Literacy Library Jobs :: California :: Stockton :: Camarillo :: Monterey Park

Literacy Library Jobs – California

Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library

DEADLINE: JUNE 8

Adult Literacy Center Coordinator

Library Associate 2 – PT

Camarillo Library LSSI

responsible for supervising the Adult Literacy Center, as well as maintaining a safe, well-organized environment conducive to learning 

DEADLINE: JUNE 1

Volunteer Coordinator

Library Associate 2 – PT

Camarillo Library LSSI

oversees and administers the Library volunteer program, including recruiting, training, scheduling, and recognizing/rewarding volunteers.

DEADLINE: JUNE 1

Literacy Program Administrator - FT

Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library

plan, organize, administer and assist in developing a large, comprehensive Literacy Program for the City

DEADLINE: JUN 15

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Library Jobs in California

UCLA Department of Information Studies

Public libraries must be public, not profit machines

Public libraries must be public, not profit machines
Record: July 24, 2010 by Colleen Foster

What is a public library?

One "maintained for/used by the people of a community" or an entity "capitalized in shares of stock that can be traded on the open market?" A fair question since the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors recently released a Request for Proposals from private companies to manage operations of the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library.

The goal of a public library is to improve quality of life by advancing literacy and a lifelong love of learning. The goal of a private company is to create profit for its owners or shareholders. In my opinion, these goals are fundamentally incompatible.

The board appears to be searching for a way to maintain quality service in our library system while saving money in these difficult times. The premise behind library privatization seems to be that the library is so inefficient in its operations that a company with a profit motive will be able to do more with less.

As the former director of the library, I know the many cost saving measures long in place at the library: cooperative cataloging of popular material, preprocessing of such material, major discounts from book jobbers, and shared cost of delivery with a multicounty library cooperative. There is not much room for increasing library efficiency without sacrificing quality of service.

The most substantial cost associated with running our library is staff salaries and benefits. Privatization is therefore almost certain to reduce the quality and quantity of our library staff. Librarians and library staff are the key to the high quality service upon which San Joaquin County residents have come to rely.

Libraries are not profitable, and they're not supposed to be. That's why we support them with our tax dollars - to ensure that they continue to make the betterment of all their main priority. America's public libraries are a cornerstone of our democracy and play an important part in our nation's commitment to public education.

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And why should any of our public monies, let alone 8 percent of the library's budget, go to the profits of a private company with a home office in Maryland? READ MORE !

Colleen Foster was the director of the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library from 1994-2000.

At 70, the joy of writing holiday letters for first time

At 70, the joy of writing holiday letters for first time
RecordNet: Dec 20, 2008 by Tony Sauro

Joe Valles already has received a joyful Christmas gift. The 70-year-old Stockton resident finally was able to write a letter to his 9-year-old granddaughter in Crawley, Texas.

"It feels great," said Valles, a retired longshoreman who was able to achieve his goal after being tutored weekly since June in the Stockton-San Joaquin County Library's adult literacy program. "I'm confident in my writing."

Valles proudly is sending Christmas cards to all nine of his grandchildren. "Our goal was for him to write his first letter by Christmas," said Christina Cordova, 42, a Stockton mother of four who was Valles' tutor at Cesar Chavez Central Library. "It's the first letter he's ever written. It's so awesome. My kids think it's awesome, too. We wanted him to be able to read his own prescription labels, checks and mail."

"She gave me lots of homework," said Valles, whose wife of 42 years, Angelina, an Edison High School graduate, also encouraged him.

"It's funny," he said. "I kidded around, saying I was gonna write a book as soon as I learn to write."

Valles met Cordova when he took his 8-year-old granddaughter, Isabella, to a swimming lesson.

Valles, a father of three who was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, moved to Stockton with his migrant farm worker family when he was four. He only finished the third grade.

"I could read, more or less a little bit, but I couldn't write," Valles said. "Now I can read the newspaper, but I've still got a lot to learn. I thought I could never do this."

He's an inspiring example of what such literacy programs can achieve.

"The program is going good," said Anne Turner, a library assistant in the literacy and outreach department at Cesar Chavez. "It's evolving. We're seeing progress. It's been great. We're getting more students and tutors, but we would like more volunteers." READ MORE