The Fletcher Free Library in Burlington, Vermont, launched its new STEAM Play & Learn classes this week, featuring our new Rigamajig! Thanks to ChangeX for sparking this project!
ChangeX funding helped the Fletcher Free Library purchase the Rigamajig workbench, critical to keeping this engineering toy in good shape for many, many local kids to use! The workbench just arrived and was set up this week by volunteers. We look forward to offering STEAM classes in 2025 to get kids familiar with the new resource!
Hurray! Excited to follow this opportunity!
Action plan:
Estimated Timeline:
July--complete application
September--receive Rigamajig, offer youth staff training on Rigamajig, prepare marketing to community, homeschool group and schools
October--launch new offering to community.
The youth team meets weekly and will discuss this program at regular meetings as needed.
Budget:
We are planning to spend the funding on the Rigamajig Building Kit and possibly the bench. We will need a storage component, ideally a moveable one. We also anticipate replacing pieces in the future due to usage.
Impact:
Our goal is to make the Fletcher Free Library a destination place for families. We have been adding interactive exhibits, such as a giant chess board, that will bring people out to engage and play as a community. This new exhibit will reinforce our mission of lifelong learning by encouraging children, family and community members to embrace playful learning together. The Rigamajig will enhance our STEAM Space program during the school year, adding a large-scale build opportunity. The past four years have impacted children's opportunities for teamwork; we believe the Rigamajig will have children of all ages interacting and recognizing that sharing ideas and collaborating yields better results. We will monitor usage and also gather anecdotal data on this new exhibit.
Location:
We are the largest public library in Vermont, with a large youth area and an open, three-story Main Reading Room. Ideally this exhibit will have the mobility to allow us to use it in each of these spaces as well as potentially going to our New North End Branch Library.
