Raspberry Pi Kits Now Available Through University Libraries

Kelsey Lovewell

Students, faculty, staff and community users interested in computing can now check out one of five Raspberry Pi kits from the Mullins Library Help Desk. Jay McAllister, engineering librarian, has created a guide to help users get started. 

"It's about bringing technologies onto campus to be made available for all users, and the libraries can play a vital role in that," McAllister said. "Although the kits are primarily used by engineering students for coding and programming, they also can be transformed into a weather station, temperature log, retro gaming console and many more other projects."

Raspberry Pi is a mini computer that connects to your TV or computer monitor and allows users to explore computing, coding and programming in languages like Python and R. The Raspberry Pi kits can be used for just about anything, from HD video to emulation of vintage video games. 

Each kit contains a Raspberry Pi board, micro HDMI cable, Pi switch, power supply and micro SD card. Kits may be checked out for a period of seven days with one renewal. A grace period of two days will apply when kits can't be returned over the weekend.