Library Awarded Coding Grant

BIG NEWS! 
The Homer Public Library has recently been awarded one of 25 grants as part of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Libraries Ready to Code initiative sponsored by Google.  This grant will fund programs and opportunities at the library over the next year that support computational thinking and computer science for youth, from preschool to high school, and their families.

HPL was selected from 400 applicants. The grant will fund equipment, supplies and expertise for a variety of activities and high and low tech programs from November 2017 through August of 2018 including:

• HPLCode, a learn-to-code program for ages 11-14 (weekly, November-January)
• Maker Club for ages 8-11 (on KPBSD early release days)
• LEGO Club for ages 8-11 (monthly) • Family light-up holiday card workshop with LED lights (December 9)
• Family Game Night (January 4)
• Girls Who Code (January-TBD)
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) in story time (monthly November-August)
• Teen mentor program for ages 15-18 (November-August)

These programs encourage kids to create and build, use high quality, digital media for learning and foster collaboration. They are accessible to all area youth regardless of ability to pay and fill a crucial gap in K-12 computer science education. As part of the grant, Claudia Haines, youth services librarian, will participate with a cohort of librarians from across the county who will develop a toolkit with Google for other librarians to use based on this year’s experiences.

Like Homer, many communities offer no computer science classes in area schools. Rural residents, girls, those from low-income communities, and young people of color or with disabilities are underrepresented in Computer Science careers. Libraries are ideal places to bridge that digital opportunity gap by providing equitable access to the technology and training young people need to develop these indispensable workforce skills.