The UNCG Creativity Cruiser and the TRC Mobile Engagement Program

Background

The Teaching Resources Center (TRC) of the UNC Greensboro (UNCG) created a Mobile Engagement Program in 2018 to serve the literacy and curricular needs of a public high school – The Middle College at UNCG (MC)which serves as a Guilford County District magnet high school and The Child Care Education Program (CCEP), a child care facility located on the campus.  Funding for the initial project was obtained through The Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant program administered by the State Library of North Carolina.

The TRC Mobile Engagement program draws on one of the TRC’s roles as a model school library, providing students from both the MC and the CCEP materials to suit their needs within the TRC collections.  The challenge for both groups is that they are limited in terms of mobility and time to access resources in the TRC.  A “pop up” library was developed to bring materials to the MC students during their lunch hour. Bringing TRC resources to the students proved successful with a 56% increase in circulation statistics for the three month period that the “pop library” was run. Unfortunately, TRC staff found it challenging to take materials across campus using a library shelving truck.  The CCEP is housed in three different locations on campus, so they were not included in the initial project.

The TRC staff investigated other options to transport the materials in a way that would be less challenging to the staff and would increase their ability to go to multiple locations on campus.  A Book Bike Committee was created with six representatives from the UNCG community. The committee recommended that a Book Bike would be a good fit to further engage with and promote library services to the UNCG community, especially the MC and CCEP. With funds supplied by the School of Education, the Book Bike was purchased during the 2017 Fall Semester. The Book Bike has a deep, substantial box on the front of the bike that is lined with shelves making transporting and showcasing of library materials across campus much easier, more secure and more visible than the library shelving cart used during the experimental “pop up” library.    

Based on the success of the Book Bike initiative (the UNCG Creativity Cruiser), the TRC staff sought funding to create kits that specifically addressed literacy and curricular needs of the MC students and the CCEP students.  Each kit was developed around a topic developed in consultation with the teaching staff at each school. The kit materials included books, teaching manipulatives, and technologies.  The kits would be brought to each school via the Creativity Cruiser along with supplemental materials from the TRC collection.  Students and teachers would be able to check out kits and supplemental materials for use at their site and return the items at the next Creativity Cruiser visit.  The TRC was awarded funding by the State Library of North Caroline through the LSTA grant program.

Kit Topics

The Middle College Kits:

• Animation/Green Screen
• Circuitry
• Coding
• Construction
• Robotics

The Child Care Education Program Kits:

• Emotional and Social Development
• Fine Motor and Gross Motor
• Listening, Language and Communication
• Sensory Integration
• STEAM and Discovery