SANTA ANA PUBLIC LIBRARY (3) - 2011

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school year. As a group, they have contributed many thousands of hours of community service to the library, 100 per cent have graduated from high school and 90 per cent have gone on to higher education. These are teens that do not represent the top 10-20 percent of their high school class. They are not involved in student government or school activities. They are the quiet at-risk youth whom no one notices. But at our TeenSpace, they are noticed, nurtured and appreciated. Since that time, the library has maintained a high number of ongoing programs for teens, including a very intensive Summer Volunteer Institute that encourages teens to find self worth and civic engagement though giving back to their community. Last summer 190 teens donated 5,746 hours of their time to supporting programs for library patrons of all ages, mentoring over 200 children in our "Buddy" programs, helping limited English speaking adults (often parents of the teens) to learn English and improve job skills, volunteering at community events, and assisting in the design and realization of a satellite Teen Center in the Jerome Recreation Center. In addition, during the same period, the library offered five major field trips for over 100 teens, as well as resume, college search and photography workshops and a Kindle Reading Club for teens. All together, the library conducted 86 programs for teens during the summer at three sites. (Please refer to attachment 48 for a list of all 2010 Summer Volunteer Institute Programs). At present, the teens continue to volunteer through the school year in math, reading, fitness and art "Buddy" programs aimed at young children. There are daily activities for teens at both library branches and the Jerome Recreation Center, including a cooking and baking club, a crafts and knitting club, an aquaponic gardening club, teen club meetings, the scholarship and fitness clubs, video production and graphic arts workshops and tutoring in math and reading. Half of our part time staff are involved exclusively in assisting with these projects, and are experienced and committed to the growth and development of the young people they work with. (Please refer to attachment #7 for a list of current teen and volunteer programs) Most of the activities for teens are supported through the Laura Bush and other grants that have enabled us to hire many teens and young adults as tutors to teach and mentor teens in all of these programs. In 2009-10, the library was awarded approximately $130,000 in grants from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the state Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) that supported the explosion of activities and jobs for teens that developed at that time. We have continued to seek funds to support and expand these efforts. The ICMA grant the library was awarded in 2009-10 was unique. Its mandate was to find projects around the country that offered innovative approaches to bringing public libraries and local government together. Only nine of the 515 applications submitted were funded. In "Maximize the Potential of Your Public Library", ICMA staff described the achievements of the nine projects, citing Santa Ana's innovative approach to service delivery that "turn(ed) to a tech savvy teen population in a community with high poverty and unemployment and create(d) a dedicated, safe space out of which they could explore a range of constructive activities, including using their computer knowledge to help adults learn new employment skills and tutor young children in math and reading literacy". The success of Santa Ana's project, as well as that of the other projects, has taught ICMA and its funding organization, the Gates Foundation, that libraries are an underutilized and effective asset in the struggle to meet a community's strategic goals. The majority of teens hired through our grant programs have begun their contact with the library through the volunteer program. Our volunteer intake for minors requires that parent(s) and teen attend an orientation together, and that parents are aware of their child's work and leisure activities at the library. Our volunteers are mentored by staff and older teens and transition age young adults (18-24), and encouraged to develop personal and academic goals and an understanding of the importance of their work to themselves and others. We give preference in hiring to teens who have demonstrated their commitment through volunteering. The library has also been unusually effective in working with probation youth volunteers. Annually, forty to fifty probation youth complete their community service at the library. Ten to fifteen of those continue volunteering at the library when their community service responsibilities are concluded. In addition, the library is in process of piloting a new program that will require probation volunteers to engage in supportive educational workshops during the course of their community service. TeenSpace staff has created a program for first-time offenders that includes mandatory workshops that explore adolescent behavior and help teens to understand their actions and attitudes and the effect these have upon their lives. The program also requires EXHIBIT A