2015 Public Libraries & STEM Conference Evaluation: Final Report

Libraries across the country have been reimagining their community role and leveraging their resources and public trust to strengthen community-based learning and foster critical thinking, problem solving, and engagement in STEM. What started some years ago as independent experiments has become a national movement. The Space Science Institute's National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL), in partnership with the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), received funding from the National Science Foundation for the first-ever Public Libraries & STEM conference, at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel in Colorado, August 20-22, 2015. The conference brought together leaders from local, state, and national libraries; professionals from related associations; STEM leaders from informal science education institutions, universities, and research institutions; and individuals engaged in evaluation, funding, and policy.