Report from Jeffersonville Township Public Library Youth Services Dept. on progress of Giving Tuesday STEAM Grant
Written by Jennifer Harl
As of Jan. 31, 2019, all items requested in the JTPL Foundation Giving Tuesday Grant proposal have been purchased and received. The grant awarded the library’s youth services department $1,202.75 to purchase coding products that can be used in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) programming.
The money raised through the Giving Tuesday campaign made it possible for the Youth Services Department to purchase four Little Bits Coding sets, and one Cubelets Six Robots Blocks set. These kits are top quality products that will support the skills, required of young people in the 21st Century workforce, such as computational thinking, problem solving, and collaboration.
These kits will be shared and used in programming at both library branches.
The Clarksville Branch library is hosting STEAM Break, which is a series of STEAM-related programs that will be happening during the week of the local schools’ Spring Break session. Public Services Librarian Jennifer Harl plans to introduce both kits at the Family STEAM Day program planned during that week. Family STEAM Day is a program that encourages families to come to the library and experience our STEAM related items such as, robots, marble mazes, KEVA planks, and VR Headsets.
The addition of the Cubelets and Little Bits to our library resources will enhance our existing STEAM programming and open the door for future coding programs. The library is planning to host a Girls Who Code program in the fall and our new kits will be a great addition to that future program. We are excited about the programming opportunities that will come from having these technology-based kits.
This report is submitted with a sincere thanks to the JTPL Foundation Board for raising money on behalf of the JTPL Youth Services. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of the Giving Tuesday campaign. Our staff recognizes that there were many ways this money could be used to support our library, but the JTPL Foundation Board members decided to invest in our library’s youth.
For that, we are very grateful. We look forward to collaborating with the JTPL Foundation again as we work together to support the JTPL mission and vision.