Behind every website a person visits, app they download or time-killing game they play, there is a coder. At the Jaffrey Public Library, children as young as 8 years old are learning the skills.
Each Wednesday, the library’s computer room is taken over by the Code Club, a drop-in group of teens and children who are learning the basics of computer coding languages and using them to make games, music, animation or websites. The children have access to various programs and can choose what they want to learn and work on.
“You can create anything,” said Haiden Dunshee, 9, of Ashuelot. “You can create a movie, or a game – anything you want. Though some stuff is still a little bit of a mystery.”
Dunshee is currently working on a “clicker game” where you earn points through clicking objects, and eventually earn enough to buy items to make the game easier. He’s struggling to make his ideas a reality, but if he has trouble working it through on his own, the club can easily become a sounding board.
“Even though the kids are usually focused on what they’re working on individually, at any time it can become collaborative,” Jaffrey Library Director Julie Perrin said.
Sometimes the club appoints a “Coder of the Week,” who gets their work put up on the computer room big screen, so other coders can see what they’re working on, and since the program is self-paced, and new members can join at any time and more experienced members can help new ones.
The programs the Code Club uses are suitable for a young age, and itself functions like a game. Club members sign into an account, where they create an avatar. They can unlock gear for their character by completing coding tasks and using those skills to do more complicated missions.
Perrin and Youth Services Librarian Andrea Connolly were interested in teaching some coding skills to the libraries young patrons, so they pursued and secured a grant to implement the program. The grant, funded by Prenda, the Institute of Museum & Library Services, North Dakota State Library, and the Association of Small and Rural Libraries, was awarded to 50 libraries nationally. In New England, there were only two – the Jaffrey Public Library and Hartland Public Library in Vermont.
Though the majority of children who attend Code Club are from the Jaffrey-Rindge School District, as with all the library’s programming, they don’t have to be a card holder to participate, Perrin said. And because Code Club is the only free coding program available in the area, it has drawn regulars from surrounding communities, such as New Ipswich and Keene.
The club members decide which tasks they want to learn, and can move forward in the areas that interest them.
That’s the best part, said Dante Melodino, 13, of Jaffrey.
“I like that we can go off and do our own thing,” Melodino said. “I think it’s cool the library does things like this.”
Melodino said he had some prior coding experience coming into the club and is even thinking about a career in video game design.
Perrin said the Code Club has become very popular since it was implemented in the fall, and though membership varies from week-to-week, there are about 40 children who take advantage of it. Perrin said the library is now looking to expand its science, technology, engineering, arts and math – or STEAM – programming and also include programs for younger children.
With help from a new grant, the library has been able to hire a new assistant, Courtney Normandin, to administer the STEAM programming and has been able to purchase equipment like a wall screen and additional laptops and iPads. With the additional equipment, Code Club will be able to move out of the library’s computer room to a more spacious area in the library’s downstairs.
“We’re planning on making it bigger and better this summer,” Perrin said.
Code Club meets every Wednesday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Jaffrey Public Library. There are ten computers available for use, or club members may bring their own laptop. Members are not required to attend every week.
Ashley Saari can be reached at asaari@ledgertranscript.com.