Mayor Lee Celebrates Opening of the Mix Teen Center at San Francisco Main Library
New Teen Digital Media Center & Learning Lab Provides Tools, Technology & Teaching to Help Teens Succeed in 21st Century Economy
Mayor Edwin M. Lee today celebrated the opening of The Mix at SFPL, a new 4,770-square-foot teen digital media center and learning lab located within the San Francisco Main Library, providing 21st Century technology and teaching. The Mix at SFPL offers teens a state-of-the-art recording studio, a Hollywood-worthy video production space, a bank of high-end digital equipment, and a makerspace with many of today’s leading fabrication technologies. In addition, The Mix will have a brand new collection of books, movies and music, an amphitheater-style seating and performance area, and a safe and comfortable space for Bay Area teens to hang out, read and study.
“Teenagers in San Francisco now have another safe, comfortable, and engaging space where they will have access to the latest technologies that can open their minds and unleash their creativity,” said Mayor Lee. “The Mix at SFPL provides San Francisco youth with digital literacy skills that will open up new career paths in multimedia fields and make sure they are well-prepared for college and beyond.”
“The Mix at SFPL is a revolutionary approach to teen services,” said City Librarian Luis Herrera. “San Francisco Public Library embraces the challenge of the 21st Century library by providing equal access and learning opportunities to all patrons, including our city’s teens, in ways that are engaging and entertaining while expanding their horizons.”
The $6 million capital improvement project was managed by San Francisco Public Works with design advice from Bay Area teens who served on the San Francisco Public Library’s Board of Advising Youth (BAY). While teens are more than welcome to simply hang out, The Mix is SFPL is designed so that youth will explore the different technologies in the space, either by attending a workshop or program, or during open “drop in” hours. Regular school classroom visits are being scheduled with SFUSD middle and high schools.
To help deliver quality workshops and classes to teens using the new technologies, the Library has formed partnerships with many leading San Francisco program providers, including the Bay Area Video Coalition, which excels at training at-risk youth in emerging media technologies; Blue Bear School of Music, leaders in providing music education to underserved communities; Ninth Street Independent Film Center which is transferring its youth media program, TILT (Teaching Intermedia Literacy Tools) and digital media equipment, curricula, and youth media archive to The Mix; Girls Who Code, which is on a mission to enhance diversity in technology; KQED, a partner in digital education; and the landmark California Academy of Sciences, a pioneer in providing hands-on science education to the Bay Area.
The Mix at SFPL was made possible by support from Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, the Louis R. Lurie Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, Morrison Foerster, and other generous donors.
For more information on The Mix at SFPL, go to www.themixatsfpl.org.
“Teenagers in San Francisco now have another safe, comfortable, and engaging space where they will have access to the latest technologies that can open their minds and unleash their creativity,” said Mayor Lee. “The Mix at SFPL provides San Francisco youth with digital literacy skills that will open up new career paths in multimedia fields and make sure they are well-prepared for college and beyond.”
“The Mix at SFPL is a revolutionary approach to teen services,” said City Librarian Luis Herrera. “San Francisco Public Library embraces the challenge of the 21st Century library by providing equal access and learning opportunities to all patrons, including our city’s teens, in ways that are engaging and entertaining while expanding their horizons.”
The $6 million capital improvement project was managed by San Francisco Public Works with design advice from Bay Area teens who served on the San Francisco Public Library’s Board of Advising Youth (BAY). While teens are more than welcome to simply hang out, The Mix is SFPL is designed so that youth will explore the different technologies in the space, either by attending a workshop or program, or during open “drop in” hours. Regular school classroom visits are being scheduled with SFUSD middle and high schools.
To help deliver quality workshops and classes to teens using the new technologies, the Library has formed partnerships with many leading San Francisco program providers, including the Bay Area Video Coalition, which excels at training at-risk youth in emerging media technologies; Blue Bear School of Music, leaders in providing music education to underserved communities; Ninth Street Independent Film Center which is transferring its youth media program, TILT (Teaching Intermedia Literacy Tools) and digital media equipment, curricula, and youth media archive to The Mix; Girls Who Code, which is on a mission to enhance diversity in technology; KQED, a partner in digital education; and the landmark California Academy of Sciences, a pioneer in providing hands-on science education to the Bay Area.
The Mix at SFPL was made possible by support from Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, the Louis R. Lurie Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, Morrison Foerster, and other generous donors.
For more information on The Mix at SFPL, go to www.themixatsfpl.org.