At the end of December, we were thrilled to introduce our new Robotics Club! Thanks to a grant from the
Maine Public Library Fund, the library was able to purchase four Lego Mindstorms EV3 robotic kits. Each kit can be used by two people, allowing a total of 8 people at a time to take part in Robotics Club.
The club is geared towards middle grade students and meets once per month. With the guidance of volunteer Chris Montesano, the students are learning not only how to build robotic creations, but to program them, as well.
At their January meeting, the club members partnered up to build race cars. Using a laptop, each team programmed their car to follow different protocols, including scanning for obstacles in its path, honking its horn, and going in reverse to avoid a collision. It was amazing to see the students excitedly running their cars around the library and watching how they interacted with each other.
The robotics club brings a new opportunity for STEM-based learning to our library. Not only are the students getting technology and engineering experience as they design and build their creations, they are also being introduced to coding as they work out various programs for their designs to carry out.
The new robotics club currently meets one Wednesday per month in lieu of our normally scheduled Lego Club. While space is currently full in our Wednesday night group, we are open to scheduling a second night each month for a new group of students if there is enough interest. Let us know if you are interested in participating! Call the library at 207-698-5737 or email our teen librarian Alaina at agoodnough@berwickpubliclibrary.org.