First Day of School!

Today is the first day of school for the Philadelphia School District! And while teachers are preparing lesson plans, and our students are getting back into the swing of learning, we need to remember that the vast majority of Philadelphia public schools do not have librarians, and do not have functional libraries.

It's hard to imagine learning without a great library and access to books. Of course it can be done, and great teachers every day are able to help their students learn. But we are doing a disservice to our students every day that they are not able to learn how to research, learn how to use a computer or computer software, or just read for fun.

We need to ensure that one way or another public schools have libraries and librarians again. That's why what we do at Library Build is so important to us, and why we hope that more people see the value in what we are trying to do.

July 2011 Update

A few updates today:
- About this time last year I was able to connect with a school in Philadelphia that was interested in Library Build. Unfortunately, the situation got complicated when the district sent along paperwork that was too overwhelming for LB at that point. Fast forward to now, and I am working steadily through it. Which means that hopefully we can officially announce a partnership soon.
- Grant applications have been taking up a lot of time recently. In March and April of this year I had completed about 8-10 applications (also including just general letters of inquiry). Not surprisingly, LB was rejected from all of them. The state of funding right now is a mess because of the economy. Grant programs and grant-giving organizations even in good times usually only like to fund projects that they have funded before, and in hard times like these, a new nonprofit has no shot. Hopefully we can interest at least one grant-giving organization though, and really get the ball rolling!
- The government likes paperwork, and even the service orgs within the government are no different! Currently working to partner with AmeriCorps for the Library Fellows program - if I can make it through the paperwork rounds!
- I have been on an intense search for volunteers. Anyone and everyone interested is more than welcome - even if you don't live in Philly! I am trying to develop the following:

• Fundraising plans that do not involve applying to grant programs (so far this has involved contacting local bookstores about book fairs, obviously I am open to any other ideas).
• Marketing materials for Library Fellows, partner schools, the media, etc etc.
• Grant writing, or just grant reading. Like to proofread?
• Anything and everything! 

In closing, here's a link to a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about summer library programs, and the danger in the summer "slide" when many students regress academically because of lack of books, summer academic camps, etc.
Also, a point from his article about why the library is important to our students NOW: "More than 500,000 Philadelphia adults have limited reading ability."

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_brown/20110614_Turning_reluctant_readers_into_eager_ones_at_Free_Library.html

Potter-Thomas Elementary gets a Library!

Target has a program called the Target School Library Makeover, in which they spend $200,000 to renovate a few chosen school's libraries. One recent school was Potter-Thomas Elementary in North Philadelphia. Potter-Thomas's 400+ students received a brand new library, about 2,000 new books, and each student got 7 books to take home.This is a fantastic gift from Target!

But unlike Potter-Thomas, hundreds of schools in this district are still struggling to teach reading and writing, help their students attain literacy, and instill a love of learning without school libraries or librarians.

As we at Library Build know, and as Philly.com says, "In the late 1990s, a time of huge budget deficits, the school district began eliminating librarian positions and failed to replace those who retired or found other jobs." Now schools don't have librarians, and they don't have libraries.

In some ways the Philadelphia School District is trying: they allowed Target to help out Potter-Thomas, they are spending money on the Promise Academies to increase standards and resources at 6 under-performing schools, and they are working with the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences to provide students at Drexel's School of Information Science with scholarships.

Of course, even with these plans in motion there is still a lot of work to be done.

Here's the two articles about Potter-Thomas's new library!:
Excited for School Library

Happy Ending

No more books in 5 years?

Here we go again!

Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child, was recently on CNN claiming that laptops containing digital books are better and more cost effective than physical books, and that physical books will be gone in 5 years. Hmmm....

First a sidenote, his nonprofit's goal is to ensure that every child in the world has a laptop. However, when I went on the webpage for One Laptop Per Child, it was very heavily focused on Africa - no surprise there. Not that children in Africa don't need or deserve laptops, but I'm tired of organizations claiming broad goals such as "all kids will have laptops!" and then not helping out US kids.

Anyway, will physical books be gone in 5 years?


I think I've already given my opinion on this one.


CNN: Will Physical Books be Gone in 5 Years?
One Laptop per Child - Negroponte's nonprofit

Camden Libraries

It seems to be a recurring theme: budget cuts leading to discontinued services. Unfortunately, in our area, this has greatly affected libraries. Recently, the City of Camden announced the closure of one of its three public libraries. The other two will be taken over by the County of Camden. The reason: Camden faces a $28 million budget deficit. Worst of all, this closure will affect those who can least afford it. The library to be closed is in an already declining neighborhood, called Fairview, which the Philadelphia Inquirer describes as a "low-income neighborhood." The library is a vital resource for the Freedom Charter School which is across the street and the many out-of-work neighborhood residents who do not have home internet access. Additionally, the Inquirer adds that, "After school and in summertime, the library is flooded with teenagers and children who use the library's books and computers for their schoolwork, or to check out web sites and e-mail their friends."

School libraries are facing similar budgetary pressures. Libraries play a vital role in education and quality of life for all residents - rich, poor, Latino, Asian, etc. Sadly, when library doors close, however, it's low income Americans who suffer most as they are not as easily able to turn to alternative sources for books, computer and internet access and tutoring.

You can read about the Camden library closure here: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20100907_Its_The_End_for_another_Camden_library.html

You can read about the Camden County library takeover here: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20100809_Camden_libraries_win_reprieve.html