Student Helps Plan New Children’s Center

Fischer

Thanks to the help of a Clinton School student, the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) has a head start on developing its new children’s learning center.

For her final Clinton School project, Emily Fischer worked with the CALS to gather stakeholder input, research best practices and write a grant for the new Children’s and Youth Library and Learning Center (CYLLC). 

Fischer surveyed more than 100 patrons about their library habits and suggestions for the new center, wrote a $50,000 grant for an environmentally friendly greenhouse and researched other libraries and learning centers across the county.

“The center is going to be a hub of innovation,” Fischer said. “From gardening to college prep to digital photography classes, we want to inspire and engage children of all ages. It will be a place where anything and everything is possible.”

One of the best practices models for the CYLLC is the Tiger Woods Learning Center (TWLC) in Anaheim, Calif. The TWLC uses career classes in robotics, marine biology, aerospace design, architecture and others to engage students in the classroom while teaching them academic and life skills. 

Programming at the CYLLC is envisioned to operate in a similar way and give students the motivation they may need to explore new subjects while integrating technology, literacy, research and the arts, Fischer said.

Other models include the ImaginOn, a children’s library and theater in Charlotte, N.C., as well as the Cerritos Library in Cerritos, Calif.

Fischer completed the project as part of the Clinton School’s Capstone program, one of three for-credit public service projects in the Master of Public Service degree program.

The CYLLC is currently in the design stages and is currently scheduled to open next year.  The center will be built south of I-630 and east of Jonesboro Blvd. in Little Rock.