The Labs is Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's teen-only learning lab. Currently located in three Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh locations for weekly workshops, The Labs provides teenagers with access to equipment, software, and mentors in an innovative learning environment with the focus on creativity and creation.

Through informal workshops teens can learn to create everything from a robot to a film. With the assistance of mentors (artist educators with backgrounds in a variety of disciplines), teens receive the level of assistance they need in order to learn something new.

Plenty of free time is also available during Open Lab when teens can pick the brain of a mentor or continue working on their own personal project using our equipment and software

Teen Specialist mentors don’t just educate in The Labs’ informal environment they connect users to information and opportunities available to teens throughout the city. Through regular partner programming and shared projects, The Labs does its part to connect teens in Pittsburgh to resources and organizations that will help them grow.

Many of our outcomes are small, interpersonal, but still fundamental to the growth of the teenager in question. From a recent remark by a regular in The Labs @ CLP Main that he learned everything he knew about Adobe Illustrator from Labs Mentor André Costello, to Philippa, a summer workshop participant who won a local film contest last year with her rap about free-trade clothing after using The Labs equipment to film and edit her project, we see the range of ways that The Labs can help connect youth to the tools they want and the support they need.

The Labs can be a place to learn and create, but is also a place to connect and grow. The library is community anchor and, now, community test kitchen. Through The Labs @ CLP we give teens the opportunity to experiment in a safe environment where every failure is just one step closer to success. We encourage youth to succeed through understanding and low-pressure learning: www.clpgh.org/teens/events/programs/thelabs.