Project:
Carson City Knowledge and Discovery Library and Community Education Collaborative
5 Basic Assumptions:
- Learning begins before schooling - public library provides only free pre K learning opportunities.
- Good schools require a good community library.
- People in a learning society need libraries throughout their lives.
- Public support of libraries is an investment in people and communities.
- Downtown central libraries are catalysts for economic and business development.
Description:
Within a new downtown Knowledge and Discovery Library Carson City educators will have dedicated space to deliver educational programming. Additionally facilitation of internship opportunities leading to post-secondary education and/or job placement will move forward this education collaborative.
Benefit:
The Nugget project offers Carson City traditional school age students (preK-12) maximum opportunity and access to more individualized and personalized educational programming with better outcomes.
Collaborative Opportunity:
Turnkey dedicated and programmed spaces within this project will not only add a valuable educational asset to the Carson City educational community, but it will also allow educational partners to take advantage of the mission and goals of the Hop and Mae Adams Trust on behalf of Carson City’s students, educators and families.
Mission of the Hop and Mae Adams Trust: Support the youth of Carson City through educational opportunities that lead to jobs. The Trust supports the creation of a third millennium Knowledge and Discovery Library as a center of learning, and a high tech business incubator as a center of entrepreneurial excellence and success.
Project Team:
- Carson City Redevelopment Authority
- Carson City Library Board of Trustees
- Carson City Board of Supervisors
- Carson City Office of Business Development
Today’s educational contributions
of the Carson City Library
FACT: The Library has 300,000 visitors every year; of that amount more than one third of the services provided in these visits are delivered to area pre-K – 12 school aged children.
- Collaborates with schools and agencies serving hard-to-reach youth by providing books and other materials.
- Offers training for staff and parent volunteers in the use of educational items.
- Provides opportunities for youth to practice reading and communication skills through reading programs, “lap-sit” programs, storytimes, book discussion clubs, contests, peer tutoring, and book and music reviews to share with peers.
- Creates intergenerational experiences using library resources and programs that help youth and older adults better understand and value each other.
- Provides safe, welcoming places for children and young adults to gather with friends to enjoy library resources or to be alone to pursue personal interests.
- Provides preschool educational and literacy programs, including parent and caretaker education.
- Acts as a more formal educational center through family literacy programs.
- Offers homework centers and provides space, materials, and personal intermediaries.
- Provides tutoring (in-person and online).
- Provides career information services.
- Offers workshops on computer and information literacy, research skills.
- Helps students learn basic information searching skills or to point to helpful tools.
- Open longer hours (nights and weekends) and students often prefer an out-of-school environment.
- Class visits to the library.
- Jointly sponsors guest speakers for workshops and classes.
- Provides Internet access.
- Conducts year-round reading programs.
- Conducts summer reading programs.
New Collaborative Educational
Roles and Goals of the Project
FACT: Libraries are no longer just a place to find books. Today’s library is a place that extends far beyond its physical walls. Our library is a place for everyone. The essence of this project symbolizes opportunity, citizenship, equality, freedom of speech and freedom of thought, and democracy itself within Nevada’s capitol.
1) Resource sharing aimed at distance learning
- Dedicated instructional space within the library.
- Sharing of additional online resources.
- Continuing education support.
- Homework help centers (online and in person).
- Library cards for every student.
- E-mail and text messaging service for educational support.
2) Cooperation in providing information services and instruction
- Information literacy curriculum development.
- Provides four professional librarians with master’s degrees in library and information science.
- Support for a wide breadth of assignments-science fair to senior projects and research papers.
3) Digital media center access
- Instruction in and production of digital media and other new media activities.
- Distinct, but complementary roles of the library media specialist as information specialist, teacher, and instructional consultant in service of curriculum programs
- Students are provided instruction, integrated into the curriculum, in the skills needed to identify and use technology effectively.
- Collaborate with classroom teachers to design learning activities.
- Instruct children and young adults in the use of computers and other digital media technologies.
- Encourage and assist teachers in developing new media-based learning experiences.
- Initiate and coordinate with teachers’ schoolwide projects that help students sharpen digital media skills.
4) Business and Technology Incubator- Links business, education and governments in a bridge to internships and ultimately job placement:
- Supports the growth and development of emerging companies to compete in the global marketplace to generate business and revitalize the local economy.
- Provide targeted services, professional development, strategic advice, access to financing, marketing and public relations support, mentoring, turnkey infrastructure and variable rents.
- Accelerate the growth of digital media research and development toward the goal of implementing interactive technologies and digital content that enhances public communication with the focus on the public good.
- Builds resilient companies and successful graduates that locate grow and prosper in Northern Nevada
- Provides internship opportunities for high school aged students
- Provides job opportunities for young adults
5) Plaza – life takes place on foot.
- Provides a safe and engaging place for youth in Carson City to learn and socialize.
- Promotes Carson City’s arts and cultural activities to residents visitors as an integral aspect of the city identity quality of life and civic health
- Programmed open space with an outdoor amphitheatre and water features
- Provides a center gathering area for visitors to enjoy get area wide information
Suggestions for Successful Collaboration
- Make educational partnership and collaborator commitment.
- Define process of formal planning and adoption of policies, procedures and resource commitments.
