Natalie Cole, CLA
Lori Easterwood, Sacramento Public Library
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library
Eva Mitnick, LAPL
Valerie Recihert, San Francisco Public Library
Four libraries gave examples of their implementation of the statewide initiative: Summer Matters: A New Vision for Summer Learning in California. These libraries formed partnerships with schools and organizations offering afterschool programs for at risk or low income kids. The Packard (?) Foundation provided the funding for a select group of public libraries to inplement the initiative. Challenges for all the libraries included - limited resources, communication difficulties and differences in organizational cultures and transportation issues which prevented children from visiting the libraries.
LAPL formed partnership with 12 LA Best sites which administered afterschool programs. 10 LAPL branches were responsible for administering kits which had a game board and SRP suggestion sheets for sites to use. When the kids finished program they received a free book. They tracked SRP statistics via the online SRP software that we looked into using last year - Evanced. Making children track their progress on Evanced didn't make sense to me because the LA Best sites lacked computers. The low Evanced statistics, lack of responsiveness from LA Best coordinators and the fact that these outreach locations lacked books or computers seemed to doom this project. It didn't make sense to me to expect these children to use Evanced since the LA Best locations didn't have computers.
The presenter, Eva Mitnick, said they ended up dropping off the free book prize at the beginning of the SRP instead of offering the book as a final prize so children had a book to read during the summer. What other resources/books could the children use then for the duration of the program if they didn't have access to books? When I talked to Angelica about this workshop she asked if the LAPL branches offered bookmobile service and why didn't they visit the LA Best locations during the summer? I think the presenter also said each of the 10 branches had different SRP themes so it was hard to coordinate activities. It seems very disjointed and fragmented to have different themes for all the branches.
Another interesting example of the implementation of the Summer Matters iniative was from Oakland Public Library which provided free summer lunches. Nina Lindsay stated that 84% of children who receive free lunch during the school year did not participate in a summer lunch program. Three of their libraries partnered with the Alameda County Food Bank and provided 9 weeks of free summer lunches. Challenges were staffing and getting everyone on board to help with project. She didn't address how this tied into SRP but I figure they must have included some elements of reading or storytimes. She also reported on a succcessful partnership with their East Asian Youth Center. They did not push for library card drives and Summer Reading because they discovered that most of the kids already had cards but parents just weren't bringing them into the library. They responded to the community's needs and provided library open houses to encourage parents to bring their children to the library and offered monthly evening programs.
SFPL initially tried outreach with 12 sites but modified to a more manageable 7. Library staff conducted regular site visits and brought SRP performers to outreach locations and opened library during closed hours for tours.
Sacramento Public Library partnered with the Sacramento City Unified School District and provided 2 site visits to 8 schools, library tours for each of the participating schools and emphasized using the positive outcomes for fundraising opportunities.
I thought it was interesting that none of the libraries disclosed how much funding they received from the Packard (?) Foundation to implement their project. I was surprised that a summer free lunch program would be funded with money which supports library programs - crossing the line into social services.
LAPL formed partnership with 12 LA Best sites which administered afterschool programs. 10 LAPL branches were responsible for administering kits which had a game board and SRP suggestion sheets for sites to use. When the kids finished program they received a free book. They tracked SRP statistics via the online SRP software that we looked into using last year - Evanced. Making children track their progress on Evanced didn't make sense to me because the LA Best sites lacked computers. The low Evanced statistics, lack of responsiveness from LA Best coordinators and the fact that these outreach locations lacked books or computers seemed to doom this project. It didn't make sense to me to expect these children to use Evanced since the LA Best locations didn't have computers.
The presenter, Eva Mitnick, said they ended up dropping off the free book prize at the beginning of the SRP instead of offering the book as a final prize so children had a book to read during the summer. What other resources/books could the children use then for the duration of the program if they didn't have access to books? When I talked to Angelica about this workshop she asked if the LAPL branches offered bookmobile service and why didn't they visit the LA Best locations during the summer? I think the presenter also said each of the 10 branches had different SRP themes so it was hard to coordinate activities. It seems very disjointed and fragmented to have different themes for all the branches.
Another interesting example of the implementation of the Summer Matters iniative was from Oakland Public Library which provided free summer lunches. Nina Lindsay stated that 84% of children who receive free lunch during the school year did not participate in a summer lunch program. Three of their libraries partnered with the Alameda County Food Bank and provided 9 weeks of free summer lunches. Challenges were staffing and getting everyone on board to help with project. She didn't address how this tied into SRP but I figure they must have included some elements of reading or storytimes. She also reported on a succcessful partnership with their East Asian Youth Center. They did not push for library card drives and Summer Reading because they discovered that most of the kids already had cards but parents just weren't bringing them into the library. They responded to the community's needs and provided library open houses to encourage parents to bring their children to the library and offered monthly evening programs.
SFPL initially tried outreach with 12 sites but modified to a more manageable 7. Library staff conducted regular site visits and brought SRP performers to outreach locations and opened library during closed hours for tours.
Sacramento Public Library partnered with the Sacramento City Unified School District and provided 2 site visits to 8 schools, library tours for each of the participating schools and emphasized using the positive outcomes for fundraising opportunities.
I thought it was interesting that none of the libraries disclosed how much funding they received from the Packard (?) Foundation to implement their project. I was surprised that a summer free lunch program would be funded with money which supports library programs - crossing the line into social services.
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