Wicomico Public Libraries are gearing up for Teen Tech Week 2016! Our Library System serves a diverse group of young adults with our Main Library Branch in a downtown urban area, a Branch in our regional shopping mall, and a Branch in a rural small town in our county. We were inspired by this year’s theme, Create It @ Your Library, and worked to design a program series that was as technologically creative as possible for all three locations.
Photo Credit: PLB Comics
I reached out to our local team of comic writers, PLB Comics, and arranged a Creating Comics event where these writers will share the process of comic book creation from inception to completion. They will discuss script writing and how current technology has changed how comics are created and how that relates to the comic creator. The second half of the program will have teens write a four-panel comic. Then attendees will switch and draw from another person’s script while constantly communicating and asking questions to help reinforce the collaborative nature of the comic creation process.
The week continues with 3-D Printing – Your Future of Fun! This event focuses on how 3-D printer technology is integrating into our world and what this can mean for future careers in engineering, architecture, inventing, medicine, or art and design. Teens will see how this technology works while they adapt designs and print objects of their choice.
The week wraps up with a special Create with CAD edition of our Build, Explore, Think program series. Computer-aided design software is the backbone behind engineering, architecture, 3-D printing, design and many other STEAM professions. During Teen Tech Week teens will learn how to use 123design, a Computer Assisted Design software program, to construct 3-D models of everyday items. This program will give them the ability to understand CAD and the ability to form basic 3-D shapes to an entire house using a laptop. Participants will have the opportunity to learn a computer program that drives invention and the opportunity to create a design for an invention of their own.
Being awarded YALSA and Best Buy’s Teen Tech Week grant has enabled us to book a fantastic lineup of presenters this year and expand our reach to our local youth. We are grateful for the support and are excited to see what our teens come up with!
Stephanie Ewell is the Branch Manager of the Centre Branch of Wicomico Public Libraries. A technology enthusiast and Doctor Who fan, she continues to encourage STEAM programs and delights when activities add to her TARDIS collection.
