EAST HAVEN

The acquisition of two grants by Hagaman Memorial Library for a new mobile computer lab and summer programming will support development in literacy, creative problem solving, and technological proficiency for multiple town demographics in East Haven.

The library was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Network of the National Library of Medicine that will be used to purchase 12 laptop computers and a mobile charging cart that will allow for those laptops to be situated in program spaces, said Sarah Mallory, the director of Hagaman Memorial Library.

Ten of the laptops will be for public programming, while the other two will be intended for staff programming and will provide new opportunities for library patrons.

“We can offer our computer classes, gaming, coding programming—things that we haven’t ever had access to before in the library,” said Mallory. “Now, we’ll be able to turn any of our spaces, like the DeMayo room, into a computer programming room.”

The computer lab is expected be available for programming by June, said Mallory.

Mayor Joseph Carfora mentioned the opening up of new opportunities through the grant in a social media post on April 4. Carfora praised the collaborative effort that helped to bring the technology to Hagaman.

“Receiving this funding for East Haven was a team effort and included input from multiple staff members and from community partners at the East Haven Senior Center, East Haven Adult Education, and the Friends of Hagaman Library,” said Carfora. “We are so excited to bring these new services to our town.”

Mallory said the library may purchase additional equipment that would allow Hagaman to bring the laptops to other locations in the future, including at locations like the Senior Center, East Haven Adult Education, and the town’s multiple elementary schools.

“We’ve already talked to Adult Ed and the Senior Center about how we might be able to use those for programming in the future, whether that's a program here in the library or something we go out to do somewhere else,” Mallory said.

With expanded programming in multiple spaces, Mallory said there are already plans for one of Hagaman’s librarians, Chris Hemingway, to bring the mobile lab to the Senior Center and lead an introductory computer class there, as well as at the library.

The acquisition of the grant from the National Library of Medicine is supportive from a public health perspective and underscores the major points of accessibility for library patrons using the laptops, as well as the resulting improvement of technological capabilities. For example, if an individual is looking for accurate information on a particular health issue, the laptops will provide the best possible resource for seeking out reliable information.

“That's one of the things that we'll actually do a class on with the mobile computer lab,” said Mallory.

New programming and improved life skills will continue this summer with support of a $1,800 Connecticut State Library Summer Enrichment Grant. The purpose of these monies is to empower libraries like Hagaman to offer new opportunities during the summer of 2024 by providing programming that “sparks creativity and productivity, engage individuals, and benefit their communities,” according to the Connecticut State Library.

Hagaman librarians Emily Kalotai and Sascha Gardiner spearheaded the acquisition of the grant and will oversee a series of special programs targeted toward people aged 10 to 17.

This programming will run throughout the summer at Hagaman on a weekly basis and provide a variety of challenges for young patrons. One of the classes, Creative Contraptions, will involve workshoppers constructing Rube Goldberg-type machines intended to “excite kids and get them to think out of the box,” said Gardiner.

The program will begin on Wednesday, June 26 and run weekly on every Wednesday at 2 p.m.

One of the other programs will focus on creative problem solving and involve challenges like subgroups recruiting a mock “secret agent team” to solve various problems, said Gardiner. This program will begin Wednesday, July 17, occurring at 2 p.m. There will also be a cartooning class that will begin on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

Another program, Capstone, will see workshoppers take all of the newly acquired literacy and skills within their preferred field and design their own games. Kalotai said that “part of the grant is going to adding books on game designs, like board game designs.”

In light of the incoming mobile computer lab being concurrent with the summer programming, Mallory said the combination of these two grants provide “the foundation for more great things that are going to come in the future.”

“You can take the gaming experience they're getting now and use that with the other grant to create coding opportunities and video game programs that we haven't had access to before,” she said.

Help is always needed along the way for the youngest workshoppers, and community service hours for high school students are available though the summer enrichment programming.

“I'm gonna limit it to students entering 10th grade or higher to act as mentors and help out with the other kids, especially learning the different games and reading through the rules and helping them out as needed,” said Kalotai.

An information session on mentoring will take place at Hagaman on Thursday, June 13.