Having just spent a week with awesome librarians as part of the
ILEAD June session the context of this activity and the narrative presented is completely opposite of what I would expect from a public library.
That being said, it was being advertised as a "
*Special boys program - ages 9-12 years old* ". If the library wanted to address the claim that "boys academic and literacy skills don't improve over the summer break" I would like to see some cited evidence.
It would definitely be good to hear the standpoint of the library and the supporting evidence to their claim. Maybe there was a strong public interest in addressing a local problem such as boys literacy and this was a result. NOTE: I'm not saying that excluding such a program for girls is the right solution, just that robotics may not have been the program's goal. It would have been prudent to add an inclusive program for girls and boys.