Outreach Services at the BCPL Melanie Sperling Outreach Manager

Boone County Public Library Summer Learning Loss Did You Know? Research spanning 100 years shows that students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of the summer (White, 1906; Heyns, 1978; Entwisle & Alexander 1992; Cooper, 1996; Downey et al, 2004).   www.summerlearning.org Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library Summer Learning Loss More than half of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college (Alexander et al, 2007). www.summerlearning.org Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library Read and Feed Summer 2012 A Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Summer Read and Feed grant allowed the BCPL to offer children ages birth to 18: Free lunches 4 times per week for 8 weeks 32 additional education programs Supper meals to area hotels Due to the rise in homeless and precariously housed children identified by the Boone County School District, the Library the BCPL received a Target Family Literacy Foundation Grant to offer meals and incentives to families. The summer read and feed grant allowed for staffing, supplies, literacy based games and activities. The literacy based programs following the lunches were for all ages so families could spend time together. Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library Read and Feed Summer 2012 A Target Family Literacy Foundation grant funded meals for the adults and incentives to families. Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library Read and Feed Summer 2012 Based on statistics from 2011, 10 children per day were expected for lunch in 2012. Boone County Public Library

Statistics Summer 2012 The average number of children per lunch increased to 30 per day. 751 children were fed in June. 638 children were fed in July. The BCPL strenghthened the existing partnership with the Boone County Schools through this program by addressing both academic and non-academic barriers to learning, especially Boone County Public Library

Fueling the Mind LSTA Preventing Summer Reading Loss 2013 The program lasted 8 weeks, 3 days Lunches were offered at the Florence Branch Library followed by programs Supper was offered Monday evenings at White Pine Mobile Home Park and Thursday evenings at Biederman Educational Center Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library Fueling the Mind Meals for adults were made possible by : Heater Meals distributed via the Freestore Foodbank through the Brighton Center Walmart Foundation Grant Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library Statistics Summer 2013 529 children were served in June 641 children were served in July Total: 1,170 Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library K-Count Each year in Kentucky for a 24-hour period, we count the number of homeless and precariously housed people. When I first volunteered for the count, I was sent to a neighboring county because I was told that there were no homeless people in Boone County. After all, Boone county is the second most affluent county in Kentucky. Working in the library, I had run into at least one. Meanwhile, the local school system hired a very proactive executive director of its student services. Over 400 children were homeless according to the McKinney-Vento definition. Boone County Public Library

Freestore Foodbank Mobile Food Pantry The Mobile Pantry is a 26-foot refrigerated truck that has the capacity to carry 10,000 pounds of nutritious food. The refrigeration unit allows us to easily provide meats, fresh produce, dairy and baked goods. Boone County Public Library

Freestore Foodbank Mobile Food Pantry Why the Library? We are the community partner with a dedicated group of volunteers, including (but not limited to) the Boone County Extension Homemakers, the Florence Woman’s Club, and the Library’s Teen Advisory Group. Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library This is the average cart of groceries. One of our neighborhood partners, the Seven Hills Church, borrows carts from a local grocery in order to help our patrons to their cars. Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library Adult Outreach Freestore Foodbank Mobile Food Pantry visits Funded by grants and donations During 2013, the Library and its volunteers have Distributed 67,500 pounds of food One box truck full of personal care items To 1,336 households Totaling 3,490 people To date, we have fed over 10 thousand people. Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library Did you know? ALA Policy B.8.10 Library Services for the Poor (formerly Council Document 61) from the ALA Policy Manual 14.) Promoting among library staff the collection of food and clothing donations, volunteering personal time to antipoverty activities and contributing money to direct-aid organizations. Boone County Public Library

Boone County Public Library Freestore Foodbank Questions? Melanie Sperling Outreach Manager Boone County Public Library 859-342-2665, extension 8110 msperling@bcpl.org Boone County Public Library