NSE AGENDA: 10/12/17 ITEM: d(5)

CITY OF San Jose Memorandum CAPITAL OF

TO: NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES FROM: Jill Bourne AND EDUCATION COMMITTEE

SUBJECT: Report on Partners in Reading DATE: September 25, 2017

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that the Neighborhood Services and Education Committee accept the Library’s report on Partners in Reading and Family Learning Centers.

OUTCOME

The Neighborhood Services and Education Committee will learn about the Library’s Partners in Reading Adult Literacy Program and literacy and learning efforts at Family Learning Centers in branch libraries.

BACKGROUND

The San Jose Public Library (SJPL or Library) delivers a wide variety of literacy and learning programs to the San Jose community. Partners in Reading (PAR) was established in 1989 and provides basic reading, writing, and computer instruction to adults. In 2016, PAR piloted and has continued offering the Library’s Career Online High School program for adults who want to earn a high school diploma and a career certificate in a high-demand, high-growth field.

The Family Learning Centers (FLCs), established in 2005, consist of dedicated staff, facilities, special collections and technology in seven branch libraries. FLCs offer free innovative programs and services to families and individuals that impact areas ranging from life skills to literacy and support the ever-changing needs of the immediate communities around them. The current focus of the program includes citizenship preparation, English language acquisition, literacy, parenting, and basic life skills. FLCs are located in the following branches: Dr. Roberto Cruz Alum Rock, Bascom, Biblioteca Lationoamericana, East San Jose Carnegie, Hillview, Tully Community, and Seven Trees. Neighborhood Services and Education Committee September 25, 2017 Subject: Partners in Reading and Family Learning Centers Page 2

ANALYSIS

Partners in Reading PAR is the Library’s adult literacy and ESL program, which is funded in part by Library Literacy Services and is administered by the California State Library. PAR delivers adult and family literacy services to the San Jose community, largely through one-on-one and small group instruction. PAR staff recruit, train, and support volunteers who provide literacy instruction tailored to each adult learner’s needs. The tutor-learner pairs meet for three or four hours each week for a minimum of six months and work toward meeting goals that the learner has set for the year. These goals are often focused on real life needs as determined by each learner. Typical goals include opening an email account, using online bill pay, understanding medication labels, and reading a book to a child. In support of family literacy, PAR’s Together We Read program offers resources including age-appropriate books and recommended early literacy activities to adult learners who have children or who are caregivers of children.

Adult Literacy Program Data ______PAR FY 2015-16 FY 2016-17 Learners 484 465 Goals Met 2,719 2,491 Instructional Hours 19,503 17,756 Volunteer Tutors 265 246 Volunteer Hours 24,087 22,805

PAR services are in demand and the unit continues to have a waiting list of prospective learners who need volunteer tutors. Staff are currently developing a comprehensive outreach and promotional campaign to recruit new volunteer tutors. For FY2017-2018, the Library added 1.5 FTE additional staff to the Partners in Reading unit. These new staff will provide the support needed to grow the program.

Book of Learner Writings PAR celebrated International Literacy Day on September 13, 2017, at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library with the release of its annual publication of learner stories. The book, this year titled My San Jose, features 61 learner-authors writing about their personal, geographic, and often magical journeys in life. The book serves many purposes: it is a teaching tool; a recruitment tool for new learners, tutors, and funders; a writing project; and opportunity for PAR learners to be published authors. Several learners volunteer to stand and read their stories aloud at the event, often to an audience of more than 100 attendees. This experience helps learners with their goal of building confidence and self-esteem.

Career Online High School (COHS) More than 14% of adults living in San Jose do not have a high school diploma which is a significant barrier to advancement in a job or career, in earning power, and in achieving a higher education. To address this need, the Library partnered with the California State Library and the Neighborhood Services and Education Committee September 25, 2017 Subject: Partners in Reading and Family Learning Centers Page 3

San Jose Public Library Foundation to fund 64 scholarships in the Career Online High School (COHS). Offered through Gale Cengage Learning, COHS gives adults the opportunity to earn an accredited high school diploma and a career certificate on their own schedule and anywhere that internet access is available. PAR launched COHS on February 1, 2016. The first SJPL Graduating Class was honored in a ceremony held on August 23, 2017, at the Rotunda. Eleven adults graduated, with nine in attendance at the ceremony.

Digital Tools PAR continues to meet the literacy needs of adult learners in the community by focusing on instruction in technological innovations to advance adult learning through various digital media and software programs. Computers, tablets, smartphones, and e-readers with their applications all help to advance digital literacy and create an important bridge across the growing digital divide. As learners work with these new tools and software, they gain confidence and trust in using technology and the Internet for the many essential services that are moving online.

Volunteer Tutor Training PAR depends heavily on community volunteers, and there continues to be an ongoing need for these dedicated volunteers for tutoring adults. PAR actively recruits new volunteer tutors to expand its capacity to instruct adults with low literacy skills. To make it easier for working people to receive the necessary training to become tutors, a portion of the training is available online through videos demonstrating instruction in alphabetics, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and fluency. The online tutor training videos are intended to supplement the two in-person trainings that each volunteer tutor receives. Tutor-learner pairs and small groups can meet at any branch library or public site that is convenient to them.

Family Learning Centers Family Learning Centers (FLC) are spaces in several branch libraries where specialized collections, technology, and classes are provided to help individuals and families gain literacy, language, and life skills. The FLCs are situated in the following seven branch libraries: Bascom, Biblioteca Latinoamericana, Dr. Roberto Cruz Alum Rock, East San Jose Carnegie, Hillview, Seven Trees, and Tully Community. These were chosen based on the needs of the neighborhoods, such as low income, high immigration, and low literacy. The Family Learning Center (FLC) was envisioned to be a place where families and individuals can make strides in personal growth and learning through collaboration with the library and other agencies that have similar goals in helping people achieve self-reliance.

Each FLC is overseen by a coordinator who strives to make branches more welcoming to our immigrant communities. FLC Coordinators take on the responsibility of understanding the needs of their surrounding neighborhoods through both formal and informal mechanisms (Community Conversations, surveys, getting to know customers locally, partnering with community-based organizations) and develop programs, events, information resources — through partnerships, volunteers, or designing and leading themselves — to meet those specific needs. Neighborhood Services and Education Committee September 25, 2017 Subject: Partners in Reading and Family Learning Centers Page 4

FLC staff coordinate with each other to offer a variety of programming and also work closely with Partners in Reading to ensure a continuity of service to all learners. Starting January 2017, FLCs have offered more than 1,100 programs in areas such as ESL, job search, parenting skills, computer tutoring, pre-literacy for children, health coverage, and citizenship at the seven locations. More than 12,600 people have participated in these programs.

FLC coordinators regularly attend neighborhood association meetings to present and conduct outreach and engage with the communities they serve. They also conduct family literacy nights and maintain and provide programming at the Bridge Library locations in First 5 Family Resource Centers to connect families to the library.

Partners and Programs FLC staff cultivate and maintain partnerships with a variety of nongovernmental and civic organizations to provide services. Recent partnerships include Grail Family Services, Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Sacred Heart Community Service, Covered California, YMCA, Health Trust, Vision to Learn, California Center for the Book, Second Harvest Food Bank, CalFresh, IRS, and SIREN (Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network).

Multiple FLCs have established MO As with education providers (East Side Adult Education, MetroED, Campbell Adult and Community Education) to offer ongoing ESL classes. ESL students come from a variety of backgrounds and native languages, including not only Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese, but also Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, Pashto, Dari, Khmer, Nepali, Hindi, Tagalog, Persian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Romanian, Russian, and Portuguese. This brings a multicultural experience to staff and students that further enriches their lives. Some FLCs have also begun offering language classes and “Conversation Cafes,” which serve to honor and celebrate the many cultures that make up our city.

EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP

This is an informational report to the Neighborhood Services and Education Committee, and updates about any aspect of the program will be provided upon request.

PUBLIC OUTREACH

This memorandum will be posted on the City's website for the October 12, 2017 Neighborhood Services and Education Committee meeting. Neighborhood Services and Education Committee September 25, 2017 Subject: Partners in Reading and Family Learning Centers Page 5

COORDINATION

This memorandum was prepared by San Jose Public Library’s Partners in Reading and Family Learning Centers staff. The Library coordinated with no other City departments.

COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS/INPUT

The Library and Early Education (LEE) Commission have received information on many elements in the PAR and FLC work plans in memos and presentations regarding the Library's Literacy and Education Programs, Technology and Innovation Services, and monthly updates from the Library Director. LEE Commission will receive their next update at its regular meeting April 18,2018.

CEOA

Not a Project. File No. PP 10-069 9 (a) Informational Memos.

/s/ JILL BOURNE Director, Library Department

For questions, please contact Vidya Kilambi, Acting Division Manager of Literacy and Learning, at (408) 808-2151.