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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.

Little Bits Coding set

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.

Cubelets Six Robot Blocks

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.

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday.

On November 27^th, we are participating in a national day of generosity, #GivingTuesday.

This year, we are aiming to raise $1,000 to enhance our STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) programming with the addition of new coding kits.

Code.org states that the lack of exposure to coding and computer science programs in school has led to open positions in the 21st century job market.  “More than 58% of the new STEM jobs are in computing and computer science, but only 8 percent of STEM graduates are in computer science.”

In Indiana alone, there are 5,010 open computing jobs.  Youth Services librarians believe that we can help bridge this employment gap for the future, by exposing young people to coding and computer science now.  If we can offer coding and computer science in a fun and relaxed atmosphere a budding programmer, web developer, or systems analyst can gain the basic skills, practice, and confidence they will need to contribute and find success in the 21st century workforce.

The kit is a resource rich introduction to game based coding and engineering.  Each kit comes with enough material for users to build four different games and inventions.  All the materials in the kit are reusable which will give the library multiple programming options.  These kits encourage collaboration and working together among our young people which is another appealing aspect of this product.

Will you assist in raising $1,000 to enhance our STEAM programming and ensure that children have access to high-quality, learning resources.

Make a gift today by clicking on the link: https://jefflibraryfoundation.org/donate/

Through advocacy and fund raising, the JTPL Foundation, Inc., enhances the library’s ability to realize its vision and mission. The goal of the foundation is to supplement regular taxpayer support for the library by:

• Building an endowment to ensure the viability and sustainability of the library.
• Seeking additional funds to support enhanced library operations and service offerings.
• Managing investments for the present and future benefit of the library.

The JTPL Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization.