Check out Dea Chappell’s incredible Black Lives Matter poem: The TEDx event goes…

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Blogger School-Age Programs and Service Committee

Tween Make Week

| School-Age Programs and Services Committee|Leave a comment

This January at ALA Midwinter my colleague and I attended the Maker Monday sessions to gather inspiration and ideas to implement into our current program offerings. Our library had already introduced a Digital Media Lab to patrons, but not many kids were using the space. The teen librarian, Erica Gauquier and I thought this would be a great opportunity for us to join forces. We had been looking for ways to collaborate, and bringing tweens and younger teens together for a set of Maker programs sounded like the first step. Many of the kids in our community are enrolled in camps during the summer months and parents are always asking if the library plans to host camps. We have held a mini-Lego camp for the past few years in August, so that seemed a perfect time to try another series of programs. The week’s worth of events would include one program…

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