The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, in partnership with Children's Theater of Charlotte, will develop ImaginOn Interactive Educational Programs to challenge, inspire, and excite young minds. The project represents a new direction for librariesűgoing beyond traditional methods of engaging and sustaining lifelong learners by using technology to support the way in which youth in the 21st century learn, gather, and process information. Three project elements – Interactive Installations, Blue Screen Programming, and ImagiNetwork – move the public library and children's theater from using technology to merely enhance existing services and resources to using technology to truly create new services and resources.
This project will target children, primarily ages 8-18, who visit ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center either in person or via the ImaginOn web site. Children will have electronic tools to work individually and in groups to create stories and new words; to design, choreograph, and virtually perform dance theater; to experiment with various animation techniques; to create and present a webcast book/play/movie review; to learn about media literacy; to find connections between the written, spoken, and electronic word; to share their creative output through the Web; and much more. Projected outcomes are that young people will acquire and improve communication skills, critical thinking skills, and creative expression through technology.
ImaginOn is a national model – the first time a public library and children's theater have integrated their resources in one facility. This partnership represents an untested strategy for both organizations, pushing them to new levels of public service. Scheduled to open in late 2005, the 102,000 square foot facility allows both agencies to expand existing educational programming, while working together to create new and exciting ways of exposing children to the power of words. Through its center city location and networked technologies, resources will be accessible to all children and young adults, with a special focus on providing increased opportunities for at-risk youth, inner-city youth, and those traditionally underserved.
