1. Ace Reporters Meeting the Homework Needs of Palos Verdes’ 4 th and 5 th Graders Michael Barb Young Readers Librarian Palos Verdes Library District

3. Students, parents, and teachers naturally expect the library to help meet homework needs.

4. “Where are your fourth grade books about the Australian horseshoe bat?”

5. No librarian likes to send a customer away empty-handed.

6. The Ace Reporters project set out to close the knowledge gap between the students and the library.

7. Bolster our existing partnership with the school district.

8. Conduct discovery of the school year’s major assignments for 4th-5th graders.

9. Present classroom sessions to explain and demonstrate the library’s print and digital resources.

10. Order or develop additional new content as needed.

11. The Ace Reporters project managed to: Conduct instructional sessions for 57 percent of all upper elementary classrooms in the school district Improve the amount and quality of information resources available by ordering 82 new books in four major collection areas Provide students with detailed Accelerated Reader metrics on 138 historical fiction titles in the library’s catalog.

12. At the end of the grant cycle, the parents of the school district’s 4th and 5th graders reported: A 12 percent improvement in their children’s ability to find the materials they need to complete homework assignments An increase from 8 percent to 26 percent in awareness of the Brainfuse live homework help tool.

13. The bucks stopped here $4,000 for part-time librarians’ wages to staff the reference desk while the other librarians carried out project activities $1,000 for gift cards for educational materials, distributed to upper elementary teachers to buy classroom items in support of homework needs.

14. Results of the project point to benefits for students and schools alike.

15. The PV library continues to train ‘ace reporters’ at all grade levels and spread the good news about our services.