HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/30/1984 - Report - Bryan College Station Library System Advisory Board .
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• REPORT
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BRYAN PUBLIC LIBRARY ADULT READING PROGRAM
A LITERACY GRANT PROJECT
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SEPTEMBER 1984 AUGUST 1985
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The 1980 Census rcported 20. 3% of the 1S0.000 ;opu{ation of
Brazos County to be undereducated , indicating a critical need
for services to this group. Staff at the Bryan Public
Library, which serves the entirety of Brazos Count , survered
adult education offered in the area and confirmed +hc need
for an adult reading program. Wit'l the assistance of the
Bryan and Co/ legc Station C.umnunit` Education Programs ani-',
encouragement of the Library BJard and Friends of t:-.e
Library, a proposal to provide a site for one-to-one tutorial
experiences 8nd the materials i-or instruction and
supplemental reading for adults *hc had limited / iLcrae`
sl:ills was submitted to the Cs:tra; Teras Librar,, L;'stc•71. �
grant of $5`000 was confirmed in Septcmber ` 1984;
supplemental funds totaling �2,900 42re made available in
��� May, 1985' Ex pendjturcs arc outlined jApps,di� A.
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The Program and Participants
Program activities began following consultation with Dr.
Mai ]a Wiser of the Adult Education Section of Region C, .
Educational Service Center ` Huntaille, Texas, whp ogres0 tr
provide the training for our tutors in Bryan. Based upon 1-2� .
Wimer 's experiences with the Wichita Adult iitcra�/ CouDci ! `
Wichita Falls, Tp:as, the decision -was made to recruit J.nj
train volunteer tutors prior t3 t'--s eorni } jng of stents.
Volunteers were recruited in conjunction with thp prcg'anina
,)""ounLt.u,:Ls of each of the community education ,rog'ams 1'
the two communities. The fall , winter, and spring tro�hu~ss
carried the message` "CAM YOUR 8Eyy 'IH}S' Max) ad`its in
Brazos County CAN 'T and NEED 'MOP HELP " (Apperdi:: B/ Local
magazines and newspapers also aided our sc :,r,_h for tutors.
Thirty-nine indi',iduals were identified as potential tutor-
trainees. Twenty-seven of these actua/ ls, par':irlisate-i iz`f_
of three training sessions held at t^e lib. Jr ii »ct-:be-,
January, and April . O, iuxtations were kept s::Ial } 'f_.
facilitate group ix'isr.actior and �llaw th',.: prcgr`�
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coordinator to bcco� ^e ac�xa' oi�d wi " ��s iut�� s �` c- to
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��lp pairing their' v.it'l atudents. .
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�� 'Student participants were recruited thrgugh churches and
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Service organizations , referrals from adult ed:cat: on
programs, articles about the p'n]ram in the newspapa
(Appendix C) , and the broadcast media, both tel and
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radio. Public service announcements by local radio stations
seemed to produce the most noteabla effects. The Bryan .
Library Adult Reading Program was registered with txc Contact .
^ Literacy Center, Lincoln , Nebraska, ard x*s selected as a '
reporting site for the evaluaLior o; its national aj',erLisin;
campaign.
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Of 30 indi� iduals who r"quested information regardioo the
program, 24 were within the targeted audience - 16 "eatS GF
age or older; not asecciatad with a publit. �ducationul
program; able to speak Englisx; and with limited reaiir.j
sl, i } ls' Twenty-one student/tutor ' paaS wct o paired. 2i the
pairs, 15 met or e:cerdeu 'thp time frame guidelines for our
prngram. Students and tuthrs sgrcod to meet for
approximately one-hour twice a wen, over a period of si'; 'tc
eight wue : s. E .tension of the tutoring contract was made
with the mutual agreement of the team members (One pair
began work in mid-October and. xitx short brcubs for hol ida,'s .
continued until mid-May) . A total of 716. -L( tutor-student
contact hours were recorded .n the eleven months t1e Lzams
were acti /e. The greatest numoers of contact hours occurred
410 ,
in February and Nay, immediately E . �er new tutors were
trained and paired .with their st:,de:t oarti -iyante-, !Appendix
D) Three teams are still meeting.
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Students enrnlled in the pro§ram covered the broau spectr' m
of our communit / . Thirteen cf the uarticipa.nts were males; S
were female*. St.idant ages ranyss between 19 -i.,od 0+ with
the majority of participants younger than :« .cars. Fo' r
blacks, 10 Hispanics, and 7 whites enrolled as students.
While a variety of reasons were Oi ^en fo; inte'e't in the
program, "impro.iny job-relatzu sills" was definjtel � the
most pre�alent. One ind/ vidua} xi,s roasted � �is 1:;b on
the basis of his participation in the reading sss*| ans.
Others reported increased sclf-Lo:fidencc and a wzlljognese
to see!, bette- employment . 5:e mother was an/ieas to sou-p
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her new si, i } ls with a child , c as also haA' xg difficult,
with his reading. In a seemioyl > unique situZtiyn , a pai of
, tutors who were wan and wife tutored a marr ed aspic as
their students. Three of the students enrolled in the
program at the direction of the probation oNica` c in order
to meet requirements for pre-G. E. D. training. One f;:eff:hor of
a large family became involved in the p-ogrom and flcrJited
her husband , her sister ` and hocousin as well and c"ch o' .
them stayed in th-e program well bs,ond their initial
40 commitment.
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��� . Comments and Evaluation
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Volunteers were and aro thE heart af zur ,Idult 1itcac /
program. Without the dedicatiom cC the tutors, ths Adllt
^ Reading Program coLld ne,,er have begun. Oince training cz,sis
for tutor orientation were not included in the grant ,' Dr.
Wimer, who /olunteored her off-dLt' hours and coordinated !-;er ' f
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travel acti ^ ities to pro,:ide the orientatiods` must he
applauded. While some staff time had been allotted to the
reading program, the suggested time was in lo means
sufficient to cover development and implementation of te
,,,ear 's activities. There were not enough hours in tt' .
regular day for volu:tecr training sessio /s; intar,. ipwixg
potential tutors and/or students; matching teams; consulting
with tutors; encouraging students and their familieL /
evaluating and selecting materials for tFe reading
collection; assisting the tutors in catching materials wit.h
student needs; and contacting team members when cancellations
occurred. Other staff members' both superised and .
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supervising, contributed to the reduction of ^cvorloa�" and
rejoiced with new teams e:perienceJ succ:sc.
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And that, of course, is the whnie reason for the eff.`rt.
Today in Brazos Count} ` there are at least i5 inbi ,. iduuls,
and possibly more, who can read better because of thiF
program. Some made more progress than :therL,' Co�'_1 .:r`
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� fee] in �
g more benefits from the program than others. oae
- have attempted other educational or enrichment c:pericxcE/s.
Some reached one plateau and /rzarn For higher aro. all..! the
Adult Reading Program at Pryan Library was the. cntrancs pL '.c,t
to that path of greater understznding. It is a coed feeling
to have been a part of that quast prd I recommend 't wholL-
heartedl.y to an/ library or lib.'c'ial ^nc has the
opportunity.
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Jcril\nn A. Williams .
Associate :it/ Librarian
September v, 1985
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APPENDIX A
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.BRYAN PUBLIC LIBRARY ADULT READING PROGRAM
LITERACY GRANT EXPENDITURES
Expensed Fncumbered ['`'
Instructional Materials
Supplemental MA< erials •, :/ . ' /
Equipment L,5. 101
Supplies
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��� Shelving
Total
+ Not receivc.d
** Received but nut io�oirsd
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APPENDIX Bt, •
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LITERACY PROGRAM
CAN YOU READ THIS? Many adults in Brazos county
f:1!1'T and f!Er YO'; HELP: The Adult Reading
Program at Bryan Public Library is a FREE ser-
vice for adults with low or non-existent reading
skills. Volunteers are needed to give one-two-
one instruction. Training, materials. and sup- -
port will be provided by a grant from the Texas
State Library. Contact Jeri Williams at
779-1736 for details.
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Page 14A Bryan-College Station Eagle Sunday, March 17, 1985 . •
APPENDIX C e
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wzth words ..
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. tci •, i ` r.:_ PAUL McKAY/A '
f►, 1'/ The Brazos Observer
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Illiterates have a world of rob- ":f"? J / j�] �. �r - 'l .! amu, +,, i
. lertl\• p J �`�",7•Y4 1�`.±:;}(',,fi ? .'��;i• Yd���:� `f`lt �>�f 'Ip''l�r. ..'�';.�,jf #�," C:-
t. • , 14. .� .. 1.. .isA x t..':; I h 4)(r` • .e; ,,i h,: ti 7'
Street signs and maps -- �}I�f ,, y�} {:a.,, ,fit,'01 .y"'i : t P y
i n their , :I �.4`.� �i,J,, . 4„ a � • . ,. {Ct..4 , ti. • yy: ,
world — useless. N, il: + �. '
r arc r, ` ) ;�;fy �.'�',.. ,, c. :..4��.. ,Ys }f.�'•„• ��• �� •, .: ,
They can'l read direel ittrts on "rgq y1 fs `p. it at: ,: ,^;f.t,J..tij, -yt: �. �. ;.,1,,• t +r.,, •ir,e, ,.',,)
medicine labels. Menus, letters and �` t - ''s' Pte, ) F •a
contracts are Greek to thein. Theyr. ,r,I1,• ,6,' A;: :...�• •;••;:.''Y,: : �+ ;
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CTLS Statistical Report EY 1985 •
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Sept Oct Nov - Dec Jan Feb _Mar Apr May June July Aug • Total
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: x.:5er of Patrons Using
?"-IDIAC A:gess
Microc=puters
NL:m.ber of %ours Public
- access Microcomputers tx1
Ware Used byt the Public
>4
mber of Student Hours
:n literacy Sessions 6 5 2 22 62.5 44 41 69.5 37.05 20.25 7 116.30
!...:mber of Persons
A:tending Literacy
:essions 6 4 2 24 61 44 40 69 34 17 7 303.00
Number of Student Participants 3 1 1 10 11 11 9 10 6 5
Number of Students
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Completing 9 Weeks
Of Instruction
LISFAR7 BRYAN PUBLIC LIBRARY
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