May 2008 Report

Library Director’s Report- May 2008 

Council presentations

On Monday, June 23, the Redwood City Library Foundation will be presenting an oversized check at the City Council meeting representing the $850,000 that has been raised for the Campaign for the Opening Day Collection for the Redwood Shores Library. The presentation falls at the beginning of the meeting, close to 7 p.m. The check will be received by Mayor Foust and Library Board President, Rudy Madrigal.

On Monday, May 19, Police Chief Lou Cobarruviaz, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Director Corinne Centeno, Deputy City Manager Magda Gonzalez and Library Director Dave Genesy presented to the City Council work-to-date on the Youth Agenda, a collaborative approach to delivering youth services. The presentation was very well received and supported by the entire Council.

On May 12, the City Council honored the organization and volunteers of Notre Dame-Americorps for their commitment to promoting literacy and education throughout the community. Project READ has been the grateful recipient of countless hours of Notre Dame-Americorps volunteer work. As part of their volunteerism in helping adults, inmates, families, and youth learn to read, these volunteers often go above and beyond their “assignments” with Project Read. For example, NDA members work in the morning with the teachers and staff of Fair Oaks Elementary School to provide tutoring for those children most in need. They then come to Project READ’s “Kids in Partnership” program for the afternoon. Many NDA members then join with Project READ in the evenings on their own time to tutor children and adults who use drop-in tutoring services.

Collaboration

Congratulations to Maria Diaz-Slocum, Armando Ramirez, the Fair Oaks staff and the Fair Oaks School Academic Task force for putting on an excellent program at Fair Oaks School. On May 22, Jorge Argueta, a celebrated bilingual author read poems from his book, A MOVIE IN MY PILLOW / UNA PELICULA EN MI ALMOHADA, and signed books for 320 children and parents. Many Salvadorian families said that they were honored to attend this presentation. Jorge spoke about his memories of growing up in El Salvador and the vivid moment when he left El Salvador to come immigrate to U.S. This program was similar to the one at Hoover School: Library and School partnering, splitting the cost for books for all 500 children to keep, teachers taking curriculum time to teach the book (huge in this day and age) and having the author come for a community building event. Special thanks go the Friends of the Library for helping sponsor such an educational event! As a result of our success we are planning other joint efforts to motivate students to read.

On Saturday May 17, the Downtown Library hosted Cañada College’s successful outreach effort by using the Tech Lab to register students. The President of the College addressed the City Council, thanking the Library, and the college administrator in charge of the program wrote a formal note to me expressing gratitude to the library, with special thanks to Magda Galindo, IT specialist, who tirelessly accommodated his every request over the last couple of months (and there were many) to make the technology involved work.

Awards for collaboration!

Project READ and Cañada College received the J. Russell Kent Award, sponsored by the San Mateo County School Boards Association, which recognizes and publicizes outstanding programs in San Mateo County public schools. Through a collaborative partnership with Canada College, the Project READ Inmate Peer Tutor Program is able to offer college credit to inmates who successfully complete the course. The course, Literacy Tutoring in the Community, is taught by Jane Weidman of Cañada College and Pat Benner of Evergreen College. Both tutors and learners report very positive results from their work together. Assessments show that reading levels increase and inmates report an increase in self-esteem, and many trained tutors and their learners continue their education while incarcerated, by taking additional classes. These new readers are then able to participate in recovery programs, GED classes and achieve other educational goals.

Project READ and Cañada College also received Certificates of Recognition from the State of California Senate and a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives for their outstanding and invaluable service to the community.

A Community Destination

On May 15, the library was abuzz with kids and their families well past closing last night as Youth Services presented two highly successful events. About 90 landlubbers took part at the Pirate Music program with Ernest Kinsolving and Karl Franzen who had the Children’s Room hopping with a mix of “sea shanties, other piratical music, and information about the scurvy scum of the Seven Seas.” At the same time approximately 400 older children and parents came to hear and meet Rick Riordan, author of an immensely popular series of books based on Greek mythology, “Percy Jackson & the Olympians.” Cosponsored by Kepler’s Bookstore, the program had the Community Room splitting at the seams as the hundreds in attendance listened to how the series came to be and then took part in a quiz about Greek gods that landed a lucky dozen fans t-shirts promoting the newest book in the series. An amusing and engaging speaker, Riordan had kids and parents alike laughing and enjoying the talk. He then signed books in the YA alcove, the line of fans not only stretching up the stairs and into the Community Room but well into the night–the last fan finally getting his book signed after 9:30.

Chuck Aston writes: “Thanks to the YS staff for all their efforts, not only for last night’s programs, but for making this whole week special with pirate-related activities for Children’s Book Week. We have the best Youth Services staff and Children’s Room in the world and a bit more of the world found that out last night as many out-of-towners were in attendance at the Rick Riordan talk. A special thanks to Cristina for hanging in until nearly 10:00 to help out with the book signing line and cleanup. And an especially big thank you to Angela Kroner-Grafmiller from Kepler’s for inviting us to take part in the Rick Riordan presentation.” 

And a closing comment by a customer who was in the library that night: “This isn’t a sssshhh type of library is it? That’s the way it should be!”

Other Youth Services activities

• We had a record number of teen volunteers in May. 50 teens worked for a total of 193 ¼ hours! 
• On May 3rd the wonderful stories of Lucia Gonzalez magically came to life at Fair Oaks through her puppets and masterful storytelling. Lucia delighted the 37 participants that attended the program as we closed the Day of the Children/ Day of the Book Celebrations.
• Maria and Cristina met with Yolanda Llamas, Child Care Coordinator for the Sequoia Adult School. They discussed the needs of the school and ideas for possible joint efforts. As a result Yolanda will pursue a program for parents during a morning where Cristina can present information about the importance of reading, library services, materials, and issue library cards on site. Cristina will check about getting a Traveling Storytime volunteer to visit the site every week since its been over three years since they last had one visit and read to the children.
• Maria met with Dan Fillin executive Director of Read Write Now. Dan needs help with his current project on Community Leadership for new immigrants. Maria helped him to research some additional community and library resources to help him and his students.
• Linda Montes the Principal of Adelante School is starting a Summer Library Program to reach out to families during the summer. The Adelante library will be open on Tuesdays from 4-7 during the month of July. The library will be staffed by Rosa Araceli Zertuche who also works for the Redwood City Library. Students and parents will be able to join the RCPL Summer Reading Clubs and apply for library cards at the school library. All participants will be encouraged to visit the Public Library and to attend the Wednesday programs. Maria will coordinate the Summer Reading Clubs with Araceli and will provide her with all the needed materials and prizes.
• Cristina was the keynote speaker for the graduation ceremonies of Familias Unidas a Traves de la Lecture – Families United for Literacy, an amazing class taught at Hoover. Developed and run by teacher Ninfa Zuno, this course brought 36 families together to learn about what their children are learning, and about how school operates. This was one of the most moving events Cristina has ever attended, as proud parents received their own diplomas and the sincere applause of School Board members, and members of the school district administration. The projects produced during the class are currently on display in the Program Room of the Family Place. 
• Jacky, Cristina, and Maria Kramer attended a School Board meeting to speak in support of retaining the District Librarian position in the face of budget reductions.
• Jacky arranged for the Family Place art wall to be available to SEPTAR (Special Education Parent Teacher Association for Redwood City).  The artwork is by the children in the program. The group held a reception in the Family Place on Sunday May 25.
• Jacky arranged for children’s book author and illustrator Katherine Tillotson to display her original artwork and puppets in all four display cases. Katherine spoke at the library on May 10, for the “Second Saturday Series” of SCBWI.
• This month Sarah had three teachers come to the library with their classes. The students received library cards, and had their fines waived if needed. Sarah first visited the classes to get the information from the students and then they walked from Sequoia High School to the library. Sarah talked about Live Homework Help, appropriate books, and the new teen space. 6 separate classes visited the library with a total of 90 students participating. 
• Sarah attended the Citizen School Summer Opportunities Fair at Kennedy Middle School. She talked about the Summer Reading Program, volunteering at the library, and the new remodel of the teen space.
• Sarah was invited to the end of the year dinner with all the High School Librarians at the Kabul Afghan Cuisine Restaurant.
• This month the library hosted a SAT/ACT workshop by Kaplan—7 students attended. In addition, to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Sarah held a Cinco de May Fiesta. She hired an instructor to teach the teens how to salsa dance. 12 courageous teens participated in dancing, with a total of 30 teens at the event.  Whole Foods donated chips and salsa for the enjoyment of all.
• Quick calculation of the cost of Tutor.com per session: last year (Feb 07—Dec 07, 11 months): $16.64 per session; this year (Jan 08—Apr 08, 4 months): $7.08 per session. Remember costs are split through a State Library grant. There were 160 remote sessions in May; mostly (130) high school students. Below is sample of comments:

   

5th	Thanks I appreciate this service
7th	If it weren’t for this program id be failing school@!
9th	i had a good time and i learned how to solve my problem step by step. and that really helped me alot. thanks for having the time to help me one by one!!
9th	mary rules.
9th	my tutor lost connection
9th	NICE WORK PPLZ
10th	thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11th	AWESOME!!!!
College – Intro	first tutor i felt relax with…this is good for students that sometimes hesitate to use the service. thanks again.
College – Intro	one of the best tutors. thanks
College – Intro	very helpful, and able to explain why steps are needed. thanks again.
College – Intro	very helpful.thanks

 

Redwood Shores Library Update

The Redwood Shores Library construction project is nearing completion. The construction of the building is 93% complete. The carpeting is being installed and the outside wooden decks have been completed. The wooden boat bookcase in the children’s area has been built and is in place – this is certainly an eye catching feature for this area. The customer service desk and the cabinets for the self check-out units have been installed. Interior and exterior painting is almost finished. Library staff continues to work on various aspects associated with the project:

• The furniture package has been ordered.
• Hiring of staff and scheduling is in progress.
• The library staff grand opening committee met and is working on all of the details and particulars for the grand opening which will take place on Saturday, September 6, 2008, at 10:00am.
• Liz met with Parks, Recreation and Community Services staff on site to discuss potential programs that the Parks staff can schedule at the library in the meeting rooms.
• Signage has been reviewed.
• Meeting room policies are in draft form and will be coming to the Library Board for approval next month.
• Audio visual proposals have been reviewed.
• Liz, Jenny and Maria K. visited the site to review and assess the placement of the library collections.
• Many other staff have toured the library. We are trying to get everyone through in the next month.
• Donor party being planned for Friday night, September 5.
• Ordering and selection continues. Program numbers are being met, and we are staying within budget!
  
• International Languages selection has begun or been completed for the following languages: Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and Hindi. DVDs, CDs, and print materials will be available for each of these languages.
  
• All adult and children’s media has been ordered: Over 6,000 feature films, non-fiction movies, children’s films, and music.
  
• The technical services team met to discuss preparing for the large Redwood Shores media order. Each member of the team will be handling about 100 items per week in order to prepare for the September library opening.
  

Kids in Partnership

Our teen tutors have completed over 1670 hours of community service during this school year. Their efforts and commitment to tutoring, homework help and English coaching have paid off and can be seen in their learner’s tremendous growth in reading skill level. The KIP learners have gained an average of 3.5 reading levels over the course of this KIP Program year.

 

KIP Teen Tutors Reflect on their Proudest Moments of their Year of Service…

 

“I am proud that I helped someone in need, I made new friends, and helped my learner with homework and reading.”

 

“I am proud that I came and started KIP. It was so much fun!”

 

“I am so happy that I taught my learners to tell time!”

 

“I’m glad that I got a chance to work with kids from my old elementary school.”

 

KIP Teen Tutors’ Lessons Learned…

 

“Be patient and always ask for their homework because they won’t tell you that they have it.”

 

“It’s important to support the kids in every way you can, but also to play with them because they like that.”

 

“Be ready to meet new people and always learn how to talk to your learner in order to help them get over shyness.”

A very nice gesture from a library patron at the Fair Oaks Library … on Thursday morning, May 22, a library patron walked in to the Fair Oaks Library and placed a vase filled with a bouquet of fresh flowers on the customer service desk. She mentioned to the staff that she “loves this library”, then she quietly left.

Viridiana Acosta, a Library Page at the Fair Oaks Library has been accepted at the University of California, Davis. She will begin her studies at UC Davis in the fall, as biology major. Viridiana has worked at the Fair Oaks Library for the past two years and is a very dedicated, highly motivated and valued employee. We congratulate her and wish her well as she moves on to the next chapter in her educational pursuit and life.

 

Investment in public education for state’s students pays off

By Deborah Stipek

Article Launched: 06/02/2008 01:32:29 AM PDT

On June 9, 50 seniors at East Palo Alto Academy will walk across the stage at Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium to receive their high school diplomas. Half of the seniors have been accepted to four-year colleges, including the University of California-Berkeley, UCLA, UC-Santa Cruz, Occidental College, Syracuse University and Cal Poly. Nearly all of the rest of the graduates are planning to attend community colleges.

What is so remarkable about this? The academy is a public charter school in an impoverished community where only 11 percent of the adults have college degrees. Of the academy’s students, 79 percent are Latino with varying levels of English proficiency, 13 percent are African-American, 5 percent are Polynesian and 3 percent are Asian Indian. The great majority have sufficiently low family incomes to be eligible for free or reduced lunch.

The students mirror the youths in their community. There are no entrance requirements, and they are admitted through a lottery.

This is not a miracle. The positive life trajectories of these students reflect hard work – on the part of students and teachers – and a little extra financial investment. About $3,000 per student for each of their four years in high school was raised in addition to the approximately $7,500 received from the state. For that amount, the academy has given its students the opportunity to become productive, contributing citizens, develop their talents and interests, and make a living wage.

This is not a bad return, especially in today’s market. Such an investment would not break the bank in the short term if offered to all of California’s students, and it would save billions of dollars in the long term.

Consider the cost to California taxpayers of not making this investment. According to a recent study, the roughly 120,000 California students each year who fail to earn a high school diploma before they turn 20 are costing the state $46.4 billion during the course of their lives, in greater rates of unemployment, crime, welfare and state-funded medical care, in addition to lost tax revenues.

If trends continue, one out of every six Latino males and one out of three African-American males can expect to be incarcerated for some amount of time in their lives. The cost per year for one youth incarcerated in the juvenile justice system in California is about $175,000 (an adult is a mere $41,000 a year). The cost of incarceration has more than doubled since 1998. The probability of incarceration drops dramatically for those with even some college (by 75 percent), and even more (by 95 percent) for those with a college degree.

Do the math. You won’t find a better return on an additional $12,000 per student. And this equation doesn’t include the differences in the lives and opportunities for people who go to college, compared with those who drop out or even complete high school.

East Palo Alto Academy could meet the needs of its students even better with the more than $13,000 that neighboring districts, such as Palo Alto, have to spend per student. But the charter school has shown that a great deal can be accomplished with even a modest increase over the extraordinarily low investment that California makes in education for most of its students.

The success of students at East Palo Alto Academy shows that the youths in East Palo Alto, and communities like it, want to succeed academically and are willing to work hard when given the chance. So the question is: Why do we spend so little on their education, knowing the huge economic and human costs we are encumbering?

DEBORAH J. STIPEK is the I. James Quillen Dean and Professor of Education at Stanford University. She wrote this article for the Mercury News.