Wittig: Creating a Digital Space for Today's Teens, Part 1 and Part 2

COREY WITTIG, DIGITAL LEARNING LIBRARIAN – TEEN SERVICES

Creating a Digital Media Space for Today's Teens

Corey Wittig• MLIS, University of

Pittsburgh 2010• Digital Learning

Librarian – Teen Services

• Program manager of The Labs @ CLP

Digital Learning Librarian

• 19 locations

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

• Population 307,484

What’s the deal with The Labs?

• CLP’s Teen-only Learning Lab initiative• 3 core locations system-wide

• Weekly workshops• Outreach programming• Tours & trainings•Cohort 2 of IMLS “Learning Labs” grantees

Library as Incubator Project

libraryasincubatorproject.org

The Labs @ CLP – YouTube promo

Part 1 : Philosophy, research and practice

Part 2 : Resources, guidance, tips, suggestions, more questions.

Creating a Digital Media Space for Today's Teens

Part 1: Philosophy, research and practice

• Teens make up a significant portion of library users• 40 million adolescents 12-17 in the US

• Youth 14-24 make up 25% of all public library users

• 17% of 16 to 17 year olds used a library in 2012

• Like it or not it’s a safe space

Why are we doing this?Why digital media labs? Maker spaces? Connected Learning? Etc. etc.

Why are we doing this?JOBS! Not my favorite reason, but a very GOOD reason.

Copyright Work Ready Pittsburgh

Getting started, or How Do You Create an Initiative Out of Thin Air?

• Plan your program in the context of your library’s Strategic Plan/vision/mission statement– At every turn in the search for funding

you will have to justify your program. It starts here.

– Root it in research.

(It might sound

obvious, but)

Research breakdown

http://www.search-institute.org

Connected Learning• Learning continues outside the classroom

• Connected Learning is:– Socially connected– Interest-driven– Connects learning w/ personal interests and

expresses itself as academic success, career success, or civic engagement.

Connectedlearning.tv

The Future of Library Services for and with Teens: A Call to Action

YALSAJanuary 8, 2014

It’s scalable!

Some basics

2 types of volunteer opportunities1.Assist mentors in programming2.Develop a feature program using a

special skill of the volunteer

Volunteers: community experts

Room to create with Self-directed learning

Planning session for Chronology – a planned sci-fi web series.

Mentors offer guidance as needed

Open LabMonday, Tue., Friday @ CLP-Main

Creations from open time at CLP-Main.

Workshops• Mentor Led• Project Based

Outreach

The Labs Photobooth w/ PopBooth free app for iPad

Pittsburgh Public Schools Summer Dreamers Academy Outreach

Labs onLocation

Part 2 : Resources, guidance, tips, suggestions, more questions.

STORY

• The Chicago Public Library and The Digital Youth Network collaborated to create YOUmedia

• Based on Professor Ito’s research – Univ. of Chicago

• DYN grew out of MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media & Learning Initiative

Digitalyouthnetwork.org

Chipublib.org

YOUmedia & Pittsburgh: a history

• The YOUmedia physical space was designed by a team of graduate students under the direction of Professors Drew Davidson and Jesse Schell from the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University. – youmediachicago.org

Dr. Drew DavidsonActing Director of the ETC

Main – Teen Dept.

• Bring your professional passion to it.• We’re librarians—even if you don’t have a

Development office, you have great resources• Communicate how your region or service area

will benefit• Communicate sustainability• There’s so much great research out now—use it!

Grant Writing

• Always a challenge (until this movement really takes hold…and probably after, too.)

• 100% grant-funded– IMLS, Grable Foundation (PGH), Fine

Foundation (PGH)• Past: The Laurel Foundation (PGH), Snee-

Reinhardt Foudnation (PGH), The Heinz Endowments (PGH)

Funding

• Artist mentors are paid, part-time employees– Technically temporary because of grant funding– Library Assistant classification

• Mentors, Teen Specialists (librarians and library assistants) and volunteer mentors staff Open Lab

More on Mentors

• Try to have a general plan at least a month or two out– Workshop is fleshed out and presented to the group

at our Monday meeting the week before it is presented to teens

• Average attendance – 5 or 6 (Ranges from 2-15ish)

• Average age (guess) around 14– 6th to 12th grade are welcome

More on Workshops

Borrowed from Richard Arum (NYU) ALA presentation “Connecting Youth”

YOUmedia.org

The Thick of It:Program Design

YOUmedia & The Labs guidelines.

Teen Advisory Council

• Shaped policy• Chose equipment• Debated program name• Could have been more inclusive

QuickFLIX: an existing program, expanded

Stop-Motion Animation workshop w/ PGHFilmmakers mentors and Labs iPads

Teen Media Awards 2012

HIP-HOP ON L.O.C.K.• We’d done film

before, but music was new

• Learn from experts.• Further the mission

of your partnersHHOL workshop at East Liberty

pre-Labs launch

An online space to meet

Remakelearning.org

FindingPartners

Mish-mash

Equipment, or what to buy?

http://www.skokielibrary.info/

Other programs:• Skokie Public

Library • Toby G.!

• IMLS Learning Labs grantees

• YOUmedia• Give me a call!

APPLE

• Apple – certainly not necessary, but probably the best and easiest for digital media lab programming. (Better graphics, video, etc.)

• iLife included (iMovie, GarageBand, etc.)

• Will your IT Dept. support it? (Ours does not.)

• Not networked = not ideal

iPads for programming, outreach, and more

• Jack of all trades device

• Borrowed by teen specialists system-wide for programming and outreach

• Borrowed by teens in Main Lab afterschool

• “hanging out” & “messing around”

PowerSync Tray for iPad by Bretford

Grafiti Nootle iPad mount

Apps we love• gifBoom (animated .gifs)• DoInk (animation)• Smoovie (stop-motion)• Cinemagram (.gifs)• Comiclife (make comics!)• DM-1 (beat making)• iMovie (video)• Rockmate (music—4 instruments at once!)• LeafSnapHD (botany)• Star Walker (astronomy)• Vintagio (silent film)

The Labs Video Equipment

• Canon Vixia HF R500 – consumer grade camera• Green screen (DIY if you can)• Shotgun mic• Boom

The Labs Audio/Music Equipment

M-Audio Fast Track Pro

M-Audio Oxygen 49 Midi-Controller

Blue Snowball mic, and more!

The Labs Photography Equipment

• Nikon D3100• Digital SLR

camera• 16GB memory

cards• Could use SLR

for your video camera – better lens

The Labs Software

• Adobe Creative Suite CS6• Including Photoshop,

Illustrator, Premiere, After Effects, etc.

• Sibelius Musitian (music theory software)

• iLife Suite (iMovie, Garageband, iPhoto, etc.) – free with Mac

• Microsoft Office for Mac

Monoprice 12x9 drawing tablet and Adobe Photoshop

The Labs: Miscellaneous Equipment

M-Audio AV40 Studio Monitors

Equipment sheets

The Labs Kits

• Stop-Motion Animation Kit: with iPad and Smoovie App• Soft-Circuits Kit: LEDs, conductive thread crafts• MaKey MaKey Invention Kit

Soft-circuit kitMaKey-MaKey

Google Drive

• Great for collaborating on non-networked computers• Sharing our calendar• Have to pay to sync & use Drive for business soon (?)

Pinterest

• Great for creating equipment wish lists, cataloging program ideas, etc.

Cel.ly• Free opt-in/opt-out

group texts• Great for program

reminders

Lynda.com

• High-quality video tutorials• For professional development • For teen training

Hack Jam: Mozilla Summer of Code

Free Mozilla web-making

tools: Thimble, X-Ray Goggles,

Popcorn

Warhol D.I.Y. app

Graphics and creating a brand

SPACES• 2nd to mentors in importance (I think)• 2 branch Labs (East Liberty and Allegheny—

recently renovated) are housed in meeting rooms until a teen space build-out scheduled for 2013-2014• Meeting rooms—temporary solution, but can

make it work• Main Lab housed in CLP-Teen Dept.

SOUND ISSUES

• Headphones

• USB recording interface means all you hear is muted strumming or keyboard strikes.

• Teen space/digital media lab is ideally placed in a dedicated space, set off from other library services. (Obvious, maybe, but true!)

Primacoustic VoxGuard Microphone Isolation Panel ($99)

Guitar and Midi-Keyboard in CLP-Main Lab.

CLP-Main, Teen Department

The Labs corner at CLP, Main

CLP - East LibertyThe East Lib. crew work on their latest film project, at the East Liberty Lab, January 2013.

• Different meeting rooms depending on branch programming schedule

• New teen space in 2014

CLP - Allegheny• Started in

meeting room space

• New teen space Fall 2013• Full-time teen librarian who

acts as 2nd mentor in The Labs’ weekly workshop

CLP – Allegheny

Before

CLP – Allegheny

After

Teen Time• Weekdays

2:00 – CloseMonday-Sat.

• Furniture and computers are restricted to teen use

• Teen-only programming

• Teen volunteers

• Large YA print collection already exists in Main-Teen Dept.• Labs print collection is a helpful variety of relevant print materials: guides,

art books, manuals, and periodicals. • Added benefit of tying “risky” new program to traditional resources:

supporting multi-modal literacy

Print collection

Promotion and connectivity: website, social media, etc.

youmedia.org• Difficult to accomplish on popular social media

• iRemix – cloud-based social learning network

• Cel.ly• Teen Services Social Media

• Facebook.com/clpteens• @clpteens• Clpteens Instagram

• Social Media Ads (Facebook)• “It’s My Library” commercial

• participants worked with commercial director on Saturday film shoot

• CLP-Bam! outreach

Romie – East Liberty regular and

Labs commercial lead actor.

Promotion: CLPTeens Instagram

Feature Workshops with Partners• Partners are the experts

• We facilitate that relationship (as YALSA says)

• Workshops on a range of art-making subjects from organizations who focus on that topic

• Hip-Hop On L.O.C.K. – music• Pittsburgh Filmmakers – film/photo• TechShop – Maker• Etc.

• Create pathways for youth from your library to local orgs

Matthew Beckler – CMU PHD student and HackPittsburgh instructor.

YA Author Siobhan Vivian, keynote speaker Teen Media Awards (and “Labsy Awards” 2013)

The Future• Professional Development

• Tours & group visits

• Expanded teen spaces and hours at East Liberty and Allegheny w/ 2 new full-time staff

The New Chapter

Equipment policies

• Reserve a computer or equipment in Labs space with library card/photo I.D.

• Borrowing – will allow teens with badges and library card/photo I.D. to use cameras, etc. outside and around the library

• Identified through badging system

• Peer volunteers• The Labs’ “Capstone”

Teen volunteers

Badges: a way to “level up” informal learning

-Earn a badge by accomplishing workshop learning objectives

-Badges confer special borrowing privileges to the earner

-Earn 2 badges and get the Regulars badge

Labs badges by mentor Andre Costello.

Contact Me and Follow Us:• Corey Wittig - wittigc@carnegielibrary.org

• @CLPTeens (Twitter)

•CLPTeens YouTube - www.youtube.com/user/CLPTeens

• Facebook.com/CLPTeens (Facebook)

• Clpteens.tumblr.com (Tumblr blog)

• The Labs on the CLP website: www.carnegielibrary.org/thelabs