Rolando's Asset-based Community Development MOU Page

                                                                                                      

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Early Literacy and Parental Empowerment Community Outreach Joint-Venture

 

Partners: Rolando Ramirez, Children's Librarian McAllen Public Library, Kristina Corral, Children's Services Supervisor, McAllen Public Library and Maria Ortega, Community Project Coordinator, ChildFund International.

 

Goals:

1. To promote literacy and early childhood development to underserved children’s population within the McAllen Metropolitan Statistical Area as supplement programs throughout the regular school year. This underserved population encompasses nearly 817,000 residents, with over one-third are living at or below poverty level.

2. To empower the parents of the children in these underserved communities by promoting parent as teacher programs within the literacy and early childhood development programs, that assist and support parents as they continue to educate and promote reading to their children at home.

3. To get the children and parents of these underserved communities to sign-up for a free McAllen Public Library card and to visit the nearest library branch to tour the facility, check-out books and other materials and to promote these family’s attendance of library programs on a regular basis.  

 

Objectives for Goal #1: A one-hour literacy program will be conducted at the underserved community’s gathering area on the first and third Thursday evening of the Month to promote reading to children and include a fun activity for participation. This program will continue for three months and community leader(s) will be trained to continue promoting the program. A short written survey, available in English and Spanish, will be collected from the parents at the end of each program to measure its effectiveness and alignment with the community needs and the library and non-profit’s community outreach goals.

 

Program plans, craft supplies, and snacks will be purchased by the program budget and given to the community leaders for the next six months. Contact information of the McAllen Public Library and ChildFund International staff will be supplied to the community leaders for support, additional training, and resources during these six months. Community leaders will have one main and one secondary contact they can speak with about problems with supplies, program plans, or request program changes to better suit community needs. A written log will be maintained by the McAllen Public Library of these conversations and requests, along with an inventory list of supplies, books, and staff time to keep track of financial expenditures made for each community group. This will help develop the budget outline for future community outreach programs, which could be tweaked with cost saving measures and program improvements.

 

Community fund raising activities will be discussed and developed with the community leaders in the final three months of the program, in order to continue funding the literacy program programs indefinitely. These may include donation resources, bake sales, food plate sales, raffles, bingo, community carnivals, and other fund raising activities. The community leaders will be asked to open a special bank account to deposit funds and maintain accurate financial records for all income and expenditure activities. The community leaders will ask that these financial records be shared with the McAllen Public Library and ChildFund International in order to help the community leaders with accounting and bank reconciliation practices, budgeting and cost saving measures to continue with their ongoing self-run programs.

 

Once the nine month program period is over, the McAllen Public Library and ChildFund staff will repeat the community outreach program process at a different underserved community location within the McAllen MSA beginning the next regular school year. These community leaders will be contacted and revisited on a monthly basis to help with unforeseen problems that arise. A record of conversations, financial records, and a schedule of upcoming activities will be maintained to keep track of the communities continued program efforts. The community leaders will be given additional community resource contacts to help them with their program efforts. These will include neighboring libraries, other non-profit agencies, government agencies and civic groups such as the Lions Club, Rotary Club, Kiwanis, and others.

 

A meeting between the McAllen Public Library outreach group and ChildFund International will determine which location is best suited for the next outreach efforts. This community’s program suitability will be determined by its distance from a public library location, whether in the city of McAllen or neighboring city; the number of pre-school or early school aged children within the community; the average income of the community residents, the community’s available public facilities to support the outreach classes and efforts, and whether a community leadership group can be established.

 

Objectives for Goal #2: A half-hour parent as teacher program will be conducted at the underserved community’s gathering area on the first and third Thursday evening of the month to promote parent as teacher training and resources available to them within the library, the non-profit agency and other local, state, and governmental agencies. This activity will take place during the children’s craft portion of the one-hour literacy and early child development program. While the children are busy completing the craft, the parents will be gathered to discuss their role in their children’s literacy and early childhood development in their own homes. Handouts, available in English and Spanish, will be given to parents of the stories and vocabulary words used in the children’s literacy program. The handouts will include additional stories, vocabulary words, and activities that the parents will be able to do at home with their children. A question and answer session will be conducted near the end of this presentation in order to clarify information or available resources for these parents to help them when teaching their children at home. 

 

The library’s and the non-profit agency’s contact information for its members, including phone numbers and email address, will be given to the parents so they can seek additional information and resources at their discretion. Parents may voluntarily provide their contact information should they wish to receive additional information via email, direct mail, text message, or telephone on an ongoing basis. The library’s program calendar will be sent to those who wish to receive this additional information in order to invite them to the library and participate in library programs.

 

A brief five to eight question survey will be collected from parents to gauge the parent’s perceived usefulness of the literacy and parent empowerment programs. A space will be provide for the parents to offer program suggestions, additional resource needs, or special requests. These surveys will be a valuable tool to measure the programs’ effectiveness and to make any modifications that will enhance the experience for the children, parents and program organizers.     

 

Objectives for Goal #3: Many parents may not realize what the public library has to offer their family. The parents will be provided with an incentive for their family members who attend 80 percent of the scheduled community outreach programs. At every program meeting, they will be informed that transportation will be provide by the McAllen Metro Bus Service to pick them up from the community outreach location and take them to the nearest library branch location on the final scheduled meeting for a tour of the facility and to acquire a library card for each program participant. This transportation will be at no cost to the program participants and is intended to show the program participants how they may travel to one of the McAllen Public Library locations at a low cost. Parents will receive a McAllen Metro bus schedule, map, and normal costs of transportation using the system to inform them of their optional transportation method to the library and other city resources.

 

Special arrangements will be made with the McAllen Metro Bus service to pick up the qualified program participants and to charge the McAllen Public Library a set fee for the around trip of this group. The three library branch locations have a McAllen Metro bus stop directly in front of each building and the closest bus stop to the community outreach location will be identified for future use by the program participants.

 

The participating parents will be asked to bring their government issued identification, whether from Mexico or the United States, and a current utility bill so they can receive a free library card for themselves and each of the children they bring to the library. Once the library cards are issued, a tour of the library facilities will be conducted to show the parents and children the many resources available to them. These include children’s, Teen, and adult books in English and Spanish; children’s, Teen, and adult programs in both languages; entertainment and educational movies; computers with Internet access; WiFi Internet connectivity; study room space; print, fax, and copy centers; online learning tools for children and adults; and the friendly assistance from our trained library staff.

 

ALSC Competencies-Ramirez_MOU_Competencies.docx

 

Evidence-based Practice 

Research Study #1:

Kim, P. (2009). Action research approach on mobile learning design for the underserved. Educational Technology Research & Development, 57(3), 415-435. doi:10.1007/s11423-008-9109-2

 

The research performed by Paul H. Kim (2009) on literacy development of underserved children of Latin America has intriguingly similar aspects as those designed to meet the needs of local underserved communities. Mr. Kim used mobile devices to teach literacy skills by showing pictures and text to develop vocabulary with visual aids. These same techniques will be employed during the library’s outreach events using laptop or tablet computers and picture books. The mobile devices in Mr. Kim’s study helped both the children and parents learn new vocabulary terms and the use of modern technology, which empowers the parents to teach their children. This empowerment is also evident in the library’s outreach initiatives.  

 

Research Study #2:

Caesar, L. G., & Nelson, N. W. (2014). Parental involvement in language and literacy acquisition: A bilingual journaling approach. Child Language Teaching & Therapy, 30(3), 317-336. doi:10.1177/0265659013513028

 

The study performed by Lena G. Caesar and Nickola W. Nelson (2014) on parental involvement in the literacy achievement of low-income, Spanish-speaking, pre-school children of migrant farmworkers. The study developed a parental literacy involvement method by using SALSA ROJO and SALSA VERDE bags filled with learning materials to enable parents to use their home language to educate their children over the weekend. The SALSA ROJO bags contained a journal, writing and coloring tools, and incentives. The parents were asked to help their children prepare simple drawings for the family’s weekend activities. The SALSA VERDE bags contained cardboard books of colors, shapes, and numbers and the parents were asked to discuss the concepts with their children. The ROJO and VERDE bags would then be collected at the Head Start Center each Monday morning. This research closely aligns with the library’s and non-profit’s community outreach program on many levels. The target group of the research and the outreach program matches almost exactly, as well as having the element of parental involvement. 

 

Measures for Success 

How data is collected: Extensive interviews will be conducted with community leaders to perform a needs assessments of the community before programs are developed. This interview will reveal the population of the community to be served, its age range of children, spoken and written language(s) understood, schools the children attend, education level of parents, and other key demographic information.

A short five to eight question survey will be conducted at the end of each children’s program to determine if the parents believed that their children benefited from attending the program. A space for parents to suggest how the program could better serve their children’s literacy and development needs will also be available on the survey.

A log of commonly asked questions by the parents or community leaders will be maintained for each community served. This information will include common misunderstandings of the intent of the programs, specific resources requested, and suggestions for improvement.

 

How data is used: The interview data will be used to understand the needs of the community that will be served. This information will help the community outreach program organizers develop specific activities, parental learning aids, and to gather the appropriate storytime read-aloud books for the audience.

The surveys collected at each program will allow the community outreach program organizers to tweak the upcoming programs to better fit the needs of the parents and children of the community being served. These surveys will help the organizers stay abreast of the literacy needs of the community and to answer questions or clarify parental roles in the programs.

The log of commonly asked questions will be used for current and future community outreach events to focus on areas that may need further explanation or clarification for parents and community leaders. This list of questions may also reveal additional needs that the community members would like to address.

 

Benefits 

For the non-profit agency: ChildFund International will benefit from the use of library resources such as picture books for storytimes; reference materials for research and program preparation; Internet computers and WiFi access at three library locations in McAllen, free study room facilities for collaborative meetings and small functions at these library locations; access to library volunteers and staff for coordinated outreach initiatives; access to book donations by the library, the library bookstore, and other library partners; additional funding through joint fundraising efforts with the library.

 

For the library: The McAllen Public Library will benefit from ChildFund International by learning how community outreach is organized, planned, and implemented; how community leaders are found and contacted to negotiate community outreach initiatives; gain access to the non-profit’s partners and funding sources for future partnerships with the library; and gaining the knowledge and experience of collaboration with a world renowned community service agency. The library will receive needs assessment and other statistical data from ChildFund International’s community assessment surveys and data collection in understandable report format.

 

For the community: The synergistic efforts of the McAllen Public Library and ChildFund International will benefit the underserved communities of Hidalgo Country by promoting child development, early literacy and parent as teacher training programs at the community’s centers, parks, or gathering areas. Parents will receive training on how to teach their children reading habits and other educational activities at home. Participants who attend 80 percent of the community outreach programs will be given a library tour and the opportunity to receive a free library cards for the entire family members present.

 

Responsibilities of the Partners

Non-profit Agency Responsibilities:

1. Provide needs assessment survey and evaluation of underserved communities in the Hidalgo County area.

2. Statistical information will be shared with the McAllen Public Library in understandable report format.

3. The primary community leader contact and negotiator of where and when the community outreach program(s) will take place.

4. Provide or get donations for small snack items and bottled water for each program.

5. If required by any children or parent in attendance, a sign language interpreter will be available for each program function.

 

Library Responsibilities:

1. Provide physical and digital resources, such as picture and story books; craft supplies of glue sticks, scissors, crayons, white and colored paper, and other needed materials; a laptop computer; a video projector; an Internet hotspot device;

2. Two to four library staff members to assist with the community outreach programs.

3. Provide enough give-away books for each child attending the community outreach program(s). These will come from library funds or donations from the South Texas Literacy Coalition.

4. A minimum of one Spanish language speaker will be available at each program function.

5. Arrangements with the McAllen Metro Bus Service to supply transportation from the community outreach location to the nearest public library branch at the expense of the McAllen Public Library.

 

Shared Responsibilities:

1. Both organizations will work on program plans together for upcoming community outreach events.

2. Both organizations will have their dedicated staff members present at all events.

3. Both organizations will provide funds for bottled water, snacks, ice chests, ice, and other consumables for participants of each event.

 

Budget 

 The budget will reflect the costs for an estimate of fifty participants and ten program organizers with a total of two programs per month for nine months.

 

Snacks: 

1. Ham and cheese kolaches - 5 dozen @ $16.80/dz. (kolache n.d.) ≈ $84 

2. Bottled water - Three cases of bottled water will also be provided at $6.99 per case ≈ $21 (Walmart 2014)

3. Ice bag – 10 lb. bags 1 bag per event @ $2.10 per bag ≈ $3 (Stripes, 2014)

4. Ice chests – 48 qt. Igloo Island Breeze Ice Chests to store warm and cold items – 2 items @ $18.97 each. Blue for cold Item# 551003460 and Red for warm Item# 551289535 ≈ $38 for all 18 events (Walmart 2014). ≈ $3

      ≈ $111 per event or $1,998 is the budget needed for snacks for all 18 events.

 

Craft supplies: (Lakeshore 2014)

1. Crayons – 200, 8-color crayons – Item# VX850 – 1 box @ $49.99 ≈ $50

2. Scissors – 12 pair, 5” blunt-tip scissors – Item# LL156 – 3 sets @ $16.99/set ≈ $51

3. Glue sticks – 1 dozen, .28oz glue sticks – Item# TT505Z – 3 dozen @ $4.99/dz. ≈ $15

4. Colored paper - 50 sheet pack,  9”x12” assorted colors construction paper – Item# TA50AC – 18 packs @ $1.19/pack ≈ $22

5. Uppercase Alphabet – 5” foam magnetic letters – Item# RR932 – 1 set @ $39.99 ≈ $40

6. Lowercase Alphabet – 5” foam magnetic letters – Item# RR933 – 1 set @ $39.99 ≈ $40

7. Magnetic Write & Wipe Board – 18”x24” board – Item# PH345 – 1 item @ $29.99 ≈ $30

8. Dry-Erase Kit – Includes 4 dry-erase markers (4 colors), 4 ¾” foam eraser and bottle of cleaner – Item# VR627 – 1 kit @ $9.99/kit ≈ $10

9. Magnetic Write & Wipe Board – 18”x24” board – Item# PH345 – 1 item @ $29.99 ≈ $30

    ≈ $288 is the budget needed for the reusable craft supplies for all 18 events.

 

Giveaways: 

1. Bargain book box grades K-1 – 5 boxes of 100 paperback books @ $125/box (Scholastic 2014). One book per each child in attendance at each event. ≈ $625 is the budget needed for book giveaways for all 18 events.

2. Drawstring sportpack – 100 bags @ $1.76 each. Given to each child who attends a minimum of three programs and used to store the books they are given. ≈ $176 is the budget needed for bag giveaways for all 18 events. (4imprint 2014)

    ≈ $801 is the budget needed for all giveaways for all 18 events.

 

Transportation:

1. Gas and vehicle maintenance reimbursement is $0.52/mile with an average of 15 miles per event for two vehicles or 540 miles for all 18 events. The library and non-profit organizers will use personal or company vehicles for these events. ≈ $281

2. Metro bus ticket to the library 60 attendees @ $1 per rider ≈ $60 is the budget needed for bus transportation to the library on the last program.

    ≈ $341 is the budget needed for transportation expenses for all 18 events.

 

Organizers time and salary:

1. Library staff time will be 1 part-time and 1 full-time librarian for 3 hours per event or 54 total staff hours at an average salary rate of $33/hour, $12/hr. and $21/hr. respectively. ≈ $1,782

2. Non-profit staff time will be 1 full-time employee for 3 hours per event or 54 total staff hours at an average salary rate of $20/hour. ≈ $1,080

    ≈ $2,862 is the budget needed for organizer salaries for all 18 events. 

 

Total Project Budget: 

    ≈ $6,290 for all 18 events or ≈ $350 per event. 

 

Time

Provide a timeline for the project and include evaluation points during and at the end of the project.

Once the community outreach project begins, it will continue to be administered twice per month for an entire school year from September through May. For the first three months the McAllen Public Library and ChildFund International staff will do all the preparation and presentation of each of the initial six community outreach programs. In the second three months of the project, the organizers will develop a group of community participants and train them on preparing and administering the programs. All supplies will still be provided by the organizers during this period of time. The last three months of programs will be run completely by the selected community group, with supplies still offered by the project organizers, but budget, fund raising, and program accounting training will help the community group to continue the project in the upcoming school year.

 

The project will be evaluated for performance and effectiveness at each three month stage of the project. Surveys and common questions will be analyzed to determine if the project in on course or needs changes to make it better. The community leaders and parents will be invited to attend a special meeting at the end of each stage to voice their opinions and valuations of the project up to that point.     

 

Ending the Partnership

Deal breaker(s): Each partner must contribute to the planning, organizing, and assembly of community outreach programs, the purchasing of agreed upon supplies, and participation at events. If any of these factors overly burdens one or both of the partners, this will lead to a dissolution of the joint effort.

 

Bless and release (exit strategy): A written exit from the partnership must be given to the other partner one month prior to the final exit. All functions and responsibilities must be maintained during the final month so the other partner can seek out another resource partner to complete the remainder of the scheduled programs.

 

Reflection 

SLO #1: The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) exercise has challenged the classroom theories that I have learned about literacy and early child development, partnership negotiations with outside agencies and community leaders, community needs assessment, program planning, organization and writing, program evaluation through surveys and direct questions and answer sessions, program budgeting, and to be able to focus on the big picture and the individual details of the project. Several of the classes taken in library school have focused on particular aspects that I used in this assignment, which allowed be to bring these various elements together to develop a very real and executable project and precise MOU.

 

SLO #2: The MOU exercise was an excellent opportunity to focus my library school classroom readings, discussions and assignments in a real-world application. Even though this was a class assignment as well, all the elements are in place so I could present this document to my library director to discuss its actual implementation as is or with small modifications to align with current library goals and projects. 

 

Working with the McAllen Public Library, I am often called upon to promote the library at media events such as television interviews, daycare outreach, and library tours. Developing the MOU extended my ability to reach out even further into the community of underserved residents in order to introduce library services and teaching aids in the communities the library serves. In my continuing professional development I will seek to learn more about community outreach efforts, partnership negotiations, budgeting guidelines and accountability skills, statistical collection and reporting techniques, and collaboration with local agencies that fulfill the library’s goals with those of the outside agency to meet the literacy and educational needs of the community. 

 

The MOU exercise allowed me to think critically about a real problem that exists within the underserved residents in my community and to develop partnerships with non-profit agencies and community leaders to overcome or reduce these issues. The assignment allowed me to view the big-picture of the project as well as focus on the fine details that would allow the project to successfully flow over a nine month period of time and possibly indefinitely into the future.  

 

Reference

 

“Bargain book box grades K-1.” Scholastic. (2014). November 27, 2014. Retrieved from http://rif.scholastic.com/best-value/super-saver-collections/bargain-book-box-grades-k-1.html

 

“Bottled water.” Walmart. 2014. November 27, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.walmart.com/ip/32512087?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227021600974&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=52442011575&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=79521280695&veh=sem

 

Caesar, L. G., & Nelson, N. W. (2014). Parental involvement in language and literacy acquisition: A bilingual journaling approach. Child Language Teaching & Therapy, 30(3), 317-336. doi:10.1177/0265659013513028

 

“Deli box.” Jason’s Deli. (2014) November 25, 2014. Retrieved from  http://www.jasonsdeli.com/system/files/private/menus/jasons_deli_catering_guide_t1_1014.pdf

 

Ferguson, S. 2012. "Are public libraries developers of social capital? A review of their contribution and attempts to demonstrate it." Australian Library Journal 61, no. 1: 22-33. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed November 10, 2014).

 

“Ham & cheese kolache.” Kolache Factory. (n.d.) November 27, 2014. Retrieved from  http://www.kolachefactorytogo.com/ShowMenu.tpl

 

“Ice bags.” Stripes Convenient Store. (2014). November 30, 2014. Retrieved from http://mobile.where2getit.com/stripesstores/

 

“Ice chests.” Walmart. (2014) November 30, 2014. Retrieved from. http://www.walmart.com/c/kp/ice-chests

 

Kim, P. (2009). Action research approach on mobile learning design for the underserved. Educational Technology Research & Development, 57(3), 415-435. doi:10.1007/s11423-008-9109-2

 

“Metro Map.” McAllen.net. (n.d.) November 18, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.mcallen.net/images/default-source/metro-headers/Metro-Images/map_large.png?sfvrsn=0

 

“Promotional drawstring sportpack.” 4imprint. (2014). November 27, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.4imprint.com/tag/105/Drawstring-Sportpacks/product/7194/Promotional-Drawstring-Sportpack

 

"silhouette-kids-holding-hands.jpg." morgueFile. 2014. December 7, 2014. Retrieved from http://mrg.bz/ncXVB2

 

“Supplies.” Lakeshore Learning. (2014). November 27, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/

 

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