Public Libraries and Literacy Programs: Strong Partnerships Building Stronder Communities
March 24th, 2006 by Steven M. CohenSpeaker: Tim Ponder, Ponder and Associates
Speaker/Organizer - Dale Lipschulz, ALA (Literacy Officer) - Office for Literacy and Outreach Services
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Dale provided us with some statistics:
94% of libraries provide some aspect of literacy services and programs
33% of public libraries prpvide direct instruction
This number has not changed in 20 years because most libraries don’t provide direct services. For example, In CA, a direct pot of money is allocated at the state library.
74% of PLs partner with literacy organizations in their community
Dale mentioned here that “Partnering is critical for litracy programs, no one can do it alone. No one should be doing it alone.”
84% of PLs provide some kind of “family literacy” services.
This was an interesting session where we not only listened to an interesting lecture, but broke up into discussion groups to discuss a few basic questions.
1) Does yout library have a literacy initiative in place?
2) Do you partner with community groups on literacy needs?
I discussed the importance of getting out of the library and talking to any organization possible that would be dealing with literacy. Schools, after school educational programs, case workers, etc. It’s the second aspect of creating a needs assessment. I also mentioned the importance of continuous programing and not having one person in charge of an initiative. Literacy programs to the poor and/or other underserved populations that die out may cause more harm than good in the long run (not to mention bad PR for the library).
All said, lots of learning going on yesterday at this session.
Two great quotes from Dale:
+ “The library is the center but they sometimes don’t know what is going in the community.”
+ “The key role of the library is as a convenor, using the collective wisdom to convene people.”
Visit Buildliteracy.org for more information.
Tags: conferences, PLA, PLA2006
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