APL Awarded Grant for "Teens 'n Technology"

September 29, 2012



The Best Buy Children's Foundation has just awarded a community grant to Addison Public Library! The money will be put towards our new "TNT: Teens 'n Technology for Tomorrow" initiative; we are designing a studio for A/V and graphical editing, and will soon host tech training programs to introduce young adults in the area to the world of digital media.

ADDISON PUBLIC LIBRARY AWARDED GRANT FOR "TEENS 'N TECHNOLOGY"

The Addison Public Library received a generous Community Grant from the Best Buy Children’s Foundation this week. The consumer electronics retail chain selected the library for the grant after reviewing the library's plans to improve area teenagers' access to cutting-edge digital technology. The library is in the process of creating its "TNT: Teens ‘n Technology for Tomorrow" programming series, designed to introduce youth to the exciting, rapidly-changing world of digital media.

We plan on inviting professionals who work with digital media on a daily basis to speak with teens about career options. We will soon purchase state-of-the-art Apple computers and creative software suites for a mobile digital media lab, and we will be converting space in its building into a sound-proof studio for students to work on digital projects and explore new hardware and software. Teens will have a chance to learn how to use programs like Apple's Garageband with keyboards and guitars to compose music, and residents of all ages will want to scan their old photos and enhance them with Adobe's Photoshop.

"We're very excited to receive this grant," said Mary Medjo Me Zengue, the library's director. "We have always striven to connect our community with the digital tools they'll need to succeed in the modern economy, through frequent updates to our public computers and classes we offer regularly. Our TNT program will allow us to bring the most current, relevant technology to some of our younger patrons, and we know they will benefit from and enjoy our new capabilities."

In addition to the Best Buy Children’s Foundation's grant, the TNT program series and digital media lab will be funded in part by generous contributions from the Addison Women’s Club and the Friends of the Addison Public Library; both groups regularly support the library, and much of what the library does would not be possible without them. Plans to begin purchasing equipment and hosting programs are in their final stages, and the lab will be operational sometime in the coming year.

For more information, please contact John Kokoris at (630) 458-3303 or kokoris@addisonlibrary.org.