While its impressive footprint in the heart of the city will stay the same, the
Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library is growing. The $1.5 million Digital Media Teen Learning Laboratory will break ground this fall. The lab is expected to open in the spring of 2015.
The 8,300-square foot facility will be housed in Central Library’s Popular Library on the first floor. Renovations to the area for the Digital Media Lab will mark the library system’s largest construction project since the Central Library was built in 2001.
“To say that we’re excited about this project is an understatement,” said Director of Libraries Keenon McCloy in a prepared statement. “We are on the cutting edge of the revolution that’s Teen Services in libraries nationwide.”
The lab is based on similar facilities around the country, specifically Chicago’s
YOUmedia with one such facility dedicated to high school students and four for middle school students.
The Digital Media Lab will serve as a resource for teachers and administrators, enabling their students to better navigate rapid changes in education, libraries, and technology; feature programs and workshops in graphic design and illustration, music and audio production, video editing, coding, and game design with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics; and serve as an incubator for technology and programs. Pop-up digital media sessions will be available at the system’s other 17 locations, along with online learning opportunities for teens without transportation.
Qualified staff and mentors will be on hand to assist and challenge teens to learn digital media tools.
Major funders include
The Plough Foundation and the
City of Memphis.
by Richard J. Alley
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.