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Youth Enjoy Digital Arts Lab
On November 11, 2007, Salinas Public Library Director Elizabeth Martinez introduced the idea of a Digital Arts Lab (DAL) to the Salinas City Council, as a place for youth to build their interest in graphic and digital arts toward a potential career. With financial support from the Rally Salinas Fund, and an Irvine Foundation award of $25,000 to purchase computers and equipment for the lab, the DAL opened in September 2008, and has grown in popularity and dramatically increased digital arts and literacy skills of the community.
DAL projects have ranged from introductory courses and hands on Learn and Play Demos led by community volunteers, California State Monterey Bay Service Learning Students and staff. Visitors to the DAL have free and unrestricted access to four Apple computers, two Apple notebooks, and an Apple Mac Pro. Each computer has the entire Design Premium Adobe Creative Suite, Apple iLife, and Final Cut studio software to explore. Programming and hands on courses have introduced patrons to editing and uploading their own digital photographs with Adobe's Photoshop CS3 and Flickr, creating musical scores and mash ups using Garageband, as well as introductory web design and search engine optimization seminars.
The DAL has attracted a variety of guests from area teens editing skateboarding films, to local fishermen creating video advertisements to be aired on local television. Everyone from Senior Citizens to young children can be found uploading music to their ipods using Apple's itunes, and both adults and children enjoy taking, editing, and uploading photographs from embedded webcams in each DAL computer.
Along with the endless software and digital art capabilities the DAL houses the equipment for the U Name It Teen Lounge which sits outside its glass doors. Featuring both a Nintendo Wii Xbox360Elite, the library features a variety of games daily, and hosts in house tournaments in partnership with the local gameshop, Gamecrazy. Recognizing the differences in skills level and taste, each tournament offers prizes and tips for all participants regardless of their abilities. Rockband and Guitar Hero tournaments bring together young adults as teams, and the physical demands of Wii sports get teens from across the community up and moving to the library.
For more information on the Salinas Public Library's Digital Arts Lab you can visit their online blog at www.digitalartslab.blogspot.com. Along with information regarding scheduling and programming you can also view online tutorials developed and created by Salinas Public Library Staff and volunteers. See also www.salinaspubliclibrary.org
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Carissa Purnell
Salinas Public Library
The Salinas Public Library is an Institutional Member of CLA and directly supports our advocacy programs. Click here for more information on Institutional Membership.
Posted on January 21, 2010 8:36 AM | Permalink