The Friends of the Glenside Free Library is a group of residents dedicated to helping the Glenside Free Library serve the community. They recently hosted a Techgirlz workshop and have plans to support more in the future. The article was published in their fall/winter Friends of the Glenside Newsletter.

Libraries have always been spaces for exploration. Increasingly, our portals for discovery have come through technology. Those who create the technologies of the future will also shape the way we see the world. And for this vision to be inclusive, we need to encourage more girls to consider careers in tech.

It was with this in mind that the library hosted the TechGirlz workshop “You Can Code” this summer. Founded in 2010, TechGirlz is a nonprofit organization that presents free workshops for sixth- to ninth-grade girls on topics ranging from coding to podcasting, movie editing, game and app design, 3D jewelry design, photography, and animation.

“TechGirlz is trying to break down some of the common myths about who works in technology and what tech jobs look like,” says Danica Pascavage, TechGirlz’ Outreach Manager for the Philadelphia region. “Tech jobs are perceived to be geeky and socially isolating, and that’s just not true. Technology is collaborative and creative, and all personality types are needed to make it truly successful and accessible to all.”

[…] According to Glenside youth services librarian Tegan Conner-Cole, “The students really didn’t want to leave when the time was up because they were so focused on and enjoying trying out different coding activities.” She says Glenside hopes to host more TechGirlz workshops in the future, so stay tuned.