Amarillo Public Library’s Girls Who Game program has been recognized by the Texas Library Association as a winner of the Demco/Upstart Innovative Programming Award.

Girls Who Game is an extracurricular program created by Dell Technologies with partners Microsoft and Intel. It provides an opportunity for underserved students across North America to learn about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through gaming.  Players learn skills such as computational and critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, and innovation, and are empowered to become leaders in STEM-related fields.

APL’s team, the Axolotl Agents, was started by Digital Literacy Coordinator Maggie Elder and was the first team in the United States based in a public library.  Since its creation in 2022, the team has placed twice in the People’s Choice category and received special recognition from program judges for critical thinking and collaboration. 

APL received the award in the in the Public, Academic, and Special Libraries category, and Director of Library Services Amanda Barrera says the process is highly competitive. “I have served on TLA’s Scholarships & Grants Committee in the past, so I know first-hand the high quality of the programs that vie for this award, and the fact that APL’s Girls Who Game program was selected from all the submissions received this year from public, academic, and special libraries all over the state of Texas is something to be celebrated!”