ADULT PROGRAM FOR WEST BRANCH LIBRARY 1

Adult Program for West Branch Library of Seminole County:

College Readiness

Taylor Howell
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My workplace is the West Branch Library of Seminole County, located near Longwood

and Wekiwa Springs. The West Branch is part of a library system consisting of one central

library and four branches. The library’s physical space is not as big as Central’s and it is not

nearly as busy as other branches, like East. Therefore, adult programs coordinated by the library

system tend to take place at other locations, though basic programs like book clubs, ESOL

classes, and help with government forms, online health info, and job applications (IMLS, 2015).

After looking at the census information of the surrounding area and comparing that to national

rates, there is a lack of college graduation rates near the West Branch Library compared to the

national average. If I were in charge of creating a new program for the West Branch Library, I

would provide a series of college-readiness courses for the young-adult members of the

community.

The first step in creating a library program for adults is assessing the needs of the

community. The Institute of Museum and Library Services’ interactive map tool displays

demographic data in a clear way that provides clues about who uses the library and what their

needs could be. By selecting West Branch Library in Longwood, FL and expanding the radius to

5 miles around the library, one sees that the greatest age range of patrons out of a population of

120,216 is 20-29 followed closely by 65+. Persons under the age of 20 are the least. Other

notable statistics in the area are that 20% of the population are foreign with 19% speaking

Spanish at home. There is 10.5% unemployment and a 12.6% unemployment rate. According to

the United States Census Bureau, 91.6% of residents in Longwood city own a computer and

85.2% of households have broadband internet (2018). So far, other than the high percentage of

persons over 65, the demographics for area around the library do not stand out as being aberrant.

However, the community statistics about education are another matter. According to IMLS 10%
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have less than high school education, 47% have at least high school education and 42% are

college graduated. Compared to the 42% college graduate rating in Longwood, the national

average for college graduation is about 60% (U.S. Department of Education, 2018).

In addition to these concrete facts, casual observations indicate that a college preparation

program would be appreciated by the community. Books on college entry exams are circulate

quite often and are frequently requested. Young adults often meet in the library on weekends for

tutoring and job networking. My program would utilize the books and physical meeting space

(meeting room adjoining the main floor) as key components.

I would schedule the college readiness program as a series that runs over the course of

four weeks because I would want sessions to focus on one topic at a time: one would be on study

tips for the SAT and ACT, another would be about writing an admissions essay, another would

present information about applying to scholarships, and yet another would talk about strategies

for choosing a school and area of study. The program would take place in between semesters

when colleges start accepting applications, so around the summer in anticipation of the fall

semester, or in the winter preparing for the spring semester. I would hold these sessions during

the evening, like at 7:30pm. This would work for both high school students and people working a

typical 9-5 job.

Although the library would provide the resources of study material, meeting space and

computers, outside professionals would be hired to run the actual classes. Organizations like the

College and Career Readiness Success Center, and the Florida College Access Network aim to

increase the number of people successfully entering college. My program would hire a speaker

from one of these organizations to come and run the seminars. Another possibility, if I cannot get

anyone from these organizations, is to partner with a local college and request an admissions
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worker or recruiter to speak. Speakers would be selected based on their knowledge of the topic

and their willingness to collaborate with the event organizer on the details of the presentation.

For example, I would not want to choose someone who seems like they would only promote

their organization or deviate from the plan. I would allow for some time near the end of the

presentation for the speaker to plug their organization because in a partnership both parties

should put in effort and receive benefit from a program. The bulk of my program budget would

be spent on paying for the outside speaker(s).

While the majority of the budget would be spent on the guest speaker(s), I would also

want to have room in the budget for refreshments for the attendees, workshop material like

sample SAT questions, and handouts like information pamphlets. The breakdown cost of the

program would be $1000 to pay for a speaker, $50 for refreshments and $30 for handouts. The

program would be paid for through grants and the library budget, so I would have to start

planning the event very soon before it starts. I would limit the number of attendees to about forty

per session because that is about the number of people that can sit comfortably in the meeting

room. When advertising this event to the public, I would stipulate that those who want to attend

should RSVP with the librarian, but I would also allow for walk-ins.

Attendees should, by the end of the program, feel better equipped and have the

confidence and desire to apply for college. The program would be deemed a success if attendees

felt encouraged and are making plans or have already taken steps to go to college. This would be

measured through both quantitative and qualitative evaluations. Quantitative measures would be

counting the number of participants and rates of satisfaction through an end-of-program survey.

Qualitative evaluations would be gained through open-ended questions on the survey, like “what

about the program helped you most? What could be improved? What is your next step in
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applying for college? Etc.” In addition, I or another librarian would sit in on the sessions to make

observations about the quality of the presentation and the engagement of the audience. This

person would also chat with the participants to gauge how they enjoy the program.

Finally, there is the matter of promoting the program to the community. Although my

library currently does not have an active social media presence, I would advertise the program on

Twitter and Facebook because those platforms are dominated by 35-54 and 25-44 year olds,

respectively (2015, p. 43). These are the age groups that my program targets: out of high school,

but young enough to consider finishing a college degree for a better career or general life

improvement. Other fundamental forms of event promotion (which my library does) are

describing the event details on the library website event calendar, printing event calendars for

placement around the library, and propping up big poster boards about the event in the library

lobby. In my advertisement I would be sure to clearly state in all promotional material that

attendees are asked to register for the event days beforehand.

It has always been the public library’s ideal to encourage literacy and life-long learning

for everyone in the community so that the community can flourish. An adult program for college

readiness fits perfectly into this schema, then. Based on demographic information about the

surrounding area of the West Branch Seminole County Public Library, there is a deficiency in

college graduation rates compared to the natural average. Raising these rates could improve the

community by increasing the number of skilled workers and educated parents, which in turn

would boost the local economy and encourage the next generation to pursue learning after high

school. While expecting one adult program to do all of this immediately is an unreasonable

expectation, library programs like the one I’ve planned out take important steps in that direction.
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References

The Institute of Museum and Library Services. Digital Inclusion Survey: Interactive Map.

(2015). http://digitalinclusion.umd.edu/content/interactive-map.

United States Census Bureau. Quick Facts: Longwood City. (2018).

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/longwoodcityflorida

 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2018). The Condition

of Education 2018 (NCES 2018-144), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_ctr.asp.

Watson-Lakamp, P. (2015). Get social with your library. In Marketing moxie for librarians:

Fresh ideas, proven techniques, and innovative approaches. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries

Unlimited.