The East New Orleans Regional Library, part of the New Orleans Public Library, received a YALSA/Dollar General Summer Resources Grant to purchase gaming and maker resources for our Teen Room this summer. Our goal with this grant was to create more recreational and educational opportunities for teens in our community. Our library has a very generous Friends group, but we do not have a programming budget at the branch level, so we relied heavily on these resources this summer and will continue to do so over the coming months! These resources allow teens to exercise creativity, collaborate with friends, and take ownership of the space.
Type: Self-directed
Age: High school
Optimal size: 20+
Estimated cost: $100+
Planning time: <30 minutes
Frequency: Daily
Learning outcomes
- Connect and collaborate with peers
- Think flexibly
- Experiment and test ideas
- Create original work
- Engage in personal expression
- Use materials and tools for development, educational, and recreational needs
Instructions
Over the course of several months, I polled our Teen Advisory Board, teen regulars, and teen volunteers to decide which games to purchase. This is what we bought (all for PS4):
Just Dance
Kingdom Hearts III
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Road to Boruto
NBA 2K19
Overwatch
Spider-Man
WWE 2K19
plus a USA Gear Console Carrying Case
We created a maker wall earlier this year with existing resources, but we used the grant funds to take it to the next level. Here is a list of what we have on the wall. The * denotes items that were purchased with grant funds.
On the Maker Wall:
Scratch art
Craft sticks
Stickers
Adhesive gemstones*
Printed and solid cardstock*
Recycled comics and book pages
Embroidery floss and friendship bracelet kits w/ instructions (teen volunteers can put these together!)
Rubber bands*
Balloons
Straws
Markers
Faux succulents
Sharpies*
Colored pencils*
Crochet hooks*
Cotton yarn
Twine
Waxed cording*
Post It Notes
Black Out Poetry Kits
Scissors
Hole punches
Duck tape*
Washi tape*
Pipe cleaners*
Glue sticks
Mardi Gras beads
Cardboard tubes
Ziploc bags
“Project Idea” cards for inspiration- I laminated a bunch of half sheets with simple instructions and photos, punched a hole in one corner of each, and hung them from a binder ring.
For slightly more expensive items or projects that require more supervision or instruction, I used a rolling cart. I will use this cart during regular maker programs but also make it available to teens on days when we aren’t holding programs. This is what’s in the cart:
In the Maker Cart:
Chibitronics LED circuit stickers*
Coin cell batteries*
Small vibration motors*
Adhesive foam dots*
Electrical tape*
Copper tape*
Magnets*
Colored wire*
Strawbees*
Building bars*
Clay*
Beeswax*
Sugru moldable glue*
Scissors*
Duck Tape Scissors*
Box cutter
Toothpicks
Plastic knives
Plastic forks
Pushpins
Pliers*
Recycled materials (flat cardboard, bottle lids, cardboard tubes)
Glitter*
More paper- tissue paper, recycled comics, recycled book pages
Gem stones*
Wooden beads*
Colored pencils*
Sharpies*
Watercolor pens*
In the Teen Room:
Magnetic poetry (3 sets)* and magnetic easel
Magnet tiles*
Gravity Maze game*
I organized the cart loosely by category: Instructions (printed instructions for simple paper circuits, origami, etc); Paper (cardstock, recycled books, tissue paper, origami paper, etc); Tools; and Recycled Materials; and then by project or activity: Build (building bars, simple circuit and bottle lid bot supplies, pipe cleaners, rubber bands, wire); Color (Sharpies, watercolor pens, colored pencils, coloring sheets), Sculpt (clay, beeswax, moldable glue); and Decorate (glitter, washi tape—really anything!!).
Evaluation
This maker wall started as a relatively low-budget project using basic craft supplies, recycled materials, and program leftovers, but the grant really helped us improve our offerings and it will continue to help us sustain the project in the long term. Over the next several months, we hope to continue to see an increase in teens using our space because of these resources.