Santa Monica Library ◯ To Lose Dozens Of Employees Under Proposed Budget Cuts ◯ SM Daily Press

Santa Monica Public Library To Lose Dozens Of Employees Under Proposed Budget Cuts

SM Daily Press: 5.08.2020 by Madeleine Pauker

The Santa Monica Public Library is facing a 40% reduction in funding as the city of Santa Monica makes deep cuts to avoid a budget deficit brought on by the coronavirus recession.

If City Council approves a $5.5 million reduction in its $13 million budget, the library will eliminate 26.5 full-time positions and lay off 80 as-needed pages, said Patty Wong, director of library services. Forty-seven remaining employees will circulate between three locations that will reopen, working to maintain safe access to books and computers and facilitating programs online and in-person.

“It’s scary, intimating, difficult and sad, but at same time something we’re committed to doing because we have this incredible economic stressor ahead of us,” Wong said. “We have the responsibility to the public to provide the best service we can regardless of what the circumstances are.”

The library closed its five locations in March to slow the spread of coronavirus. The Fairview and Ocean Park branches will remain closed for the foreseeable future, and the system’s three most popular locations — the Main Library and the Montana and Pico branches — will reopen on limited schedules when stay-at-home orders are relaxed.

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Wong said even with a smaller budget and staff, the library sees itself as a key part of the local recovery effort.

With a rising number of adults out of work, Wong said the library will double down on workforce development programs, including skill building, reading and digital literacy, and jobs matching programs.

She said maintaining services to youth and families will be difficult with more than 80% of youth-serving librarians laid off, but added that the library has a large catalogue of virtual children’s books, has been experimenting with online children’s programs and plans to continue free youth tutoring programs when branches reopen.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 14

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 21-22 yrs. Old

(college level)

San Diego Public Library ◯ READ San Diego ◯ Google Read and Write

Google Read and Write

READ/San Diego Adult Literacy Program: 5.06.2020

Check out this reading aid from Google- "Google Read and Write."

Read and Write for Google

Summary of the Read and Write for Google

R&W for Google is an extension for Google Chrome that is primarily a reading support, but also provides writing supports.  There are two different versions of R&W for Google, a free version and a premium version.  The Premium version is available for free for teachers to explore and costs $99 for a yearly subscription for student accounts.

Free: The free version provides text to speech and dual highlighting (yellow & blue) for any text on any website! (AWESOME!)  It also provides an in the text translator.

Premium: The premium version provides the same text to speech, dual highlighting, and translator features.  It also includes supports for Google Docs, specifically, multi-highlighting options for active reading, extracting highlights, a vocabulary chart, a regular and picture dictionary, and word prediction.

Limitations

Premium Version: $99 a year for students
➧ Premium version will read PDFs in Google Docs, not free version

Free version - limited options

➧ Text to speech ONLY READS TEXT (no flash supported)

➧ Tools run on internet speed, causes a lag for word prediction and text to speech.

➧ Word choices have to be clicked with a mouse (no number hot keys or arrow down and enter to select)

➧ Limited voice speed options (only 4)

Conclusion
I would highly recommend the free version of Read and Write for Google to be downloaded on every computer so that ALL students can have access to speech to text while reading ANYTHING online (for pleasure or school assignments).  If your school district works heavily with Google Docs I would also recommend the premium version to reinforce active reading and studying. But, take advantage of the FREE version for teachers and explore away!  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old

(Twelfth graders)

Los Angeles Public Library ◯ April Volunteers & Tutors of the Month ◯ America Learns News

@americalearns

April Volunteers & Tutors of the Month

Los Angeles Public Library News

America Learns News

Every month this year, we are choosing two volunteers AND two learners who inspire us, and we're giving them a $25 Visa gift card as a token of our esteem!

Please join me in recognizing the work of our amazing honorees!

April Volunteers of the Month

Timothy B nominated by Yvette C and Karen H

In grateful recognition of your service as an Adult Literacy Program volunteer at the Singleton Adult Literacy Center of the Los Angeles Public Library

Yvette says, “Tim is an incredible walk-in-tutor! He moved here recently and has been volunteering with us since June 2019. Our patrons really enjoy working with him. He comes in twice a week and subs when needed.

Karen R nominated by Ulises C

In grateful recognition of your service as an Adult Literacy Program volunteer at the Junipero Serra Branch Literacy Center of the Los Angeles Public Library

Ulises says, “Karen is a new walk-in tutor at the Junipero Serra Literacy Center. On her first day as a walk-in tutor, she assisted four patrons.

April Learners of the Month

Chaquante H nominated by Karen H

In recognition of your inspiring commitment to your literacy goals at the Singleton Adult Literacy Center of the Los Angeles Public Library

Karen says, “Chaquante is a native English speaker and she has been with the program for about 3 years. She qualified to be part of the One-on-One program, but due to her work schedule it was hard to match her with a tutor. I recommended for Chaquante to work with a Walk-In-Tutor.

Alexandra V nominated by Priscilla R

In recognition of your commitment to your literacy goals at the Singleton Adult Literacy Center of the Los Angeles Public Library

Priscilla says, “Alexandra came to us as a really shy individual with special needs. Her family as well as she wanted her to be independent. Her family used to bring her to the lab once a week from outside the city. She then took Access Services Paratransit. Now she is taking public transportation on her own! She has been so confident and independent. She has really bloomed with her success with Reading Horizons.”  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 10

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. old

(Ninth to Tenth graders)

Los Angeles Public Library ◯ Your Guide To The Massive Cuts Proposed For The LA City Budget ◯ LAist

Your Guide To The Massive Cuts Proposed For The LA City Budget

LAist: 4.20.2020

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti has released his proposed budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year, which begins on July 1. The city is facing a massive loss of tax revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic, causing the mayor to declare "a state of fiscal emergency as part of the 2020-2021 budget."  

Garcetti had already signaled that there will be furloughs for the city's civilian workforce. The mayor estimated city workers are expected to forego about 10% of their salaries. The city's hiring freeze is also continuing.

In a briefing this morning, city staff said the mayor has broad powers to order furloughs in an emergency like this, but they'd rather work with unions. Corral Itzcalli with SEIU Local 721, which represents the largest chunk of civilian public workers in town, said the city should find other solutions instead of furloughs.

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The L.A. city library system is protected by Measure L, so its funding is required to be kept at a certain level. Their budget actually rises from $194 million to $205 million next fiscal year. But the libraries are closed until further notice.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 8

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 12-14 yrs. Old

(Seventh and Eighth graders)

Redlands Library ◯ 3 Adult Literacy Students In Redlands Honored For Their Writing

3 Adult Literacy Students In Redlands Honored For Their Writing

Redlands Daily Facts: 4.26.2020 by Diane Shimota, Adult Literacy Coord-AK Smiley Library

The cornerstones of literacy are reading comprehension and effective writing. Over the past two years, the Redlands Adult Literacy Program has offered tutor training and learner workshops to help learners develop stronger writing skills. The focus on writing led to 10 adult learners from the Redlands Adult Literacy Program entering into the Writer-to-Writer Challenge, sponsored by the Southern California Library Literacy Network (SCLLN). 

The SCLLN annual Writer-to-Writer Challenge invites adult learners throughout Southern California to write a letter to an author, living or dead, whose book has inspired them. This year, 95 adult learners from the Southern California region submitted letters to the challenge. Literacy coordinators screened the letters and selected the top five in each of four categories. Panels of adult learners then judged the top letters and selected one winner and two runners-up for each level of writing.

The Redlands Adult Literacy Program is happy to announce that three adult learners, Marisela Casillas, Maria Hernandez, and Tanya Jauregui, earned runner-up recognition from SCLLN.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, the awards ceremony that would have recognized these learners has been postponed. The Redlands Adult Literacy Program acknowledges the achievement of all adult learners who submitted writing to the challenge and celebrates the three runners-up from Redlands.

Here is what the awardees said they had gained from their experience:

Marisela Casillas

Casillas read the book “Seedfolks” and wrote a letter to author Paul Fleischman. “Seedfolks” was the first book Casillas had read on her own. She chose to write the author because she could relate to the characters in the book.

Maria Hernandez

Hernandez entered the challenge with her letter to Stephanie Sammartino McPherson, reflecting upon the book “Peace and Bread” about the life of Jane Addams. Hernandez was moved by the compassion Jane Addams felt for the poor, especially children and immigrants. Hernandez’s mother shared Jane Addams’ compassion for others and passed this along to her daughter.

Tanya Jauregui

Jauregui read Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” and wrote, “… you gave me courage to find my voice and speak louder for the Adult Literacy Program … I need to keep using my voice to advocate for such an amazing program.”  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. Old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

Southern California & Statewide Literacy & Library Events ◯ May 2020

Southern California & Statewide Literacy & Library Events

May 2020

Literacy & Library Events & Conferences

- Local, California and National –

visit the

Southern California Library Literacy Network

for more information  

Get Caught Reading Month

Latino Books Month

Short Story Month

       

May            Bay Area Book Festival VIRTUAL #Unbound

May 04      Children's Book Week "A great nation is a reading nation."

May 04      National Library Legislative Day VIRTUAL Advocacy

May 05      Teacher Appreciation Day     

May 08      CATESOL Spring VIRTUAL Conference

May 08      National History Day - California VIRTUAL

May 18      International Museum Day VIRTUAL Visits @ Google Arts & Culture

CANCELED - Catesol Regional Northern California     

CANCELED - Health Literacy Conference IHA Costa Mesa

CANCELED - L.A. Zine Fest

#LitWeekLA

ALOUD: Library Foundation of Los Angeles  @ALOUDla

Los Angeles Literary Calendar  @LALitScene

Poetry Flash – So & No California

Storytelling Association of California

Burbank Library ◯ Adult Literacy Tutor Thank You Video

Adult Literacy Tutor Thank You Video

Burbank Public Library: 4.27.2020

For one out of five adults in the United States,

reading this paragraph is either difficult or impossible.

Twenty percent of adults have trouble with filling out forms,

taking the DMV license exam without assistance, 

helping their children with homework,

addressing an envelope, or writing a check.

              

The mission of our Literacy Services program is to help create a better informed community in which literacy helps parents read to their children, improves job prospects for adults, and leads families toward positive life choices.

Burbank Public Library has provided literacy services since 1992. We offer FREE one-on-one tutoring to people over the age of 16 who are not enrolled in high school and who speak and understand English, but read and write below 8th grade level. Burbank Public Library Literacy Services, a member of California Library Literacy Services, receives matching funds from the California State Library.

ADULT LEARNERS

Tutoring in reading is available for people 16 or older who speak and understand English but read and write below an 8th grade level.

To enroll in the program you must schedule an interview during which an assessment to measure current reading abilities will be given.

If you qualify for the program learners will be matched with a volunteer for twice a week tutoring sessions.

To make an appointment for an interview, call 818-238-5577.

ENGLISH NATURALLY: A CONVERSATION GROUP

The class is free and meets each week at Burbank Central Library in the second floor Literacy Conference Room. You don’t need to sign up, just drop by when your schedule permits.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 - 11:30 am

Wednesday evening sessions, 7 - 8:30 pm

Want to improve your English conversation skills?

Need to learn more American expressions?

Our conversation class, English Naturally, might be for you! If you have any questions, please call the Literacy office, 818-238-5577.

VOLUNTEER TUTORS

Volunteer tutors must be 18 or older. No experience is necessary.

Tutors meet twice weekly with an adult learner (for a minimum of six months).

To find out more about becoming a tutor, call 818-238-5577.

"Learning to read is hard; not learning is harder."