Thinkery

The Thinkery (Austin children's Museum) will partner with Austin Public Library to implement EdExchange. This outreach program will strengthen the confidence, competence, and capacity of local librarians to lead low-income students in STEAM learning by providing hands-on experiences using modern technologies such as 3D printers and modeling software, computer coding, robotics, and digital applications. Museum staff will provide fifteen hours of professional development to six to ten librarians and will co-lead an afterschool drop-in program delivering technology-centered STEAM experiences in at least four library settings. They will further support their library partners by providing programming kits to assist in offering activities, by delivering STEAM-based programs to at least 150 underserved youth who are new to the program, and by evaluating the project's impact on librarians' confidence in using modern technology and students' acquisition of 21st-century learning skills.