This is the introduction to a series of posts that will examine the statistics and facts surrounding the state of libraries and literacy in both Philadelphia and the nation as a whole. I intend to give readers a sense of the environment that surrounds the challenges and work that Library Build does. Occasionally (particularly today) I will go beyond the facts to examine the attitudes that Americans hold with respect to these issues.
Two evenings ago, our local Fox News affiliate, Fox 29, did an expose-styled report on the costs of Philadelphia’s Free Library – with the catchy title, “Is the Free Library Really So Free?”
Well of course the Free Library is not free, just like public education is not really free. We all pay taxes so that everyone can enjoy a basic standard of living, and that is supposed to include a basic standard of education – of which a library is a basic necessity.
Fox Philly’s report stated that the Free Library’s 54 branches cost the City of Philadelphia a total of $33 million a year. The question posed by the report was: Should the City of Philadelphia be spending $33 million a year on libraries given the current budget crisis and public debt situation?
Well, $33 million isn’t so much when compared to the city’s other expenses. In 2004 the new Citizens Bank Park was opened for the Philadelphia Phillies – and the city of Philadelphia paid for half of the costs of construction. That comes to $229 million. In 2000, Philadelphia agreed to chip in nearly $100 million for the Eagle’s new Lincoln Financial Field.
This year, once again, the Welcome America Fourth of July celebrations, including a parade and two fireworks shows, will be taking place over eleven days. The state of Pennsylvania refused its annual gift of $500,000 to $1 million to the parade, citing that there was no money in the state budget. But that leaves the city of Philadelphia to pay for the rest: “The [Philadelphia] administration later reassessed its decision, and it concluded it should in fact financially support Welcome America because ‘all eyes are on our city on the Fourth of July to see how America's birthplace is celebrating America's birthday,’ [Philadelphia city spokesman] Oliver said. ‘That's no small thing’.”
Is it a small thing that in the birthplace of America there is a 50% drop out rate among high school students?
This isn’t to say that events like parades, celebrations, or sports games should be cut from the budget. But if our local news media wants to talk about cutting access to a basic of American life – the library – shouldn’t we also discuss how much the city is spending on entertainment? Sure entertainment increases quality of life in Philadelphia. But education and literacy increases that quality of life more than tenfold over entertainment. Without an education, and without literacy, we doom students to a life of uncertainty and almost assuredly, poverty.
Oh, and as for the argument made in the report that, "Libraries aren't in the Constitution and therefore shouldn't be publicly funded," well, neither can public fire departments, public garbage collection, public parking garages, or, of course, NFL stadiums be found in the Constitution...
“Welcome America to get City Services Gratis” http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20100610_Welcome_America_to_get_city_services_gratis.html#ixzz0sRMq3cFp
“Is the Free Library Really so Free?” http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/is-the-free-library-really-so-.-.-.free%3F
Citizens Bank Park Stats: http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/nl/CitizensBankPark.htm
Lincoln Financial Field Stats: http://www.billhance.com/football/Linc/LincMainPage.htm
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Where is Library Build Today (Yesterday)? Part 2
Quite literally – In Harrisburg! Yesterday, I attended a Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organization (PANO) training session on nonprofit accounting and budgeting. It was an excellent opportunity to compare some of our accounting processes to other nonprofits and to talk about some of the best practices for the budgeting process.
***
But back to where have come from and where we are going.
In late winter, we began to recruit a board of directors and solicit meetings with various local leaders to gather support for Library Build. We had a very positive response from posting the board positions on a popular nonprofit informational website. As we talked to potential board members we realized that we had attracted some extremely qualified board members that have a wide array of skills – something we felt was important to balance our relative newness to managing a nonprofit. Meanwhile, a few of our contacts at Penn were able to help us gather support and finish the first version of our business plan. Several of these meetings allowed us to recruit members for our Board of Advisors which serves as a support and advice network.
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, this week, we are finalizing our 501c3 application, otherwise known as Form 1023. With a problem-free application, the IRS generally approves application in about 3 months. Once we receive our approval, fundraising becomes much easier as both individual donors and grantmakers are much more willing to fund nonprofits that have completed the approval process.
This fall, as last year, we will enter various funding and business plan competitions as the season for competitions generally coincides with the academic year. We are also currently seeking a first school to partner with in Philadelphia. By pre-selecting a school, we hope to illuatrate their need to prospective donors and to also raise support and money in the neighborhood where the school is located.
By the end of the year, our tentative goals are to both raise enough money to actually begin renovations and to have started that work. (I say “tentative” because we are still working to approve our strategic plan which will determine both our fundraising and operating goals.) The first library will serve as a pilot project which we plan to use as a showcase to donors to help raise additional funds for future libraries and to begin the Library Fellows program. At the same time that we begin renovations, we will also be working to design the training program for Library Fellows and recruiting our first class of Fellows. It is likely that the care needed to properly develop this program will mean that at least one or two libraries will be renovated before we can place Fellows in them.
Throughout this entire process we will be working to ensure that our operations are sound – that we continue to develop the infrastructure needed to sustain an ongoing organization. This involves improving upon things already in place such as our website, accounting systems and internal controls and also implementing systems and ideas for the future such as an annual campaign, human resource policies and other groundwork for the future.
Next time, I plan to delve into the statistics that represent the state of school libraries in both Philadelphia and the US as a nation.
***
But back to where have come from and where we are going.
In late winter, we began to recruit a board of directors and solicit meetings with various local leaders to gather support for Library Build. We had a very positive response from posting the board positions on a popular nonprofit informational website. As we talked to potential board members we realized that we had attracted some extremely qualified board members that have a wide array of skills – something we felt was important to balance our relative newness to managing a nonprofit. Meanwhile, a few of our contacts at Penn were able to help us gather support and finish the first version of our business plan. Several of these meetings allowed us to recruit members for our Board of Advisors which serves as a support and advice network.
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, this week, we are finalizing our 501c3 application, otherwise known as Form 1023. With a problem-free application, the IRS generally approves application in about 3 months. Once we receive our approval, fundraising becomes much easier as both individual donors and grantmakers are much more willing to fund nonprofits that have completed the approval process.
This fall, as last year, we will enter various funding and business plan competitions as the season for competitions generally coincides with the academic year. We are also currently seeking a first school to partner with in Philadelphia. By pre-selecting a school, we hope to illuatrate their need to prospective donors and to also raise support and money in the neighborhood where the school is located.
By the end of the year, our tentative goals are to both raise enough money to actually begin renovations and to have started that work. (I say “tentative” because we are still working to approve our strategic plan which will determine both our fundraising and operating goals.) The first library will serve as a pilot project which we plan to use as a showcase to donors to help raise additional funds for future libraries and to begin the Library Fellows program. At the same time that we begin renovations, we will also be working to design the training program for Library Fellows and recruiting our first class of Fellows. It is likely that the care needed to properly develop this program will mean that at least one or two libraries will be renovated before we can place Fellows in them.
Throughout this entire process we will be working to ensure that our operations are sound – that we continue to develop the infrastructure needed to sustain an ongoing organization. This involves improving upon things already in place such as our website, accounting systems and internal controls and also implementing systems and ideas for the future such as an annual campaign, human resource policies and other groundwork for the future.
Next time, I plan to delve into the statistics that represent the state of school libraries in both Philadelphia and the US as a nation.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Where is Library Build Today? Part 1
This week, I have been diligently working on Library Build's 501c3, or, tax exemption application. Basically, this involves showing the IRS that Library Build will attract a healthy level of financial support from the general public and that we intend to solely serve the public interest - in other words, we are not a private foundation or a for-profit corporation. After we submit the application, we will hopefully receive an advance ruling that will give us 5 years to prove that we have met these qualifications. However, this is simply the latest mile in what I can only describe as a marathon that must be finished before even the first book can be purchased for a deserving school. Today I will begin to describe what we have done up until this point and where we are today.
In September, Callie began her field placement as a University of Pennsylvania social work student at a North Philadelphia primary school. She immediately noticed two things at the school: 1) No playground 2) No Library. Neither 1) nor 2) is entirely true however. As for the playground, there was a slab of asphalt outside that the kids were allowed to run around on - every now and then. As for the library, well, there were about 300 books and there were exactly 3 computers. The school's enrollment is more than 750 students. The 'library' was overseen by a quite crotchety staffer who refused to let students actually check out the books. And those 3 computers? Callie never actually saw one turned on, let alone actually being used by a student. The saddest part is, this school is actually considered as having a library in the statistics provided by the Philadelphia School District and in national surveys, such as those conducted yearly by the Department of Education.
The purpose of my narrative is not to assign blame, malign the school district or call for changes in city or national leadership - there is time for that later as appropriate. The purpose is to help folks understand that basic resources are lacking in our schools. Our children do not have the opportunity to graduate, enter the workforce or educate their own children. These noble goals are simply unattainable if a child can not read. If we both want and expect our children to read and succeed, we must provide the resources necessary for them to learn. This starts with books, computers and teaching capacity.
* * *
After a couple of months of research into what or who could provide this particular school in North Philadelphia with some library resources, we came up short. We found a few nonprofits that provide books, others that train teachers, and some that offer computer equipment, but none that would provide a long term sustainable increase in resources that the school needed. Beyond this school, our research revealed the staggering number of Philadelphia schools without even the library resources of this school - some 63% have no library at all, according to District statistics. Thus the contemplation surrounding the formation of Library Build began. We began to work on developing a complete business plan that we could use to apply for funding, recruit support, and ensure our plans would have the best chance for success.
By December, Callie and I had decided to officially begin Library Build - there was just no other way to get the job done. We filed Articles of Incorporation in Pennsylvania and incorporated as a nonprofit. Soon, we had obtained an Employer Identification Number from the IRS, opened a corporate bank account and obtained a Post Office box. Meanwhile, we applied to various competitions that promised both funding and recognition (the latter of course helps with raising even more money). In February, we had some success with the Harvard Pitch for Change competition and enjoyed traveling to Boston to compete and pitch our idea to a wide audience.
Next time, I will discuss how we managed to recruit a fantastic board with a wide array of talents, what has happened recently and what our plans are for the rest of the year.
In September, Callie began her field placement as a University of Pennsylvania social work student at a North Philadelphia primary school. She immediately noticed two things at the school: 1) No playground 2) No Library. Neither 1) nor 2) is entirely true however. As for the playground, there was a slab of asphalt outside that the kids were allowed to run around on - every now and then. As for the library, well, there were about 300 books and there were exactly 3 computers. The school's enrollment is more than 750 students. The 'library' was overseen by a quite crotchety staffer who refused to let students actually check out the books. And those 3 computers? Callie never actually saw one turned on, let alone actually being used by a student. The saddest part is, this school is actually considered as having a library in the statistics provided by the Philadelphia School District and in national surveys, such as those conducted yearly by the Department of Education.
The purpose of my narrative is not to assign blame, malign the school district or call for changes in city or national leadership - there is time for that later as appropriate. The purpose is to help folks understand that basic resources are lacking in our schools. Our children do not have the opportunity to graduate, enter the workforce or educate their own children. These noble goals are simply unattainable if a child can not read. If we both want and expect our children to read and succeed, we must provide the resources necessary for them to learn. This starts with books, computers and teaching capacity.
* * *
After a couple of months of research into what or who could provide this particular school in North Philadelphia with some library resources, we came up short. We found a few nonprofits that provide books, others that train teachers, and some that offer computer equipment, but none that would provide a long term sustainable increase in resources that the school needed. Beyond this school, our research revealed the staggering number of Philadelphia schools without even the library resources of this school - some 63% have no library at all, according to District statistics. Thus the contemplation surrounding the formation of Library Build began. We began to work on developing a complete business plan that we could use to apply for funding, recruit support, and ensure our plans would have the best chance for success.
By December, Callie and I had decided to officially begin Library Build - there was just no other way to get the job done. We filed Articles of Incorporation in Pennsylvania and incorporated as a nonprofit. Soon, we had obtained an Employer Identification Number from the IRS, opened a corporate bank account and obtained a Post Office box. Meanwhile, we applied to various competitions that promised both funding and recognition (the latter of course helps with raising even more money). In February, we had some success with the Harvard Pitch for Change competition and enjoyed traveling to Boston to compete and pitch our idea to a wide audience.
Next time, I will discuss how we managed to recruit a fantastic board with a wide array of talents, what has happened recently and what our plans are for the rest of the year.
Monday, June 21, 2010
The First (Official) Day!
I have decided to start this blog to track our progress, share thoughts on Library Build and school libraries in general and give updates to our supporters. Over the first few weeks of this blog, I hope to give readers a sense of why I am working on Library Build, who Library Build is helping, and the challenges that face both those that we serve and our organization. I will also be addressing some common suggestions and critiques that we receive and delving into the rationale of why we believe so strongly in our model and how we will be measuring our results and refining our model.
For those who don't already know, Library Build is a nonprofit that provides working libraries to America's public schools so that all children will have access to books, media resources, research programs and to dedicated librarians. Library Build was founded by our CEO (and my wife), Callie Hammond last December. It is the result of the realization that very few nonprofits are trying to give students the literary, media and teaching resources that are so sorely lacking in both Philadelphia and the United States as a whole. Library Build is unique because we believe that a holistic approach is key to providing libraries to students. In order to obtain the largest benefit from the books, e-resources and media equipment that we provide to school libraries, we will also train Library Fellows to work in our libraries as full time, certified librarians. Library Fellows are recent college graduates who are responsible for managing the library, working with teachers to maximize library utilization, teaching students basic research and computer skills, and creating enrichment and after school programs for students. By providing both the resources and the teaching capacity, we hope to maximize the benefit to students.
In Philadelphia alone, 131 of 208 elementary and middle schools (63%) do not have libraries or a certified librarian. 23% of public schools in the US as a whole do not have a library. 23%. Almost one quarter. One more time - almost one quarter of US public school children do not have access to a basic school library. These statistics shock many people that we talk to. Most recall having a library in their elementary, middle and high school while growing up. Yet this is clearly not the case today. Unfortunately, for a myriad of reasons that I will elaborate on in the coming posts, children today simply do not have access to some of the most basic tools of learning. Frequently the children lacking these resources already face the hurdles of poverty, broken homes and parents who are too overburdened before they even arrive at school. It is these children that we hope to help - by giving them the resources that we hope will inspire them and make it simply possible for them to learn to love to read.
More in the next few days!
Library Build's Website (Still largely a work in progress at this point): www.librarybuild.org
For those who don't already know, Library Build is a nonprofit that provides working libraries to America's public schools so that all children will have access to books, media resources, research programs and to dedicated librarians. Library Build was founded by our CEO (and my wife), Callie Hammond last December. It is the result of the realization that very few nonprofits are trying to give students the literary, media and teaching resources that are so sorely lacking in both Philadelphia and the United States as a whole. Library Build is unique because we believe that a holistic approach is key to providing libraries to students. In order to obtain the largest benefit from the books, e-resources and media equipment that we provide to school libraries, we will also train Library Fellows to work in our libraries as full time, certified librarians. Library Fellows are recent college graduates who are responsible for managing the library, working with teachers to maximize library utilization, teaching students basic research and computer skills, and creating enrichment and after school programs for students. By providing both the resources and the teaching capacity, we hope to maximize the benefit to students.
In Philadelphia alone, 131 of 208 elementary and middle schools (63%) do not have libraries or a certified librarian. 23% of public schools in the US as a whole do not have a library. 23%. Almost one quarter. One more time - almost one quarter of US public school children do not have access to a basic school library. These statistics shock many people that we talk to. Most recall having a library in their elementary, middle and high school while growing up. Yet this is clearly not the case today. Unfortunately, for a myriad of reasons that I will elaborate on in the coming posts, children today simply do not have access to some of the most basic tools of learning. Frequently the children lacking these resources already face the hurdles of poverty, broken homes and parents who are too overburdened before they even arrive at school. It is these children that we hope to help - by giving them the resources that we hope will inspire them and make it simply possible for them to learn to love to read.
More in the next few days!
Library Build's Website (Still largely a work in progress at this point): www.librarybuild.org
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