By Khalida Sarwari
The Santa Clara County Library District is inviting residents to play in the Treehouse, and climb out of it knowing cutting-edge programming skills to build their startup idea.
This Treehouse is an online interactive technology school that teaches learners coding and web development skills through the use of tutorials, videos and course modules.
Founded by Ryan Carson and Alan Johnson, the company’s stated mission is to “revolutionize how people learn web design, web development and iOS development.” Which all sounds fine and dandy, until a glance at the price tag for the yearly subscription: $250 for the “silver” and $490 for the “gold.”
The good news for patrons of the county library district is that they’ll be able to access the program without having to pay a cent. The district rolled out Treehouse on Oct. 18, and since then 104 patrons have registered for the program, according to Allison Parham, acting community librarian at the Saratoga Library.
Treehouse can be accessed by logging in through the library district’s website using a library card number and PIN. Patrons can use the program at home or at the library.
Anyone can sign up, from teens to adults. The program is self-paced, and the goal is to take complete newbies and familiarize them with enough knowledge about CSS, HTML, JavaScript and design to prepare them for a job in the tech field, if they so desire to take that route.
According to county librarian Nancy Howe, the Treehouse program offered by the district includes more than 1,000 step-by-step video courses and training exercises that are curriculum-based and allow patrons to start at the beginning of a course, such as a “Building an iPad App,” and progress at their own pace.
Examples of courses are programming, coding, web design and small business development. All courses are refreshed and updated continuously.
“By utilizing TreeHouse curriculum, students have an opportunity to develop skills currently in demand,” Howe said. “Skills such as building iPhone or Android apps or developing creative and interactive websites provide useful assets to course participants, allowing them to become more competitive in job searches and potentially increasing chances for successful job placement.”
Parham noted that the library district is one of the few across the country that has partnered with the company to offer it to patrons. The district is paying for the program using money from its general fund, deeming it a worthy investment because the program is taken seriously by tech companies, she said.
To sign up for Treehouse, visit the library district’s website at sccl.org/services/treehouse.
