Getting Started with STEAM

Editor's Notes

• #3: Sue: Welcome to the second webinar put on by MSRT – NYLA’s newest roundtable focused on making and STEAM learning. This roundtable was started to allow NYS libraries to connect and share knowledge about Making and STEAM across all library types and to all types of library staff.  There is so much innovation and inspired activity happening in libraries right now, and we think it’s a critical time to connect, share, and inspire one another as we move in new directions. You can join MSRT for just $5 when added to an existing NYLA membership. Go to NYLA.org and click on Memberships, then Roundtables, to join today!
• #4: Sue: Welcome! Thanks so much for making the time to hear from MSRT today. Lets begin sharing Save the Dates for our upcoming webinars and continuing education events. You will be able to access the archives for the first two webinars in this series from the NYLA MSRT website. Our third webinar is called “Injecting STEAM Into Everything You Do:” and it will be held on August 25th from 2-3 PM Our 4th and final webinar of this series is “Making the Makerspace,” and it will be held on October 7th from 2-3 PM. Then, save the date on October 21, 2015 – when we will be leading a day-long preconference session called “So You Want to Make a Makerspace” at NYLA Annual in Lake Placid. Also, be sure to visit the NYLA MSRT 2nd Annual Maker Showcase while at the conference in Lake Placid. Stop by, join MSRT, join NYLA if you have not yet! Tell us what YOU want from NYLA and MSRT. Don’t miss out on your chance to be part of this evolving conversation across our industry. One of the most important ways you can get involved today with MSRT is to sign and submit the NYLA Section petition. Our goal is to make MSRT a section so that we can provide multiple, meaningful, virtual and on site connecting and learning opportunities, not only at conference but throughout the year. Making MSRT a section will also allow us to have a seat on NYLA Council so we can move the Making and STEAM agenda forward through our libraries across the state. To help make MSRT a section, please go to the NYLA MSRT website and submit this form by mail, fax or email!
• #5: STEPHANIE STEM is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Many people add an A for art, and call it STEAM. And as you’ll see, there is a lot of creativity and art in what we do. But first a definition. STEM Literacy is often defined as “the ability to identify, apply, and integrate concepts from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to understand complex problems and to innovate to solve them” (Balka 7). Balka, D. (Summer 2011). Standards of mathmatical practice and STEM. Math-Science Connector Newsletter. Stilwater , OK: School of Science and Mathematics Association. Why is STEM important? We live in an age of technology Technology is becoming more complex and more prevalent Connecting with each other occurs through both physical, face-to-face means, as well as digitally through social media and gadgets There is a digital literacy component, because these technologies require skill to use and even more skill to manipulate and change As we are now, our virtual interactions are restricted through the creations of others Apps, software, hardware, etc. In order to succeed in this world of technology and constant change, it is vitally important that children (and adults) develop skills in these STEAM subjects in order to shape the world they are growing into. Expertise in STEM fields promotes inventiveness, scientific discovery, and efficiency in the way things are done, while also opening up new job and economic opportunities. Due to technological advances, STEM jobs in the United States in the past ten years have grown at three times the pace of non-STEM jobs, and are projected to continue growing at this pace through the next decade. Personal and societal decisions in the 21st century increasingly require scientific and technological understanding. Whether about health, the environment, or technology, a certain level of scientific knowledge is vital to informed decision making. Thus, another goal of STEM education is to increase STEM literacy—defined as the knowledge and understanding of scientific and mathematical concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity for families. (http://www.stemreports.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/NRC_STEM_2.pdf)
• #6: STEPHANIE Learning is often described as formal learning (such as that occurring in schools, colleges, and universities) and informal learning (that occurs everywhere else). Although the learning process is the same, there are qualitative differences between formal and informal learning contexts that hinge on the degree of choice participants have to engage in learning activities and with whom, and whether or not there is a formal curriculum and/or assessment process.   More than a decade ago, and after considerable input from members, the Informal Science Education Ad Hoc Committee of the Board of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) concluded that learning in out-of-school contexts means “learning that is self-motivated, voluntary, guided by the learner’s needs and interests, learning that is engaged in throughout his or her life” (Dierking et al., 2003, p. 109). This implies that ISE learners are self-directed, pursuing things that they need to know and hence of value to them, or things that are interesting and entertaining or amusing. Not all of these experiences result in learning at a conscious level. Some of them may result in “ah-ha” moments when an understanding suddenly falls into place, but many times these experiences will lay dormant until a reminding experience at a later time
• #7: STEPHANIE So how do you design spaces, programs and services that support STEM literacy? First, we see STEM literacy as a process, not a content area: STEM literacy is composed of skills, abilities, factual knowledge, procedures, concepts, and meta cognitive capacities. Our goals are twofold: to provide well-designed opportunities for families to strengthen these capacities AND to do it in a FUN dynamic and participant interest driven way. Our emphasis is on exploration and discovery, not on any fixed product or outcome. This simplified model of the Engineering Design Process is good example of the iterative processes we facilitate in our STEM and Maker programs. ASK: We start by asking questions. What is the problem or topic we are trying to learn more about? How have others approached it? What are your constraints? IMAGINE: What are some solutions? Brainstorm ideas. Be creative! PLAN: Let’s think about how we will test our ideas or turn them into a reality. What do we need? What steps should we take? CREATE: Follow your plan and create actually something. Test it out! IMPROVE: What worked? What didn’t? What could work better? Modify your designs to make it better. Test it out! It’s important to note that the EDP is flexible. It is a cycle – there’s no official starting point or ending point. You can begin at any step, focus on just one step, move back and forth between steps, or repeat the cycle. As you will see, this model is implicit in many of the programs and services we offer.
• #8: The National Science Foundation (NSF) in Framework for the Evaluation Impacts of Informal Science Projects has identified 6 categories of impact: Awareness, knowledge or understanding (of) Engagement or interest (in) Attitudes (towards STEAM-related) Behavior (related to) Skills (based on) STEM concepts, process or careers, attitudes towards STEM related topics or capabilities These impact categories make it possible to communicate a range of project impacts to stakeholders. They enable the program to disaggregate, sort, and analyze the wealth of data collected from individual projects in its portfolio with an emphasis on outcomes, rather than descriptive categories (such as project type or target audience).
• #9: STEPHANIE We strive to offer a dynamic and organic approach to learning suggested by Nobel Laureate Leon Lederman. Our STEM learning opportunities encourage families to: • Process many different kinds of information simultaneously. • Understand information when it is embedded in messy yet relevant, authentic, novel, challenging and information-rich contexts. • Construct meaning through connections and pattern formulation. • Organize and associate new information with their existing knowledge. • Collaborate with peers and adults in challenging (but not threatening) endeavors. Through our programs we hope to co-create a community of learners who can: • Communicate effectively about science and technology. • Anticipate the impacts of their actions. • Be responsive to accelerating change driven by new technologies. • Maintain the balance among society, economic growth and the environment • Work together to find measured yet creative solutions to problems which are today unimaginable We will now discuss how we achieve these goals through our spaces, collections, services, and programs. http://www.slapt.org/resources/physics_first/PhysicsFirst.pdf
• #10: LEAHNow, on to a little bit about how we got started with STEAM at our library, Fayetteville Free Library.
• #11: LEAH: Fayetteville Free Library is a suburban public library located in upstate New York outside of Syracuse and we’re a member of the Onondaga County Library System. We are chartered to serve a population of 10,000, but in reality, we provide access to a great deal more. Our local school district, Fayetteville Manlius, is ranked very highly among districts in New York State in academic performance and has a strong emphasis on science and mathematics. Our mission at the FFL is to provide “free and open access to ideas and information.” To us, this doesn’t just mean providing access to books and storytimes, but is a much larger, more all-encompassing vision. We believe that public libraries can be a platform for community members to learn and share what they know with one another. We strive to be a place where our community can come together to contribute to the conversation, create original content, design new solutions, develop meaningful skills, and make their worlds. At our library, we seek to provide access to hands-on transformative learning experiences that support the development of 21st century and STEAM literacy skills, in addition to traditional literacy skills. We believe libraries are uniquely situated to support new literacies in way that’s fun, informal, interest-driven, and available to ALL.
• #12: LEAH So, that’s a little bit about our mission and vision. But how did we get started with STEAM learning at the FFL? We began by understanding the national and local interest in STEM learning. As we mentioned, students in our community have a history of STEM excellence, and achieving this excellence is a high priority to parents and families in our area. We had an inherent understanding that if we were to provide additional access to STEM learning opportunities at the library, they would be strongly embraced by our community. We also did extensive research into informal STEAM learning, which Stephanie has just mentioned and summarized, that supported the notion of moving forward with STEAM programs and services at our library. So for starters, we began to host some programs and events that were STEM focused, but did not require much in the way of staff time or financial investment. We began offering a 1-on-1 tech help service, for instance, which simply requires 4 hours of time commitment per month from each of our professional librarians. We began running low-cost, easy to execute programs for kids and teens with a science and technology focus, such as a “Young Scientists” program led by a local science teacher, or “Take Apart Tuesdays” programs where teens take apart donated electronics to discover how they work. When we witnessed the success and huge popularity of these types of programs, it pretty quickly indicated that we were right in thinking that our community wants to utilize the library as a place for informal hands-on STEM learning. We knew this was something important to them that we should try to offer even more of. However, we can’t do it all, right? Libraries are all faced with the challenge of allocating limited resources, including space, time, money, and staff. So we quickly recognized the importance of asking ourselves – what can we STOP doing in order to start doing more to support STEM and 21st century literacies? And also, what are additional ways that we can make changes to support these new literacies without requiring a lot of additional resources? We did things like assess our spaces to identify underutilized or duplicative areas that might be repurposed for drop-in STEM learning areas. We did an in-depth Reference assessment, tracking the resources used, types of questions asked and times of day we’re asked them, that allowed us to make some significant changes to our reference desk staffing and reference resource purchasing. We did a similarly in-depth assessment of our database collection, addressing if there were similar lower cost or free online resources that would meet patrons needs equally, as well as doing a cost per use assessment to make sure our database investments still made sense for our community. We also began to rethink our programming budget, recognizing that it might be more meaningful to our community to purchase, say, a couple LEGO robotics kids that can be used over and over for in-depth participatory learning programs rather than pay a performer $500 for a one-time one-off program. All of this quickly allowed us to find the funds, space, and staff time needed to be able to more fully support STEM learning at the library, while remaining confident that we would continue to meet patrons’ needs in all the ways they have come to expect.
• #13: MEREDITHWe’re now going to talk a little bit about the services and tools we utilize to support STEM learning for families in our communities.
• #14: MEREDITH The Pop Up STEAM Shop is inspired by the new trend of pop-up shops that retailers have been doing for the past couple years. It is based on the idea of pop up stores in retail where stores open short term spaces to gain more attention and highlight new items and attract new customers. We took that idea and created the Pop UP STEAM Shop to achieve that same goal, to gain more attention, highlight our STEAM resources and attract new patrons to these programs and services. The shop moves to a different location each month for visibility and has a different activity that highlights STEAM programs, services and collections that we have in the library. The shop will be located somewhere in either the children’s room, teen area, front area, Fab Lab, Creation Lab or Café. The shop will have a STEAM related activity for patrons to try with corresponding resources, this month we set up the MaKey MaKey to a laptop with an instruction sheet and an activity asking patrons to test out different items that conduct electricity. By just walking by patrons can learn about electronics and circuits without the need for staffing or usage of program space. The location will randomize each month with a different activity, you can see the different activities we are planning to do in the upcoming months. This is an opportunity to provide fun informal learning opportunities around STEM subjects without any instruction or staff time. It is a low maintenance program where each librarian is responsible for the activity for the month and then hands it off to the next person the following month.
• #15: STEPHANIE Minecraft is a sandbox game that gives users the ability to build, scavenge, strategize, grow, and create in a simulated 3D world. This world is made of 3D blocks and each block has different properties. Some of the blocks are useful as they are found, while others can be made more useful or valuable by combining them with other blocks to make new ones. Just as a tree block can be used to make sticks and planks, so those can be combined to make tools like shovels and axes which produce better outcomes than just using the player’s fist to dig holes or cut down trees. Traditional building blocks and block toys like LEGOs give children an opportunity to develop skills in depth perception, creativity, organization, critical thinking, and problem solving. Minecraft is a simulated computer environment where those skills are further encouraged while adding new skills like computer literacy, strategic planning, math, geometry, pattern recognition, and even geology and chemistry. When a player first begins in Minecraft they have to decide if they want to play in creative mode with endless resources, the ability to fly, and no possible way to die or in survival mode where they start with nothing and their player will die if they aren’t able to scavenge or grow food and find shelter or weapons to survive against the monsters. There is also a social aspect to Minecraft. Players can interact virtually through online servers where they interact through text, developing communication skills and typing. Players can also work collaboratively, forming groups with common goals like farming, raiding, hunting, and building. Many players also contribute to the shared knowledge of the game by writing blogs, producing youtube videos, and contributing to online forums. The costs associated with vanilla Minecraft are the costs of the individual player accounts and whatever is put into running a server, whether you do that in-house or find a hosting service online. You can play a free demo of Minecraft on the Minecraft.net website or download the full version with a personal Mojang account for $26.95. We run MinecraftEdu in our library instead of Vanilla Minecraft because it gives us control over how our server can be accessed and what the players can do without requiring any prior understanding of Java or Minecraft server management. We also chose to run Minecraft Edu because it provides access to both the Edu mod and vanilla Minecraft but does not require players to have a paid account for Minecraft, which eliminates a barrier to access for many patrons. They offer several different pricing structures based on your needs. (One license for the server software is $41 and each user license is $18 ($15 for more than 25 licenses at a time) So one library server and 25 computer licenses would be $391. We run one server and provide 16 simultaneous access points so for us it came to $329) Go to minecraftedu.com for more information.
• #16: LEAH So Webucator is an example of an online tech learning service that we provide access to through our website. I mentioned that we did a major assessment of our databases and online learning tools, to address if there were free or low cost resources out there that could meet our patron’s online learning needs as opposed to much more expensive resources. Webucator is a great example of a high-quality tech learning resource that’s available FREE OF CHARGE to all libraries. Webucator is in the business of providing face-to-face and online tech classes to businesses and university students. They are partnering with libraries to bring their self-guided online courses to library patrons across the country. Courses offered through Webucator include Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Project), Adobe (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Flash), web development technologies (HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and more), mobile web development (jQuery Mobile and Developing Mobile Websites), SQL, XML, and much more. All that’s required on our end to bring these courses to our patrons is putting the link on our website, and distributing a voucher code that our patrons can use to log in. If you do a Google search for Webucator library partner program, you can find all the info you need to start offering these courses for free to your patrons.
• #17: MEREDITH
• #18: STEPHANIEThe FFL also supports the development of deeper learning skills through other STEM-based programs. We know that children learn best through content rich, play-based experiences that link abstract concepts to applied activities. Therefore, we have developed two program series, “Tinker Tots” for ages 3-5 and “Little Makers” (previously mentioned for ages 5-8) which combine literacy, STEM, and play. Each session is designed to illuminate an age-appropriate scientific concept; for preschoolers it might be “buoyancy” or sink vs. float, and for kindergartners through second graders, “circuits.” We start by reading a story that touches on the session’s topic, and then we read a non-fiction book that helps explain the science. In our “buoyancy” example, we read What Floats in a Moat by Lynne Berry, and Floating and Sinking by Karen Bryant-Mole. Then we do an experiment to explore the topic. Children chose from a basket full of everyday objects and tried to predict whether something would sink or float, before testing it in a tray of water. Finally, we make something that allows us to creatively express what we’ve learned. In this case we constructed sail boats out of sponges, straws and foam. Children in “Tinker Tots” are learning critical and analytical thinking, problem-solving, number and sense operations, measurement, properties of ordering, expression and representation, and scientific thinking—including collecting information through observation and manipulation; and exploring the world by manipulating objects, asking questions, and making predictions. Through these fun, informal learning experiences, we are also positioning children to meet national standards, like the Common Core.
• #19: STEPHANIE Little Makers is a free play area with complimentary programs that encourage children ages 5-8 to imagine, create, and build. The Little Makers area is open at all times when the library is open and features a DIY gallery wall where our Little Makers are encouraged to display their inventions and share them with the community. The space includes an “invention box” with craft supplies and community donations that children can take and use for their own creations. It also has Roominate DIY wired dollhouse building kits, Snap Circuits which make learning how to use electronics easy (seen in picture), MaKey MaKey which allows you to become an inventor by alligator clipping the Internet to anything like bananas or Play Doh, Bionic Blox, an architectural construction and building set, Kaleido gears, which teaches children the simple principles of mechanics and Goldie Blox, which offer a story, games and activities to encourage girls to learn engineering skills. As librarians and educators we understand the importance of STEM skills and play in childhood development. So, in addition to the free play activities inherent in the space, we have created a series of Little Makers programs. These programs utilize the children’s natural curiosity and the power of their imaginations to explore various STEM concepts. It is this emphasis on exploration and free play that makes these programs so rewarding. American psychologist Abrahm Maslow said that “Almost all creativity involves purposeful play” and this is certainly illustrated in Little Makers. Each program is dedicated to a different maker activity that explores a related STEM concept through play. For example, one month we made galaxy playdough and used the experience to learn about stars, galaxies, and outerspace. Another month we explored electricity and circuits using Snap Circuits Jr. We begin each program by reading a picture book that introduces the month’s STEM concept in a story format. Then we read a non-fiction book and ask/answer questions that help us discover more facts about our topic. We sometimes include an experiment or a challenge that helps illustrate one of the scientific principals, and we culminate with at least 20 minutes (often a half hour) of free play and discovery through making. Other topics of exploration have included:
• #20: MEREDITH With the great success from Creation Club, we started Creation Club Jr. for 3-5th graders. We have had about 17-20 kids per session and have trained kids on the 3D printer, 3D design, vinyl cutter, green screen and more. This club gives kid that opportunity to be trained on all the equipment in the library in both the Fab Lab and Creation Lab to hopefully come in on their own time to use these spaces. Each session of Creation Club Jr. begins with a lesson, training and then exploration. For example, we just used Aurasma and learned about augmented reality, with real life examples like Google Glass and discussed how this would be useful in our world right now. After that we made our own augmented reality, let’s just say Lady Gaga ended up all over the FFL. Putting what we are learning into a real world concept is one of the main goals of this club, to introduce them to different parts of STEM and different activities to spark interest and excitement in these content areas but also making sure it is relevant to their everyday lives. The lessons always provoke critical thinking but embrace the idea of a fun after school club. The kids don’t even realize they are learning new skills through the fun activities they are doing. Examples of program lessons: In the picture above you see Creation Club Jr. working on our movie titled, “Everything is NOT Awesome”. I began the lesson by discussing how movies are actually made and the processes of pre and post production. We needed to write a script. We brainstormed ideas on paper, and strategically picked from our list of ideas the flow of our film so when it came to acting out on our green screen we had a clear and concise vision of our end goal. After filming we met in the Community Room as you see here to edit our movie in iMovie, this was the post production development of real movie making. After our movie was complete we worked on movie posters to display around the library and learned about marketing and advertising. We talked about creating slogans, and proper promotion. It was more than just making a movie, it introduced kids to that actual real life process. Watched a video on the world’s most interesting buildings, discussed architecture, design, and civil engineering. We then developed a plan for the city we would build out of marshmallows and toothpicks. After groups made their own individual buildings, we put them together to make a town. There was a school, mall, dorm, clock tower, city hall and even a junkyard connected by sidewalks, bridges and roads. This hands on activity allowed students to experience what it is like working as a civil engineer while also learning the basics of building structures along the way. Watched videos of actual hovercrafts, found corresponding videos to teach the science behind the hovercraft. Used PBS kids website for program idea and explanation. Develop critical thinking skills and the ability to produce media, not just consume it. Learning STEM skills around engineering, math and technology through hands on activities with lessons bringing in real life connections during each club’s session.
• #21: MEREDITHCoding Club meets twice a month led by myself and one high school teen volunteer. Opportunity to teach the basics of coding, understanding the fundamentals of programming and using resources like code.org, code academy and SCRATCH to give kids a hands on learning experience on programming. We just finished a month and a half long session teaching kids HTML. Using a PowerPoint presentation along with Mozilla Thimble, a free web resource that allows you to write code and see what you’ve made side by side. The kids did an amazing job with HTML. They were excited that they could make their own websites and were viewing the source code on all of their favorite sites. It was quite the outcome of this program knowing that 17 kids not even in middle school yet know the fundamental basics of creating websites and understanding how the web works. We even had a kid who has been working on his site from home. HTML is very easy to learn and teach. There are a plethora of free resources online that teach you how to write HTML and even sites like Girl Develop IT have pre made presentations that you can use when teaching. In previous sessions we worked on game development using SCRATCH, and played Code Combat to learn Python. The goal is to build an understanding of programming and build interest in computer science careers to eventually pursue in college. Computer programming also goes beyond just learning how to use technology, it teaches problem solving and critical thinking skills. If their program is not working they have to decipher the code and identify the problem and figure out how to make it work. It is a great lesson in these skills. As technology moves forward it is increasingly important that students learn computer programming in schools and at the library as the demand for software developers will continue to grow.
• #22: MEREDITH Astronomy 101 This 5 part series was an introduction to astronomy. Aside from the obvious introduction to telescopes and the names and types of celestial bodies, participants were also introduced to the math, physics, and observational skills needed to practice astronomy. Activities included: stargazing through the library telescope (we can see Jupiter and about 5 of its moons really well) making 3D models of constellations and making observations from several angles – seen from the side we can see that the stars of some of them are actually near each other but others are not learning the planets in the solar system and how far they are using clay to demonstrate scale of objects in our solar system learning about the different types of objects in space suns, planets, moons, asteroids, galaxies, meteors, comets, etc. doing an experiment dropping different sized and massed balls onto flour and cocoa powder to see how craters are made and to understand what their shape can tell us about the object that created it Participating in citizen science by contributing to GalaxyZoo.org Learning how telescopes work Very low cost program except for the telescope. The program can be run without the telescope, focus on objects in the sky that can be seen clearly without the aid of a magnification like constellations, the moon, and planets.
• #23: LEAH Teens Make is a 1 hour afternoon craft program for middle and high school aged students that runs every week during the summer reading program and twice a month during the school year. Teens Make programs are intended to familiarize our teens with “making” tools and applying steam skills. Most especially how to use the STEM skills in conjunction with art. By couching the learning and skill development aspect in an interesting craft activity, teens can learn and apply skills at the same time. Every program we make a different craft which introduces or exercises different skills from using a sewing machine, to reading a cross stitch pattern, and making wearable circuits. Some examples include: Making an Instructible about modifying a VR Headset. Sewing a pencil case Using contact paper and a vinyl cutter to make templates for chemically etching glass. Counted cross-stitch Duct tape creations Sewing LED wrist-cuffs
• #24: As I mentioned before, one of our huge strategies in getting started with STEAM and participatory learning programs involved an overall rethinking of our programming model. We made a targeted effort to move away from paying performers and lecturers to lead passive programs, and instead began to open up opportunities for our community members to volunteer to share what they know in a hands-on way with their neighbors. We developed a new volunteer application that has 3 simple questions: What do you love to do? What are you passionate about? And “Are you willing to share what you know with your neighbors?” When we have formal or informal conversations where people express their interest on a given topic, or when people express their interest in volunteering, we use this form to capture their interest. This form helps us get beyond the place where we are simply slotting people into predefined volunteer positions, and instead allowing the community members to shape their library and really engage in a way that’s meaningful to them. As a result, we have had community members come forward to lead classes, clubs, and programs on a variety of topics, many of them related to STEAM. Examples of classes and clubs that involve science, tech, engineering, math, and the arts that appointments thhave been led by community volunteers can be seen on this slide – they range from everything from Robotics Club and Electronics Club to painting classes and birding classes. In 2014, we had over 290 classes, club meetings, events and one-on-one at were led by community volunteers. Over the past few years, we’ve actually been able to actually reduce our program budget by 43% due in large part to embracing this model.
• #25: One-on-one appointments are an example of a hands-on STEAM learning opportunity for adults that are being led by both volunteers and staff. A couple years ago, we began to largely shift away from group technology classes, recognizing that each person has unique tech learning needs. Our experience has been that doing so not only meets patron’s needs in a more customized way, but also saves staff time, in that staff do not need to prepare a lesson plan in advance - they can simply tailor a session in the moment. During our appointments, we embrace the philosophy of “let’s figure this out together….” so rather than just reaching the outcome, it’s about the process of figuring out HOW to do something. We think it’s important to show that sometimes with computers and technology, even WE don’t necessarily know the answer right away, but need to do some clicking and searching to find out how to do what we want to do. So teaching these skills and teaching the process of finding the solution, even trying different options that don’t work first, are an important part of the appointment and of developing 21st century skills. This approach also allows staff to realize it’s OKAY to not know everything and not be an expert in everything right off the bat. Another important part of our one-on-one appointment approach has been to integrate community volunteers. We’ve had everyone from teens to seniors offer everything drop drop-in 1-on-1 tech help to specialized 1-on-1 appointments on software like Photoshop or Solidworks 3D modeling software. Volunteers allow us to expand upon both the quantity of appointments we can offer, as well as the topic areas we’re able to cover in our appointments. Certainly, none of our librarians are experts in 3D design, but the mechanical engineers who volunteer with us are, so they can take people to a much further level than we would ever be able to, for instance.