- [Announcer] iQ: smartparent is made possible in part by the McCune Foundation and the Grable Foundation.

- Picture a library, and you might automatically think of books.

But libraries have transformed in the 21st century and they're transforming the communities they serve too.

Today, meet librarians who reveal everything your library has to offer, whether you go there in person or you visit online.

Meet an award-winning educator who is bringing more technology into her school library, inspiring students and their parents to make, create, and innovate.

And finally discover digital badging and hear how this hot new trend is helping kids show off skills they gain outside the classroom.

Libraries are transforming lives, and we'll tell you all about it on today's edition of iQ: smartparent.

It starts right now.

(upbeat piano music) Welcome to iQ: smartparent.

I'm your host Darieth Chisolm.

If you haven't been inside a library for a while, you're missing out on one of the most exciting make-overs of the 21st century.

Libraries are transforming communities, and we've got incredible guests with us today to tell us all about that.

Our first guest is Felton Thomas Junior.

He is the president of the Public Library Association, and he's also the director of the Cleveland public library.

Felton, thanks so much for being here.

- Thanks for having me, Darieth.

- Yeah, yeah.

So, libraries, I think most people these days think, "Oh, with the internet, what's the use in going."

And really, I guess in some people's minds, if you haven't been there in a while, they don't even know the transformation that has occurred.

So, tell us more about what's happening there.

- Well, it is a thing where people haven't had a chance to be in libraries, maybe over the past 20 years, they walk in and they're really shocked at what they see.

For 300 years of public free libraries, libraries were basically built off of rows and rows and stacks of books or racks of newspapers.

But now you walk in and you'll see art galleries, you'll see rows of computers, you'll see tech centers, you'll see makerspaces and you'll see a concentration and focus on convening people in a space that is just comfortable and feels like a living room.

- That's good because they're having them be a part of the transformation, as we said, is really important.

So I want to talk a little bit about a report.

"The state of America's libraries," issued by the American Library Association.

It's called the E's of the library, education, employment, entrepreneurship, empowerment, and engagement.

In line with education, who's coming to the library to learn, and what kind of education are they getting there?

- Well, everyone's coming into the library.

I always say that the library is for, whether you're three or eighty three, working on your GED, or you have a PhD.

It's for everyone who wants to make themselves better.

And so for our parents, they bring their youngest children in, those under the age of five, we have tutoring for our school aged children.

Our high schoolers are coming in, getting SAT and ACT prep.

We have our college aged kids coming in, who are studying.

Our adults are coming in and educating themselves on things that are going to make their business better.

And ultimately our seniors are coming in and they're doing lifelong learning education.

- As it relates to business on employment, entrepreneurship, those being a part of the E's there, you've got ways that you're also supporting small business owners.

- Yeah, we have.

Just say, I'll take Cleveland as an example in the Cleveland public library.

So we've created a makerspace that folks can come down and use to create things that whether it's using the 3D printer, for instance, an architect came in and used it as to create a scale for a building that they wanted to create.

Or it's just a 20 year old who has friends who need t-shirts and they come down and they use our hard press to create t-shirts.

- So, how do libraries help level the playing field in the digital age, as it relates to what technology you have on hand, outside of makerspaces?

- Throughout the United States, there are 300,000 computers available to folks who come into our libraries.

So the foundation is there for people to be able to get computers and internet access, but most libraries are going beyond that.

So if you go into New York where they're checking out wifi hotspots, or if you go into Cleveland where we're checked working with our housing authority, to make sure that as people move in, they're also getting a wifi hotspot that they're able to check out for their family.

- What excites you about libraries these days?

- What excites me is where we're going.

I talked to folks in the education field all the time, and they talked to me about the fact that they believe in five years, the libraries will be the out of school leader in education.

The real concept about what libraries are now, is that libraries simply make people better.

So in any sense, whatever you're looking to do, whatever you're trying to do, you come into the library and there will be something there that will help you along your educational next step.

- Wonderful.

Thank you.

Thanks so much for being here.

Want you to stick around though, 'cause we'll talk a little bit about how families can benefit from libraries online.

But up next, we all know about report cards and school transcripts as a way to gauge what kids know.

But plenty of learning happens outside of the traditional school classroom in places like libraries.

Right now hear about a growing trend called digital badging and discover how it can help your child show off new skills and notable accomplishments.

- [Announcer] It happens at the Carnegie library and at a place called Assemble, after school, too.

What happens?

Learning everywhere and anywhere, all around the region in hundreds of places outside of school.

And none of it is verified.

Now, that's about to change.

Soon learners young and old will be able to vouch for their learning with a digital badge.

- Young people are digital.

It is their vocabulary.

It is what they know.

- [Announcer] Cathy Lewis Long is the executive director of the Sprout Fund, a non-profit organization supporting local innovative grassroots projects that help to make Pittsburgh a great place to live and work.

The Sprout Fund is on the forefront of digital badges.

- It's a visual representation of learning, of an accomplishment, of a new skill, of a new competency.

- [Announcer] In the summer of 2014, the Sprout Fund joined Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles, in a groundbreaking initiative called Cities of Learning.

The goal to ensure learning doesn't stop when school is out, encouraging young people to explore their city, remake learning and earn digital badges.

- Yeah, we were so excited this past summer to partner with 20 very established organizations to help us in this pilot.

- [Announcer] Organizations like Pittsburgh's top museums, libraries and afterschool programs.

- We think about how young people learn today.

We think badges are a great way to make learning more relevant and to really connect it to those real world opportunities.

Those real world skills that young people are going to need in a way that will prepare them to succeed.

- [Announcer] And so leaders are working now to develop curriculum in seven focus areas.

Coding and gaming, STEAM, which is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, robotics, early learning, lifelong learning, design and making and media making.

- More than a hundred people, these are thought leaders, these are academics, professionals that are all coming together to think about what are the shared assessments within very specific focus areas.

- It was supposed to be the water it's supposed to be able to repel it across the water.

- [Announcer] These girls are excited, they're part of Tinker Squad.

- Does it work in the water?

- [Announcer] An after-school program at the Ellis school in Shady Side where they can earn digital badges.

Tinker Squad is a program that introduces middle school girls to engineering.

- What is it that you really like about Tinker Squads?

- My favorite part about Tinker Squads is that we get to do our own things.

- [Announcer] Guiding them is Lisa Palmieri.

She knows a lot about learning innovation.

She's the director of technology and innovation and head of computer science at the Ellis school.

- Tinker Squads is all about empowering girls in STEM and it's not just STEM, it's about the idea of arts and design and thinking collaboratively, coming together, so the students can explore things they're interested in, solving problems in their community.

- Is there any way to maybe take that part here?

- [Announcer] And when it comes to earning digital badges, like in all digital badge locations, they can do so in three areas.

Knowledge, skill, and disposition.

The badges are given out by adult leaders in the program.

Knowledge badges illustrate the student learned the fundamentals of that subject.

- And then once he started to get the skill badges, you have to do a little bit more to earn them, to be able to show that you have earned and created competency around that skill.

- [Announcer] Skills like documentation, 3D printing, prototyping and more.

Disposition badges are the hardest to earn.

They're all about mindset.

How the girls think about design, how well they communicate and their ability to understand and share feelings, are just a few examples.

- We're hoping to make sure that these girls have a growth mindset and that they're open to taking new risks.

And that that confidence is built.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] This cool space known as the Hive at Carnegie library of Pittsburgh and east Liberty is another place where students are able to earn digital badges.

The Carnegie library participated in the Pittsburgh City of Learning.

Every Tuesday and Wednesday, this space is buzzing with teens who experiment in everything from photography to audio production.

(piano music) - And we call it The Labs because it's a place we want teenagers to see as a work venue, even if it's fun, it's projects that they're interested in and where they can really kind of like dig deep into those things and experiment.

- [Announcer] Corey Wittig is a digital learning librarian.

He's a big fan of digital badges, so much so that he began handing out handmade badges until the full digital program is ready to go.

- And we really wanted to like get right to it and realize that there was a why it's a lot bigger.

It's a big system to build out.

And there's a lot to it.

- [Announcer] There is a lot to it.

And while the Sprout Fund is busy developing the curriculum, Corey is excited by its potential.

- Say five years down the road that becomes common for higher ed to recognize badges that, and possible employers and people would recognize these and would understand that to have these badges, to have these kinds of credentials on a school application or a resume that that really means something as rich as a class you took in school.

- [Announcer] Just down the road from the learning Hive is a place called Assemble in Garfield.

- So maybe start brainstorming some ideas.

- [Announcer] It's a community space for arts and technology offering hands-on learning for all ages.

The organization was part of the Cities of Learning Initiative, too.

Nina Barbuto is the founder.

- Digital badging is not in effect to its full capacity yet, big emphasis on yet, but once it happens, I think we're going to see a big shift in education, in and out of school.

Just imagine if you didn't have to take the SAT and you could say, here's my digital backpack.

These are the things that I've done.

It's like a portfolio, but without the stuff.

- [Announcer] 1,800 Badges were issued in the initial City of Learning pilot, in 2014.

Since digital badges are an online representation of what a student has learned, they're stored online in the earner's Digital Backpack.

Badges can be earned by anyone and issued and displayed across different platforms.

That allows earners to post their accomplishments on social media, personal profiles, job websites, and more.

- It is not a reward.

It is not an incentive, but it is also a motivation.

There's a little gamification associated with it.

You know, I want to earn that next badge.

I want to go on and seek that next journey.

They resonate with young people.

It's a part of the world that they live in and it does create that whole picture of a young person.

- Our next guest is Marie Bell Vargas, a library media specialist at PS1X Courtlandt School in the south Bronx in New York.

She is also the winner of the 2016 Common Sense Media award for educator of the year.

So welcome and congratulations on your honor.

- Thank you.

- That's wonderful.

That's so great.

You were recognized for changing the world through technology.

So my first question for you is, how does a library transform the world if you will, through tech?

- I think that it's, in my opinion, it's a mindset.

First, we need to start thinking and changing ourselves and then thinking and changing the way that we approach teaching and learning.

'Cause technology is just a tool, a tool that we use for our students to learn a concept.

And we also use it for the students to show us that they were able to comprehend the concept.

The way that I do it, I'm going to give you a few examples.

First, I collaborate with the classroom teachers and we reimagine the curriculum and we think like, how can we make it more child centered?

More so the kids will be actively involved?

And while we're creating those lessons, we're going to infuse technology.

So then the technology becomes a pathway for learning and that way we're, hopeful that our students will get a deeper understanding of the learning of the content.

- So is this for students of all ages?

- Yes, it's for all ages, because we are in the 21st century and we want our students to become 21st century learners.

We call it the four CS.

Children have to be able to acquire the skills of, collaboration, communication, active involvement, and critical thinking.

So it's for all the kids, because we want them to be lifelong learners.

A good example of this when teachers and librarians collaborate, we expose children to real life issues, real life problems that they actually care about.

The important thing, like I said, is a mindset we want children to create with technology.

Not just to be consumers of technology.

- Yeah.

And so I would think, especially in the Bronx that you're challenged with a few different things, not only with the socioeconomic, but then of course, maybe some kids just learning English, or immigrants coming in.

So you've got a variety of different, - [Marie] Oh yes.

- Social issues, so to speak, to, to deal with as well.

- We have one of our major issues is the digital divide.

50% of our students, they live under the poverty line, so they don't have access to broadband at home.

So what do I do?

I provide access for them during the school, before the school and afterschool.

So they will able to use those technology tools and apply them and create with them.

- And parents obviously are there - [Marie] Parents too, yes.

- and they're using it too.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

You also talk about the importance of digital citizenship.

What does that mean?

- Well, when we think about our students, our students are digital learners.

They are immersed all the time in technology.

They use the technology, they're in the internet, but with all that high level of access that they have also comes other challenges like cyber-bullying and inappropriate sharing and plagiarism.

So we have to stop assuming that because the child have access to technology, they know how to use it.

So our job is to help them have a good, clean digital footprint.

We have to also help them know how to effectively use and access the best resources that are available.

But the problem that we have is that our parents, sometimes they feel inadequate because they think that the children know more than they do on technology.

And we believe that it takes a village to raise a child.

So what do we do?

We offer the support to the parents.

So we empower them, so in that same way, then they empower their children.

- So what types, what lessons of technology can you share with us?

- In fifth grade, they have to learn that part of the curriculum is that they have to learn the different countries.

So since most of my children are immigrants, what they do is that they create an I-Movie of their country of origin.

So they can talk about their country of origin and their traditions.

And then after that, we create an Augmented Reality app.

And then the children have like the Amazing Race.

They have contest with the parents.

So it could be interactive.

It can be a lot of fun.

- So your school has a Makerspace in the library?

- Yes, we do.

We got it through a grant.

Makerspace is a place where children can gather and create and tinker informally.

So the children are also creating at the same time that they're learning.

- And at the end of the day for you, what gives you the most enjoyment about helping kids understand technology?

- When I see them creating their own innovative projects, that sometimes they blow my mind because I was like, wow, I never thought that my kid could do this.

- So what advice would you give to other librarians about some of the initiatives that you've started there?

- I will tell them not to be afraid, that it's okay if you don't know everything.

It's, for example, I usually most of the time I go to trainings because I feel that I need to learn so I can show it to my kids, but I be I'm honest with them.

I said, listen, guys, I went to this professional development on coding.

I don't know it, but we will learn along.

And it's so liberating because I think that they will see how we are lifelong learners.

And I am role modeling for my students.

What are the challenges?

And how that a learner you know, encounters and how we can solve them.

Also, they have to look at their spaces, you know, a makerspace, doesn't have to be a big thing.

You can start with a little corner in your library, where you, without some books, is just to start rethinking what a library looks like and having your children aboard with it and have some fun.

- Well, thank you so much for being here.

It's a delight to, understand what you're doing and how you're pairing that with the technology and congratulations again on the award.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

- No doubt about it, kids certainly love technology.

And right now we'll take a look at how one community library uses gaming, technology and digital devices, as a way to draw new visitors through its doors.

(piano music) - Gaming happens every week.

It's a Monday and come to the library and play some games.

- I'm dragging so much.

- A lot of the times, the first time we see teens as they come to game and it's sort of like the gateway to them coming to other programs.

- It actually falls into these three levels of engagement, called the HOMAGOS, and that stands for hanging out, messing around and geeking out.

And so the gaming falls in the hanging out category.

- A library's been an evolving thing.

It's not all about books anymore.

We're a culture experience.

Gaming's such a big part of being a teen.

They're learning how to share, they're being cooperative in the video game.

- As I see these kids in here all the time with smiles on their faces.

- Come on cats, get on the scoreboard.

(piano music) - And now let me introduce our final guests for today.

Felton Thomas Jr. is back with us.

He's the president of the Public Library Association, and we're also joined by Mary Francis Cooper, president and director of the Carnegie library of Pittsburgh, which was established in 1895.

And today welcomes nearly 3 million visitors each year.

Welcome.

- It's nice to be here.

- It's good to have you here.

- So we have been talking a lot about the services and things that people can do inside of libraries, but let's switch gears and talk a little bit more about what happens online now.

- Oh, absolutely.

Because there's an awful lot that's happening online in libraries today.

It's a whole another way that we expand our services out to the community.

Most libraries do have a lot of resources that are geared towards homework and homework assistance and children.

I think people think about downloadable books and eBooks and things for adults, but we have a lot of content for kids.

We also have databases and services that support homework assistance.

So what I would say is that if anybody is really interested in learning what is available for their kids online, from their public library, with their public library card, the first thing I would tell them to do is actually visit the library and talk to the librarian.

- So go inside of the library to find out what's going on online.

- I would absolutely say that that's important.

- Felton, do you want to chime in here?

- I completely agree.

I think one of the important point that Mary Francis made is the fact that we want to be partners with parents.

And so as your, you know, your child is going on their journey, as far as education, the librarian and can be a very important part of that journey.

- Let's talk about research, using the libraries for research and how that differs from someone going, we talked a little bit about this earlier, but how that differs from someone maybe going out on Google to research.

- Well, the library does make an effort to purchase and make available electronic resources that are very well vetted and curated.

These are resources that are put together by reputable publishers.

And so the content that, you know, that's available in the re in the databases and resources through your public library is well-researched.

When you go out online, there's good content there, but some of it, you know, you really have to be able to have that evaluation of what the source is, where it's coming from.

And we don't want people to go down the road of getting wrong or outdated information.

- And what about privacy?

As it relates to in the digital age, using the library for this type of research and using it online?

- Well, privacy is so important to libraries.

It's one of our pillars because, you know, obviously people come in and they give us their information.

They're checking out items.

They want to make sure that it's what they check out is kept confidential.

So privacy from our standpoint is a library system and libraries as an association, we take that very, very seriously.

- I'd love to ask both of you this question, and that is, you know, libraries, obviously are really becoming a hub as you point out for lots of civic engagement.

But really looking forward, what type of predictors do you have as it relates to libraries and how they're growing and expanding?

- So here's what I would say is, as I look to the future of the library.

We're entering into a time when learning is going to be much more of a lifelong need than it has been in the past.

Kids are going to have to, we need to be teaching our children how to learn as a life skill in a way that we haven't had to before, because things are changing so quickly.

And that's really an important role for the public library.

We will always be there as a resource and as a place where you can come and learn.

And I think it's also critically important that families incorporate the public library now and teach the kids that this is going to be something that will be with you for life.

And that's really, I think, a very important role that we will have going forward.

- I would agree.

I had a 30 something come in and talk to me about most important thing that he had learned that it helped him.

And as he went through college and as he started his own business, was how to research.

And he said his parents had sat down and brought him to a library and he had learned how to research and he felt that made it much easier for him to go through his college life and then to understand how to find that research that was going to be integral in him being able to start this business.

- Wonderful.

Wonderful.

Well, thank you both so much for being here on the show today.

And when it comes to libraries, books are just the beginning, as you've learned.

We hope our guests inspired you and your family to make the most of your local library and connect with others in your community, so you can learn, share, and create together.

Thanks for being here today and join us again, next time for more iQ: smartparent.

- [Announcer] Want to learn more about iQ: smartparent?

Visit us online at iqsmartparent.org for more episodes and additional tools and resources.

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(upbeat music) iQ: smartparent is made possible in part by the McCune Foundation and the Grable Foundation.