The Search Continues

I spoke to a representative from a local grant-giving Foundation this afternoon. She was very interested in Library Build's mission, and our work with Rowen.

Just one flaw: we need more board members!

I'll admit that I am not the very best at networking or connecting people to my mission. One of the pieces of advice that Joe McBride gave me before he passed away was that I needed to do the work, while someone else needed to be the spokesman. Pretty much true! Ha! (Anybody?)

So I put up a posting on Bridgestar this afternoon for Board Members. Let's see if I get any good responses! You can check it out here:
http://www.bridgestar.org/MyCareerCenter/PositionDetails.aspx?jobId=9770

For those reading this blog, please email me if you are interested, or if you know anyone in the area who might be interested. I am willing to talk to anyone with a clear interest in public education.

Thanks!

Introducing Rowen Elementary

- Location: North Philadelphia, a little west of Broad Street
- Numbers: about 470 students
- Grades: K - 5
- Academics: Rowen has made AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress, the national standard for improving schools) the last two academic years!
- Breakdown: 95% are African American, 2.6% are white, and 1.5% are Latino (the rest are "other")
- Special Education: 11.8% of students are in some form of special education
- Economics: 82.8% of the students at Rowen are "economically disadvantaged" (according to School District standards), and 17.2% are "other". The entire school is Title 1.

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

Nickels for Nonprofits

Who knew that keeping a blog would be so much work? Obviously, I have a lot of updates on Library Build, Inc which I will be writing about in the next few days.

Right now though, I want to let everyone who is in Philadelphia know that we were selected to be one of Whole Foods Callowhill's Nickels for Nonprofits recipients! You can donate your bag refund to Library Build now until September.


Also, look for word about a possible book drive there as well.


Callie

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