In our discussions during the committee meetings I have been reticent to push the Student Success Sessions as much as I feel I should have. But I would like to make a case as we consider our priorities within the committee for the Homework Help that we can provide to the communities.
First, it could be done in a very low tech way with little cost to the library if we choose to do so. All we need to do is line up honor students and supply ample paper and pencil and it could be up and running. Granted, that is not my dream concept, but it would be vastly better than what we are providing now. And, of course, with Foundation Funding, we could make it much better by establishing special collections for the homework centers.
Second, the other ideas that we have would not come near to creating the vast wave of goodwill we would experience from the public if we were to meet one of the most crying needs of parents: help for their childrens' studies. It is already in the library's strategic plan from 2007-2010 under goal #3: Help Students Succeed where it says in part: "Provide Homework Assistance" and "Offer tutoring in libraries for children and teens." Isn't the number one request from parents all day and everyday: "Do you have tutoring for my child in the library???" Imagine if most of our branches had homework help centers up and running when the budget crisis hit. Can you hear how loud the public would have squealed if the mayor tried to cut back the library hours when students could be coming in for help? These homework help centers would make us indispensible to the public if they were up and running.
The school liaison position seem problematic to Cheryl as far as securing funding and will take a while to implement in the current budget situation.
The interactive teachers' website should be something our ITC can handle, but if not - stop and think about it from a practical point of view: (and remember I came up with this idea in the first place…) Which would generate better public support for the library? A website or homework help center? Sure it will be valuable to implement this idea and will help librarians, students, parents and teachers to all be on the same page. But the public will not get too excited about our efforts there.
The library leader program is ramping up our Youth Councils to recognize and develop leaders. This is great, but it will not generate the goodwill that a homework help center will. And it is something that can be done easily without additional cost; therefore, it is not something we can't do easily anyway. I'm just saying that parents will not get nearly as excited about this as if they see help for their kids to succeed in school. The two go hand in hand anyway as Maddy has pointed out numerous times. So the leadership aspect can be built into the homework help centers.
Information Literacy - well of course I am not going to put this down! And we can do a great leap forward in developing a ppt for teachers to use and for students to access, which could be easily posted on the LAPL public website. And experienced YA librarians (I agree, it would not need to be just the LIIIs) can tune up the skills of other YA librarians who are doing presentations in the libraries and schools. But, again, stop and think about the public response to any of these things we are offering. What are they going to welcome with wide open arms? Homework Help is the number one requested thing in our branches!!!
Finally, the Parent Summit (Family Resources Event) is a great idea - but remember it is only once a year and doesn't really reach the people out in the branches. It may also not reach the very people who need it the most - the economically disadvantaged who may not overcome the distance, time and cost it takes to travel downtown. The Parent Summit will be a flash in the pan, but weekly homework help is something that will be ongoing and will make a ongoing difference in people's lives that they have expressed the need for to us all over and over again.
Of all the ideas that we've come up with, Homework Help is the most practical and most needed by our communities. The information literacy aspect can easily be incorporated into that as part of the homework help we provide. The youth leadership aspect likewise is a natural part. And it is a natural venue to promote on an ongoing basis the Student Smart sessions and the Live Homework Help (assuming it continues to be funded in coming budgets). Homework Help is the thing that is most in demand. We have to operate as a business to survive. Businesses that do not meet the demand of their customers are irrelevant. In the public service sector, we can hardly complain if they close our doors in the future when we ignore what they have expressed to us as their number one need.