Cover Sheet

Agency

Project Name

Amount Requested*
(If request is for VolunteerOnly Project, no funds will be provided and this should be left blank.)

Briefly Describe Program to be supported by JLA Volunteers and/or Funds










If JLA funds are requested, list specifically how JLA funds will be used for all cost items:

Item Amount







Number of Volunteers needed for this program

Briefly describe volunteer opportunities for this program







Name, Phone Number and Email for person(s) knowledgeable about this proposal







Junior League of Arlington Project Support Packet
updated 4/14
Arlington Public Library Foundation
Reading Corps Site Adoption
Arlington Reads is a literacy program that focuses on promoting a lifelong love of reading by pairing
volunteers with students in the program. The program is offered for free from the Arlington Public
Library. The students work twice a week at designated sites with their volunteer reading buddies to
read, learn, and build literacy skills that will help them succeed in school and later in life. The
program has been in place since the beginning of 2013.
8
Volunteers are paired with pre-K students as reading buddies. These reading buddies not only read
with the children, but help them build basic literacy skills through games and activities. In addition to
being reading buddies, one site coordinator is needed to bring the Reading Corps supplies to the site
and to track data such as student roster, attendance, and assessment scores.
Andi Davis | 817.459.6924 | andi.davis@arlingtontx.gov
Stephanie Botica | 817.460.2727 | Stephanie.botica@arlingtontx.gov

Arlington Public Library | Reading Corps

The Arlington Public library was founded in 1923 when the Tarrant County Free Library provided the
growing city of Arlington with one librarian who managed the collection of five hundred books stashed
in the Farmers National Bank in downtown Arlington. Since then, the library has served the community,
helping to enrich the lives of Arlington citizens. The mission statement of the library is To open doors
to a world of ideas, information, and imagination, thereby enhancing the economic, social, and cultural
vitality of our diverse community.
One of the various ways the library works toward this mission is through the Arlington Reads program,
which organizes the literacy programs offered by Arlington Public Library. The Reading Corps program
was started in the spring of 2013 by AmeriCorps VISTAs to help meet the need for increased childhood
literacy in Arlington and Tarrant County. Reading Corps is a volunteer driven program, matching
volunteers with children in a one to one ratio to help them develop a love of reading and to build
literacy skills. The program focuses on helping the children of low income families, seeking to build their
literacy skills to help them stay on par with their middle income peers who often have access to
enriching educational opportunities that they do not. The mission statement of the Reading Corps
program is To impart a lifelong love of reading to Arlington students in grades Pre-K through 2
nd
, while
building superior reading and writing skills.
The Reading Corps program served 110 students at a total of 10 locations during the most recent spring
semester. In addition, the Reading Corps program is funded through multiple literacy grants, including
grants through the Texas Literacy Initiative and United Way. The Reading Corps program partners with
AISD and community childcare locations to reach students whose families may not be aware of the
enriching programs provided by the library. In addition, the Reading Corps project is headed by
AmeriCorps VISTAs, who volunteer full time for a year-long term of service to fight poverty in their
communities. The AmeriCorps VISTAs and the Reading Corps program were recently recognized for the
outstanding service provided to the community by Mayor Cluck in the April 8th city council meeting and
April 1
st
was declared to be National Service Recognition Day.

Reading Corps: Southeast Library





II. Description of Proposed Project

a. The proposed service to be funded with a Junior League grant and staffed with Junior
League volunteers is the site adoption of one of our pre-K age Reading Corps sites.
Reading Corps is a literacy program aimed at developing the pre-literacy skills that many
children of low income families lack, skills that are crucial to future success both in
school and later in life. Reading Corps pairs reading buddy volunteers with children to
inspire them to love reading while building the skills that will help them succeed in
grade school and eventually go on to graduate high school. Our Reading Corps sites are
very popular with parents and students, but rely heavily on volunteers, who can be
difficult to recruit and retain. The Pre-K sites have an even more difficult task than the
library sites, as most of the volunteers who apply through the library prefer to work in a
library setting as opposed to out in the community. By taking on a dedicated group of
volunteers, we can provide more children with access to the Reading Corps program.

b. Each Reading Corps site meets twice a week for twelve weeks during a semester. The
semesters are fall, spring, and summer. Each site visit lasts an hour, which allows each
volunteer to work with two students for thirty minutes each. Depending on the number
of children who sign up to participate, each child may work with a reading buddy once
or twice per week. We propose that JLA adopt one of the four sites to staff with
dedicated volunteers. The current Pre-K Reading Corps sites include:

i. Kids Community Arlington (1305 W. Arbrook Blvd. Arlington, TX 76015)
ii. Kids Community Grand Prairie (4165 Magna Carta Blvd. Arlington, TX
75052)
iii. Grace Lutheran School (210 W. Park Row Dr. Arlington, TX 76010)
iv. YWCA (1120 UTA Blvd. Arlington, TX 76013)

The pre-K 4s who attend each of these childcare locations are given forms that their
parents fill out to enroll them in the Reading Corps program. Every child is eligible for
Reading Corps. The only requirements are that the parents fill out the permission and
information forms. The information form is used to gather basic demographic data
about the families (such as income, race, address), which we use to seek grant funding
for the program. The number of children who can enroll is limited only by the number
of volunteers at each site. These volunteers are recruited both through the general pool
of library volunteers and visits to local schools, churches, and charitable organizations.
For example, volunteers have been recruited from high school Key Club and National
Honor Society membership, UTA, and TCC.

c. The staff for this project includes reading buddy volunteers and one site supervisor. The
reading buddies are responsible only for attending and working with students. The site
supervisor is responsible for coordinating the volunteers, taking attendance, collecting
basic data (such as volunteer hours and student assessment scores), and ensuring that
the Reading Corps materials, such as books and games from the Library, are present at
each session. JLA volunteers would fill 7 reading buddy positions and 1 reading buddy
site supervisor position. The site supervisor position would involve approximately one
extra hour of service per week throughout the program.

d. The Reading Corps program is well loved by the students especially, who become very
excited to read and grow very attached to their reading buddies throughout the
semester. Unfortunately, the scarcity of volunteers makes it difficult to work with the
number of children who express interest. When short on volunteers, the current
volunteers may be forced to work in small groups instead of one on one. If the lack of
volunteers increases, sites may eventually be cut, reducing the impact the program has
on the Arlington community.

The Library promotes its literacy programs on the website and at community events s.
The Library also works closely with other literacy partners in the community such as
United Way and the Arlington Independent School District. The Library offers additional
literacy programs that help parents learn about the importance of early literacy and
available community resources.

III. Evidence of Need for Service

a. Reading Corps targets children of low income families in Arlington and the surrounding
area. Research shows that children from low income families are less likely to be read
to or spoken to regularly and, as a result, may hear as many as 30 million fewer words
than their middle income peers by the time they begin kindergarten. Furthermore,
these children often do not have the same opportunities to participate in the
enrichment programs their middle income peers enjoy. Research shows that, without
access to enriching activities in the summer, children from low income families lose as
much as three months of reading comprehension skills over the summer and, by the end
of fifth grade, are nearly three grade levels behind their peers.

Through Reading Corps, these children receive valuable reading time with their buddies.
They hear more words than they would on their own, a crucial first step to building good
literacy skills. Moreover, Reading Corps has a summer semester that helps children
retain what they have learned over the course of the school year.

b. The Library and its partners have collected many statistics regarding the need for and
importance of literacy programs for children and adults. For example:
Almost 238,000 adults in Tarrant County cannot read English well enough to
follow a bus schedule or read a story to their children. (United Way Tarrant
County)
Locally, an additional 28% lack the skills to earn a meaningful wage. (United
Way Tarrant County)
An estimated $73 billion per year of unnecessary health care costs are
attributed to poor literacy. (Center for Medicare & Medicaid Statistics)
65% of the children of illiterate adults will become illiterate adults
themselves. (United Way)
Businesses lose over $60 billion in productivity each year due to employees
lack of basic skills. (U.S. Department of Education)
75% of federal public assistance (TANF) recipients have low literacy levels.
(Texas Adult Literacy Survey)

There is currently a waiting list for Reading Corps participants. For example, the
Southeast Branch Library site has 13 registered students and 13 volunteers, resulting in
a waiting list of 7 students. During the spring semester at Kids Community Arlington, 16
students enrolled in the program but there were only 8 volunteers and all of those were
only able to contribute one session per week. Therefore, we could not provide the
maximum reading time to students or enroll every four year old pre-K student in the
program. Further, it is rare for a student to drop from the waiting list. Rather, it is more
likely that the number of volunteers will decrease slightly throughout the semester,
making it more difficult to continue working one-on-one with the children who have
already been a part of the program for weeks.

c. Ideally, the need for these literacy programs will decrease as time passes and the
community becomes more aware of the importance of early literacy. However, the
reality is that Reading Corps can only reach so many children in a year and the demand
for the program has increased, making it difficult to keep up with volunteer recruiting.
The positive work being done through the Librarys literacy programs has raised
awareness and early literacy is a popular national topic as studies have been published
that show what an enormous impact the first four years of a childs life can have on his
or her ability to succeed in school.

The demographics of the population served have not changed significantly since the
inception of the Reading Corps program.

IV. Effectiveness and Efficiency

a. Reading Corps Goals and Objectives:

GOAL: All children in Arlington will be able to read on grade level by the end of second grade.

OBJECTIVES
1. Four additional pre-K students per site participate in the program
2. Pre-literacy skills increase in 90% of the children who participate in the Reading
Corps program, as measured by the pre and post assessments.

b. Library staff members track data on all of the students who enroll in the Reading Corps
program. Each student takes an assessment to measure their skills before the program
begins, in the middle of the semester, and at the end of the program. This allows us to
evaluate the effectiveness of Reading Corps in building skills. We also track basic
statistics including student attendance, volunteer hours, and contact hours to measure
the growth of our sites and identify site needs. Working with AISD allows us to access
data about the skill level of second grade students in the Arlington community. In
addition, the Library provides parents with surveys to get feedback about the program.

c. Eligibility to participate in Reading Corps is not based on income.

d. The Library has been notified that we will be receiving a $1,500 grant for the 2014-2015
year, in support of Reading Corps.

V. Duplication / Cooperation / Coordination

a. Reading Corps is a unique program of the Arlington Public Library. While there are
other literacy programs available both through the Arlington Public Library, such as
story times and preschool library visits, Reading Corps is unique in that it provides
children with the opportunity to work one-on-one with a reading buddy.

b. The Arlington Public Library cooperates with many local and national partners,
including:

United Way of Tarrant County
Arlington Independent School District (AISD)
The Campaign for Grade Level Reading (United Way Worldwide, National
Civic League, National League of Cities, United States Conference of Mayors,
and more)
AmeriCorps VISTA

Both AISD, via a Texas Literacy Initiative grant from the Texas Education Agency, and the
United Way have provided funding that supports the librarys literacy programs. The
Campaign for Grade Level Reading helps to spread the word about the importance of
childhood literacy. AISD partners with the Library to help schedule events and host
other literacy programs for their student. The AmeriCorps VISTA team pioneered and
currently run the Reading Corps program for the Library.

VI. Budget

Stephanie, Ill take care of a below. Please work with Yoko to create a budget for this
request.

a. The Reading Corps program is supported by grants and donations. The most recent
grant periods have ended, providing enough funding to purchase all the supplies needed
for the upcoming year. As a result, the program does not currently have a budget, but
in general, Reading Corps has a very low annual cost. The materials acquired with start-
up money made up the bulk of the costs, with small items such as student journals,
markers, and other similar supplies being the only recurring costs from semester to
semester. The books used in the program are checked out through the library.

b. Arlington Public Library programs serve Arlington residents.

VII. Numbers Served

a. Units of service are most frequently measured in contact hours for the Arlington Public
Librarys literacy programs, including Reading Corps. Each child attends Reading Corps
twice a week or once a week if their schedule does not permit twice a week. For the
pre-K Reading Corps sites, this means each child gets one hour of one on one attention
each week (12 hours per semester), or half of that should they only attend one of the
two sessions.

b. During the spring 2014 semester, Reading Corps served 110 children with the help of 65
volunteers. During each session, the volunteer to client ratio is 1:1, unless there is a loss
of volunteers. In that case, the ratio one volunteer for two or three students.

VIII. Attachments
a. One copy of the IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter
b. Ten completed, collated, 3-hole-punched copies of the following:
Cover Sheet
Information requested above
Volunteer Application, one for each job position
Organizational mission statement, brief history, and any outstanding
accomplishments (not to exceed one page)
Program Budget and Full Agency Line Item Budget*
Pictures of project, if available (I have pictures I can include)

*I spoke with Yoko, who said there is not currently a budget specifically for Reading Corps. I put
the explanation of this in the budget section above.




Volunteer Application

Please complete this application for EACH job title

Position Available: (Describe in Detail)

Job Title:



Job Description:







Number of volunteers needed for this position:
School Year (SeptMay) Summer (JuneAugust)

Describe specific skills required, if applicable


Orientation and/or Training requirements, including time commitments



Benefits to volunteers


Day(s) and time(s) when volunteer opportunities are available



Check the following as they apply to this volunteer opportunity

DaysSummer DaysSchool Year EveningsSummer EveningSchool Year
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

Weekend Concentrated AtHome Hours Saturdays
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )



Reading buddies are partnered with pre-K students to help foster a love of reading and to help build
early literacy skills that allow the children to succeed in school and later in life. Being a reading buddy
involves fun tasks such as reading, playing skill building games, and journaling with your student. The
site coordinator is also responsible for tracking basic data and handling supplies.
1
7
Good management skills to help coordinate the sites
volunteers; an interest in working with pre-K children is highly recommended as well
One time training session
for one hour on a Saturday
Gain knowledge of early literacy importance as well as techniques to help
pre-K learners develop skills that will help them excel in school; refine managerial skills
A spring semester and a fall semester,
each 12 weeks long. Coordinator works 2 times a week for 1.25 hours each session. The
coordinator may also need to pick up supplies from the public library during spare time.
Reading Corps Pre-K Reading Buddy (Site Coordinator)



Volunteer Application

Please complete this application for EACH job title

Position Available: (Describe in Detail)

Job Title:



Job Description:







Number of volunteers needed for this position:
School Year (SeptMay) Summer (JuneAugust)

Describe specific skills required, if applicable


Orientation and/or Training requirements, including time commitments



Benefits to volunteers


Day(s) and time(s) when volunteer opportunities are available



Check the following as they apply to this volunteer opportunity

DaysSummer DaysSchool Year EveningsSummer EveningSchool Year
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

Weekend Concentrated AtHome Hours Saturdays
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )


Reading buddies are partnered with pre-K students to help foster a love of reading and to help build
early literacy skills that allow the children to succeed in school and later in life. Being a reading buddy
involves fun tasks such as reading, playing skill building games, and journaling with your student.
7
7
No specialized skills required, though an interest in
working with pre-K children is highly recommended
One time training session
for one hour on a Saturday
Gain knowledge of early literacy importance as well as techniques to help
pre-K learners develop skills that will help them excel in kindergarten and beyond
There is a spring semester and a fall
semester, each 12 weeks long. Volunteers work 2 times a week for 1 hour each session. The site
time can be tailored to fit the group of volunteers schedule.
Reading Corps Pre-K Reading Buddy