Ready-to-use coding projects for all ages

CHICAGO — The lessons of ALA’s Libraries Ready to Code initiative are conclusive: your library can make a difference in developing computational thinking in children, teens, and even adults. And “60 Ready-to-Use Coding Projects,” published by ALA Editions, shows that you don’t even need to be a techie to make it happen; in fact, many activities in this new book edited by tech champion Elyssa Kroski dispense with a screen altogether in favor of twister boards, masking tape grids, or bowling pins. Other activities are built around affordable software or tech toys like Scratch Jr., Scratch, Bee-Bot, or Code-a-Pillar. Organized by age group, and complete with step-by-step guidance on everything from learning outcomes to an estimated budget, projects include:

• teaching coding to preschoolers with beads, pipe cleaners, and elastic string;
• choreographing music videos with Ozobots;
• programming Mad Libs-style games using Python;
• teaching algorithms with story mapping, pattern play, or mazes;
• using Scratch for digital dress-up or meme remixes;
• team-building and outreach with robots;
• drop-in programs for exploration and unstructured play; and
• teaching adults with Lynda.com or Meetup partners.

Kroski is the Director of Information Technology at the New York Law Institute as well as an award-winning editor and author of numerous books, including “Law Librarianship in the Digital Age,” for which she won the AALL's 2014 Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award. Her ten-book technology series “The Tech Set “ won the ALA's Best Book in Library Literature Award in 2011. She is a librarian, an adjunct faculty member at Drexel and San Jose State University, and an international conference speaker. She was honored with the 2017 Library Hi Tech Award from the ALA/LITA for her long-term contributions in the area of Library and Information Science technology and its application.

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