Cindi Wynia's  Asset-based Community Development MOU Page 

Amarillo Public Library and Opportunity School: Supporting Family Literacy Together!

Partners: Opportunity School Grand Street Campus, Vyvyan Carter, Director and Amarillo Public Library: Downtown Branch, Cindi Wynia, Youth Services Coordinator.

This memorandum of understanding is between the Amarillo Public Library Downtown Branch and the Grand Street Campus of Opportunity School, both located in Amarillo, Texas. The Downtown Branch Library is part of the Amarillo Public Library System and the Grand Street Campus of Opportunity School provides full day child care services for low-income families. Opportunity School is the first "No Excuses University" preschool in the United States.

Goals 

Goal #1: •The families being served by Opportunity School will become library card holders and know the many services available to them through the Amarillo Public Library System.

Goal #2: • The children attending Opportunity School will receive early literacy enhanced story time services in their classrooms once a week from Amarillo Public Library Youth Services Staff for the 2015 calendar year. 

Goal #3: •The staff, parents, and caregivers of the children attending Opportunity School will have the chance to attend Every Child Ready to Read® workshops in the 2015 calendar year presented by Amarillo Public Library Youth Services Staff.

Objectives 

Objectives for Goal #1: Amarillo Public Library Youth Services Staff will attend a minimum of two parent meetings at Opportunity School in 2015 to present library services and the procedure to attain a library card.

Objectives for Goal #2: Opportunity School Staff and Amarillo Public Library Youth Services Staff will choose a day and time of the week for APL Staff to present story time services to each classroom.  Library staff will solicit input from day care staff about classroom themes and desired learning experiences in order to provide books that extend and support student learning. Library Staff will arrive on time with appropriate materials and provide age appropriate early literacy enhanced story time experiences.

Objective for Goal #3: Opportunity School Staff and Amarillo Public Library Youth Services Staff will choose dates and times in 2015 to present Every Child Ready to Read 2® Workshops to the staff and to the parents and caregivers. Several sessions will be offered to ensure all interested people have the opportunity to attend.

ALSC Competencies: Wynia_MOU_Competencies.docx

Evidence-based Practice  

Neuman, Susan B. “Books make a difference: a study of access to literacy.” Reading Research Quarterly, 34, no. 3 (1999): 286-311.

Neuman conducted an intervention that provided books to child care centers at a ratio of five books per child along with ten hours of literacy training to child care staff. The mixed method study involved 400 children in 50 different centers and a control group of 100 children from similar centers that did not receive materials or training. Children were tested in September then again in May of the following year to assess six early literacy skills, receptive language, letter name knowledge, environmental print, concepts of print, concepts of writing, and narrative competence. Research results indicated that children in the centers that received the intervention performed better in all six measures and significantly better in four out of six than children in the control group. The study also revealed that the intervention increased child care staff’s use of literacy materials and interactions with books on a daily basis.

Measures for Success 

Measuring Objectives for Goal #1: Parents and caregivers will be asked to complete a short survey prior to the parent meeting to determine how many families have library cards and their awareness of library services. Prior to the second parent meeting parents will be asked to complete the same survey in order to compare differences in number of card holders and use of library services. 

Measuring Objectives for Goal #2:  Opportunity School staff will be asked to complete a short survey about early literacy behaviors in their classrooms prior to the early literacy enhanced story times in January 2015. The surveys will be repeated in June 2015 and December 2015 to determine changes in early literacy behaviors exhibited by the children in the classrooms. 

Measuring Objectives for Goal #3: Staff, parents and caregivers will complete short surveys to assess their understanding of the six early literacy skills prior to participating in Every Child Ready to Read® workshops, then complete them again to evaluate their understanding after participating in the workshops. 

Benefits 

Benefits for the non-profit agency: Opportunity School will benefit by having additional early literacy experiences offered to their students in their classrooms. They will benefit by having additional resources available through library services for their students, families, and staff members. Their staff and families will have more knowledge and skills related to early literacy practices to improve their abilities when working with the children in the classroom and at home. Additional partnerships are beneficial when they are seeking funding and support in the community.

Benefits for the library: Amarillo Public Library will benefit by reaching underserved and unserved families in the community. Community partnerships are beneficial when presenting library services to the city government, library board, and community. Opportunity School has a positive reputation in the community and partnering with them will increase APL’s base of support in the community which can be beneficial when budget issues arise. 

Benefits for the community: Providing early literacy services to the students and families of Opportunity School will have a positive effect on the students' school success long into the future. APL’s ESL, adult tutoring, Benefit Bank, and many other family services will positively impact family success in the community. Reaching underserved and unserved populations in the community leads to positive changes as the families find resources that support them in their educational, financial, and recreational endeavors. 

Responsibilities of the Partners 

Non-profit Agency Responsibilities: Opportunity School staff will add library story time to their classroom schedules and allow APL staff adequate time to present early literacy enhanced story times in their classrooms according to the agreed upon schedule. Parent meetings and Every Child Ready to Read® workshops will be scheduled in conjunction with APL staff to ensure that dates and times meet the needs of all involved. Opportunity School will provide the meeting space in order to be convenient for families.

Library Responsibilities:  Amarillo Public Library staff will arrive on time and prepared to provide early literacy enhanced story times for each classroom, present library services to families at parent meetings, and present Every Child Ready to Read® workshops as scheduled. Library staff will solicit input from day care staff about classroom themes and desired learning experiences in order to provide books that extend and support student learning. 

Shared Responsibilities: Opportunity School staff and Amarillo Public Library staff will respect one another, communicate honestly and with transparency, and plan programs together to ensure the needs of the families are given priority. Both agencies will work together to develop the surveys, promote the programs, and evaluate and assess the results. Together we will change programs or processes to better serve the staff and families as we evaluate our results throughout the year.

Budget 

Materials needed for workshops:

                                                                   Total: $198.78

Friends of the Amarillo Public Library have agreed to provide the funds for materials since APL staff will be presenting workshops throughout the community in 2015.

Food for two evening parent meetings and two morning and two evening workshops: 

                                          Total: $624.79 

Friends of Opportunity School and Friends of the Library have agreed to share expenses for food at the meetings to allow busy parents the chance to attend and enjoy the fellowship of a light meal together.

Timeline 

We will begin classroom story times January 7, 2015 which will continue each week until December 30, 2015. Parent meetings are held quarterly with dates scheduled in January, April, July, and October. Amarillo Public Library staff will present at the April and October meetings. Every Child Ready to Read® workshops for staff will be presented in February and workshops for parents and caregivers will be offered in March and September. 

Evaluation Points: 

Staff surveys related to literacy behaviors in the classrooms will be completed January 1-6, 2015 to indicate a baseline, again the week of June1-7, 2015 to determine if behaviors are changing, and again the week of December1-7, 2015 to determine if the enhanced story times and staff workshops have resulted in consistent literacy behavior changes since the start of the program. Parent surveys from the April and October meetings will be evaluated the week after the October parent meeting to determine how many families applied for library cards and the change in awareness of library services from the April meeting to the October meeting. 

Ending the Partnership

Deal breaker(s): The partnership will end if either organization is unable to fulfill their responsibilities dues to staff shortages or changes or if either organization decides that the staff, families, and children are not achieving benefits from the partnership. 

Bless and release (exit strategy): The partners will evaluate all aspects of the program in December 2015 and decide whether to continue or modify the program in 2016 or if they will end the partnership. 

References

Association for Library Service to Children. 2009. "Competencies for Librarians Serving Children in Public Libraries." http://www.ala.org/alsc/edcareers/alsccor (accessed November 23,  2014).

Literacy Matters Logo created at Tagxedo.com.

Neuman, Susan B. “Books make a difference: a study of access to literacy.” Reading Research Quarterly, 34, no. 3 (1999): 286-311.

No Excuses University-Opportunity School Logo used with permission of Executive Director, Jill Goodrich.

Opportunity School Logo used with permission of Executive Director, Jill Goodrich.

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