This post was written by BAVC Factory Filmmaker Buffy Almendares, Sophie Bedecarré Ernst, and BAVC's Director of Next Gen Programs Ingrid Hu Dahl after presenting about the SFPL Digital Learning Lab initiative at the Digital Media and Learning Conference in Chicago.
On our plane ride to Chicago, the three of us had an opportunity to talk both about how the experience of the San Francisco Public Library Youth Advisory Board has shaped Buffy and Sophie’s previous perception of youth media organizations and about how they hope to incorporate their experiences into the future learning lab — which is scheduled to begin construction later this year.
The SFPL Youth Advisory board has nineteen members that span from high schools across the Bay area with a range of media experience and technical skills, including Buffy and Sophie, who represented the board at DML presenting alongside learning lab partners the California Academy of Sciences, KQED, and BAVC.
The partner team — which didn’t start with youth at the planning phase — has considerably grown to embrace youth leadership and decision-making, which Buffy and Sophie clearly showcased in our 90-minute group presentation on March 14, 2013.
