Everyone needs 21st century competencies to succeed in work and life, and to that end the Cupertino Library has sought to evolve as an informal learning center, developing CU Hacks as a prime example of audience-driven and co-created learning. The Library has sought to meet the challenge of being a 21st century library by fostering STEAM learning through both tangible objects like robots, as well as digital coding. At CU Hacks teens are elevated from a passive audience to one actively engaged in collaborative hackathon teams addressing community needs based on their own assessments.

CU Hacks places teens at the center of the program’s design, heightening engagement through peer-mentors, and building in collaborative team experience. The process ensures teens not only engage with STEAM learning, but with each other as well. Teens aren’t cast in the role of passive learners. They are active and hands-on. The Library strategically schedules CU Hacks over the summer and overnight, a time when teens can easily participate without impacting busy schedules. The Library partners with a host of educational, business, and civic stakeholders such as academic clubs and the Library’s key funding partner, the Cupertino Library Foundation.

The library purposefully developed CU Hacks with a built in design challenge, providing teens with an experience where all participants must think critically about a community issue. Each team must then practice their decision making ability, and select the challenge they feel to be a priority, thinking creatively and brainstorming potential answers. They must then evaluate and refine their ideas. Teams must practice incorporating feedback, listening, and assessing the potential effectiveness of technology, and finally they must be able to present an argument for the value of their innovation to a panel of judges and over 120 peers.