Hagaman Gets Grants For Youth Reading Program, Mobile Computer Lab

EAST HAVEN, CT — Hagaman Memorial Library Teen Services/Children's Librarians, Emily Kalotai and Sascha Gardner, have been awarded an $1,800 CT State Library Summer Enrichment Grant.

This grant funding will help to provide an eight-week East Haven Summer Gaming Academy for elementary age to high school age students. The is designed to encourage youth to build reading skills through cooperative gaming experiences.

According to library director Sarah Mallory, the Hagaman Library was also awarded a $10,000 grant from the Network of National Library of Medicine to build a Mobile Computer Lab.

This funding will provide 12 programming-use laptops and a mobile charging cart, enabling the library to turn programming spaces into educational spaces with technology, "We have never had access to before," Mayor Joseph A. Carfora noted in a social media post.

"This will open a number of new opportunities for our community, including introductory computer classes, and we are so excited to bring these new services to our town," he wrote.

"Receiving this funding for East Haven was a team effort and included input from multiple staff members and from community partners at the East Haven Senior Center, East Haven Adult Education, and the Friends of Hagaman Library," Carfora said.