Intentional Programming: CompuGirls at Tempe Public Library

In 2016, ASU’s Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology (CGEST) was awarded a grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to provide professional development to librarians across three public library systems using the CompuGirls program model. CompuGirls is CGEST’s flagship educational program. For over a decade, it has helped enhance computational thinking skills among underrepresented young girls of color through a culturally responsive STEM curriculum. In partnership with former CGEST-postdoc, Dr. Patricia Garcia’s team at the University of Michigan, Ypsilanti Public Library in Michigan, the Imperial County Public Library in California, and the Tempe Public Library in Arizona, we’ve developed a library-specific CompuGirls model to reach more students and continue to make STEM programming more accessible.

Micah Corporaal serves as the Teen Services Supervisor at the Tempe Public Library. In this role, he helps provide daily after-school programs to local teens, including math tutoring, literacy services, and community building programs. One such program has been a five-day CompuGirls camp offered during the annual fall, spring, and summer school breaks.

Asked how the CompuGirls program has evolved at Tempe Public Library, Corporaal said that “what started out as primarily working with paper circuitry, and providing instruction on Ohm’s Law and the four computational thinking skills, [has] evolved into creating a more project-based, open-ended camp for our students”. Corporaal explains that many students enjoyed their time in the program and returned: this ultimately compelled the Tempe Public Library to collaborate with CGEST, the Ypsilanti Public Library, and the Imperial County Public Library to develop a project-based curriculum.

This project-based curriculum integrates creative and artistic elements into STEM learning, employing what Corporaal calls STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Kits. During the March spring break period, for example, CompuGirls students at the Tempe Public Library were encouraged to create a culturally conscious project employing the tools and software made available by the library, including drawing tablets using ClipStudio software; Adobe Photoshop; music recording equipment; green screen movie-making equipment; and digital photography equipment. Corporaal says this programming achieves many objectives: “It’s an opportunity where [students] can really learn to create, but of course, our primary goal is [...] still providing STEM programming to teen girls in a culturally conscious way.”

One of the most critical components of providing successful educational programming in a library setting is being able to communicate a program’s rewards to the public. Corporaal says that in order to advocate on behalf of teens and teen services, one must be able to articulate the benefits of such programs to those funding the service, including legislators and city council people. “We really need to provide something succinct and tangible to them, to show ‘Hey, these are the results of the services that we’re offering. This is why it’s a good initiative.”

Corporaal uses the term “intentional programming” to describe his ethos when it comes to teen services. According to Corporaal, participating in CompuGirls has allowed him to better evaluate how and why he provides particular programs. “[CompuGirls] allows me to benchmark with other libraries in a more meaningful way, and understanding [sic] why engaging in these crucial discussions about gender equity, and about culture, and about intersectionality, is so important. As I’ve said, we’ve done that in the past, but I think we’ve been supplied with tested tools that allow us to be a little more effective in that area, [and] it’s also been really worthwhile because we are able to see how we have succeeded in many of these areas already.”

Beginning in fall 2019, CompuGirls will continue to provide hands-on training to librarians interested in offering culturally responsive STEM programming to girls in rural communities. Librarians who are interested in becoming research collaborators and improving the CompuGirls program are encouraged to apply by May 1. Rural public libraries in Arizona, Michigan, and California are eligible to participate.