Google Donates Robots to Chicago Public Library
Posted Wednesday, May 14, 2014 – 11:31
The ScoopBy Timothy InklebargerAs part of its ongoing initiative to offer library patrons access to 21st-century technology, Chicago Public Library (CPL) has added programmable Finch Robots to its catalog.
The library is partnering with Google to offer 500 of the robots, which can be picked up at the Harold Washington YOUmedia Center, two regional libraries (Sulzer and Woodson) and three branch locations (Austin–Irving, Back of the Yards, and Wrightwood–Ashburn), CPL spokeswoman Mary Beth Kraft tells American Libraries. The robots are available for hold at all 80 of the system’s Chicago-area branches.
The robots, which were developed at Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE (Community Robotics, Education, And Technology Empowerment) Lab, aim to teach children and adults the fundamentals of computer programming and are geared toward patrons ages 8 and up, Kraft explains. Students can program the robots in more than a dozen computer languages to perform functions such as move, make noise, light up, and draw.
via Google Donates Robots to Chicago Public Library | American Libraries Magazine.