wittig: creating a digital media 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

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

Sparkpgh.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

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

• Follow-up to Labs filmmaking workshops

• Participants worked with commercial director on Saturday film shoot

Romie – East Liberty regular and

Labs commercial lead actor.

Promotion:It’s My Library Commercial

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

• @CLP_Tweets (Twitter)

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

• Facebook.com/CLPTeen (Facebook)

• Clpteensburgh.org (Teen Services blog)

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