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YOUmedia in Your Neighborhood  YOUmedia Expansion and Pop-up Sites Open Chicago Public Library’s teen learning space, YOUmedia, has expanded! Thanks to a $2 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, made through the Chicago Public Library Foundation, the Library now boasts ten YOUmedia sites at select branch locations. YOUmedia spaces are innovative, media- and technology-rich environments that are dedicated to serving teens and pre-teens at select libraries throughout Chicago’s neighborhoods. They encourage collaboration, creativity, problem solving and community-building, by providing visitors with small classes, workshops, and other informal learning opportunities, as well as skilled mentors, and opportunities to just “hang out”. YOUmedia sites primarily operate as drop-in, out-of-school learning environments for teens and pre-teens to develop skills in digital media, STEM programming, and Making. Current YOUmedia sites at the Richard M. Daley, Thurgood Marshall, Lozano and Humboldt Park branches serve pre-teen patrons 6th - 8th grades (ages 11-13). The program’s new sites at the Woodson, Sulzer, Legler, Hall and Back of the Yards library branches opened for business on July 15th. YOUmedia programs at these branches are open for students in 9th through 12th grades (ages 14-18) and offer digital media workshops including photography, video, web design, coding, illustrating, gaming, audio recording, music production, and vinyl cutter design. There will be an additional YOUmedia site at the new Albany Park branch library when it opens to the public in September. In addition to these permanent expansion sites, funding from the MacArthur Foundation is bringing YOUmedia pop-up sites to an additional twelve branch libraries! Pop-ups are single-day events where teens (ages 14-18) participate in workshops such as Gyotaku fish printing, photography, digital music production, and stop motion animation. Pop-ups have taken place at Toman on July 24th, Edgewater on July 29th, Wrightwood-Ashburn on August 14th, and McKinley Park branch on August 20th, and have been widely received by teen patrons. "I'm amazed at what a little machine can do", commented one teen about the vinyl cutting machine. For the full schedule of pop-up sites and dates visit the Library's website. In celebration of the grand opening of the YOUmedia program in the Sulzer Regional and Woodson Regional branches, the Library will host a YOUmedia Launch Party, in partnership with Best Buy. These will be mini-faire events, where volunteers from the Best Buy Geek Squad Academy will feature hands-on activities including 3D modeling, robotics, and more. Teens (ages 14-18) and their families are invited to explore, learn and have fun. The YOUmedia Launch party will be at the Woodson Regional branch on September 9 from 4 – 7 p.m. and at the Sulzer Regional branch on September 16 from 4 – 7 p.m. Additional support for YOUmedia has been provided by the Boeing Chicago Game Changer Award, Motorola Solutions Foundation, the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, the Pearson Foundation and the City of Chicago. |
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