The Tulsa Library Trust received a $600,000 Microsoft Technology Software Grant during a special presentation celebrating the grand opening of the Microsoft Retail Store at Woodland Hills Mall.
The grant was awarded to expand Tulsa City-County Library’s focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and learning opportunities.
The $600,000 grant will allow Tulsa City-County Library to upgrade servers, PCs and laptops to Windows 10. Tulsa City-County Library features 1,000 public PCs/workstations and five computer labs throughout its 25 locations.
Tulsa City-County Library, in partnership with local businesses, local colleges and universities, a dozen education-based organizations and several Tulsa County school districts helped establish the Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance (TRSA). The newly formed Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance Advisory Council is an active partner in advocating for and offering STEM-based programs and services.
Early childhood development is a vital area of Tulsa City-County Library’s focus and is reflected in the library’s first operational goal: “The children of Tulsa County will grow up able to compete globally.” The library strives to increase brain development in toddlers and young children, and improve literacy and learning skills by providing stimulating activities and programs.
Each summer, as part of the children’s and teen summer reading programs, Tulsa City-County Library presents the LEGO Build-Off Competition. Hundreds of children and teens compete to build a creation that represents the summer reading program theme. Winners from each location advance to the finals. While participants have with Lego’s, they are learning spatial reasoning, pattern recognition and problem-solving, and developing their motor skills.
In 2014, Tulsa City-County Library partnered with the TRSA and Girls Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma to offer Cookie Games 2014. The event served to encourage the girls’ engineering skills using empty Girl Scout cookie boxes to build from scratch and on-site at the competition, a representation of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Each team was partnered with a local female engineer or architect who served as their advisor to answer technical questions and to encourage creativity and design.
For more information on Tulsa City-County Library programming, call the AskUs Hotline, 918-549-7323 or visit the library’s web page, www.tulsalibrary.org.
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