Grad student uses video games to teach

Ty Hollett at Studio NPL at the downtown Nashville Public Library. (John Russell/Vanderbilt)

Doctoral candidate Ty Hollett has created a pilot program for a new “makerspace” called Studio NPL at the downtown Nashville Public Library. Hollett has been using the video game Minecraft to encourage teens to re-envision an East Nashville housing community. Studio NPL is part of a broader movement that is redefining the role of public libraries in civic life and upending traditional notions of what it means to be a literate citizen. Kevin Leander, associate professor of teaching and learning, and Rogers Hall, chair of teaching and learning, advised on the project.