We are dedicated to supporting local educational curricula. With the Department of Education’s focus on STEM, schools increasingly seek improvement in student mastery of STEM-related subjects. By partnering with our local middle school, we allow students to leverage library resources, provide them with additional educational tools to develop information literacy and critical thinking skills as well as expand their worldview through a nontraditional classroom. In addition, we add a wow factor by providing 3D printers, 3D scanners, and staff with the expertise in these technologies.

A noteworthy element of this collaboration is co-development of the curriculum — staff members meet with teachers to establish outcomes, timeline, coursework, and evaluation. Some class assignments can only be completed using resources in the Hub, the library’s teen space — students use 3D pens to engineer desktop catapults, use a 3D scanner, and print an object they’ve scanned. Quarterly field trips to the library are coordinated where industry-leading technology professionals speak to the classes. Finally, we host the students’ final Shark Tank-style presentations at the library. The partnership is stronger than ever, with two additional 3DRD classes participating in 2016.

Students view the library as a valuable resource and associate it with discovery. We increased the number of younger teens visiting the library, as over the past two years we have worked intensively with 150 students. Most importantly, we are supporting our educational partner by creating excitement and interest in an elective STEM class. Teachers report that interest in the class has grown and reached capacity. Additionally, we raised community awareness of resources available at the library. To capitalize on this success and further support STEM initiatives, we developed six STEM kits for teens to use anytime in the Hub.