Population Served:
199,035 Project Contact: Louis Coccia Project Title: LOCK (Latino Outreach Computer Knowledge) Project Description: The project involved creating a new mobile laptop computer classroom, which allows us to offer computer classes in any of our 5 branch libraries, or in other public locations. These classes are taught by a bilingual library staff member of the IT department. Since September 9th, we have offered eight separate classes in Hispanic /English: To date they have all had the same topic, Basic Computer Skills, and have been attended by 60 people. |
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These classes are 90-120 minutes in length depending on questions. Each will be offered twice a month.
The program development required:
- The purchase and setup of 12 laptop computers.
- The purchase of several containers to house and transport the computers.
- Configuring for wireless internet access.
- The development of lesson plans or curricula for each class.
- Promoting the program in the local community.
- Monitoring the progress and success.
- Gaining feedback from the participants and developing new needed services.
Notable accomplishment, promising practices, or human interest stories: Progress to date has been better than expected. The classes have been very well attended, received, and appreciated by the participants. More advance courses are already being requested, and are in development.
Feedback has resulted in some of the following comments:
- “We was waiting for this course. God hear our prayers. Thank god and thank to all you to make possible this course”..JG
- “thank you for this course is going to be very helpful for our life”
Key lessons learned: Course content must be very basic since current computer skills are very limited. Word of mouth advertising has been successful, but we need to do more advertising in the Spanish newspapers.
Advice for
other libraries serving adult English language learners: Advertise in Spanish newspapers.