The Library recognizes that by assisting students of all ages -- those involved in formal learning as described below -- in achieving their educational goals, invaluable human needs of the community are met.
- The community has made a commitment to preschool learning in recent years, as exhibited by Smart Start. There exists a network of day care centers, preschools, individuals and parents who consider structured preschool activities the foundation for s uccessful formal schooling, although use of the term "preschool" may sound confusing. The Librarys Childrens Outreach Department has been pursuing similar goals for over twenty five years.
- There are many parents in the community who opt for home schooling over educational institutions, and who are in need of support.
- Our educational institutions, kindergarten through college, normally provide curriculum support by way of their own libraries and media centers. The Public Library is committed to providing materials for the reading and reference needs of its enroll ees, to supplementing resources available in their libraries, and to providing library instruction and orientation both inside and outside the Public Library. Students needing homework support and help are traditionally a large population served by librar ies.
- In accordance with the growing national emphasis on community college education, the Public Library has broadened its services to Forsyth Technical Community College, with the intent of contributing to greater accessibility and success in the commun ity.
The Forsyth County Public Library serves 285,000 citizens who live in Winston-Salem, N. C. and five other incorporated towns in Forsyth County. Through the Region I & Region G Council of Governments, free borrowing privileges have been extended to fifteen counties containing approximately 700,000 people. The Forsyth County Public Library includes ten full service neighborhood branches, the Main Library, four latchkey centers and outreach programs that touch the lives of children and adults. The pub lic is served by a staff of 112.5 FTE, including forty-seven librarians. The Library materials collection consists of 500,000 volumes.
The Library' target audience is the population of students, as defined by those enrolled in formal schooling, including home schooling.
To provide the materials and services to meet the needs of such students as they are engaged in formal learning activities, and to provide them in the most helpful and workable format.
The Forsyth County Public Library, in its formal learning support role, is involved in numerous in-house and outreach education efforts.
- The Library offers numerous library programs for preschool classes and preschoolers at large. The Childrens Outreach staff brings the library to children in special circumstances with after-school mini-libraries at the Salvation Army Boys Club and s everal of the City recreation centers. As a lead Forsyth County vehicle for the North Carolina Smart Start program, the Library offers intensive story-sharing training to daycare teachers and provides bookmobile delivery of materials to daycare centers th roughout Forsyth County.
- Growing numbers of homeschooling families push the Forsyth County Public Library to broaden its support of academic curricula. This is a good example of a citizen initiative where the Library feels it is imperative to respond as a strong local resou rce.
- After school hours Forsyth County Public Libraries serve as de facto schools for students busy with homework and school projects. The Librarys ordering of books and electronic media is heavily influenced by student needs. The Forsyth County Public L ibrary offers tours and programs on library use, on a prearranged basis, for classes from public, private, and charter schools. The Library is responding to escalating group use of library services by charter schools with efforts to bolster resources. The Library accommodates requests for customized services to the extent it can; for instance, the Reference Department reserves several Internet computers at a time for private-school class visits. In response to teacher requests, the librarians, especially the childrens services staff, bring programs on books and library use to classes in the schools. In a special public library/public schools arrangement, "Homework Hotline," the Forsyth County Public Library provides space and phone lines four evenings a w eek during the school year for students to seek over-the-phone homework assistance from public-school teachers, who are compensated by the Schools for these extra hours.
- Collaboration with Forsyth Technical Community College, includes the Library on Carver School Road Campus and the collaboration to deliver services such as computer training, GED classes and small business assistance at the Main Library.
Smart Start/Childrens Outreach Staff A staff of eight librarians and seven Library Assistant IIIs carry out the duties and responsibilities of the Smart Start and Childrens Outreach Departments. Part of the 20,000 volume collection is located in fou r latchkey centers; the remainder of the collection is transported to 100 daycare centers throughout Forsyth County on the Smart Start bookmobile. Computers, A/V materials and CD ROM products are available in the latchkey centers and on the bookmobile. Home Schooling All public service staff, including forty-four librarians at all locations, provide assistance to home schoolers because of the broad range of ages served. The entire collection, as well as Internet access, is available. The library k eeps home schoolers in mind when selecting materials. Traditional Educational Institutions The entire collection of materials, approximately 500,000 volumes, 75,000 non-print items and Internet access at 16 public Internet terminals is available for use by students involved in formal learning, as is th e entire staff of approximately 100 people. Homework Hotline: Forsyth County Public Library works with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system in providing this service to the public. The library provides 1,000 square feet of space at the main libr ary, basic equipment and four telephone lines. Forsyth Technical Community College As of August, 1998, Forsyth County Public Librarys newest facility, the Carver School Road Branch, will serve as the library for Forsyth Technical Community College as well as a branch library for the public. A st aff of five, including three librarians, will provide assistance to the Forsyth Technical Community Colleges student population. A collection of 35,000 volumes, Internet access, A/V materials and public access computers will be housed in this 10,000 squar e foot facility. The librarys entire collection will also be available to the Forsyth Technical Community College student population through interlibrary loans.
- Smart Start
The library is an active participant in the Smart Start effort in Forsyth County. The Library Director serves on the Smart Start Board and the library receives Smart Start funding. This activity is complemented by the Childrens Outreach Department, whi ch predated Smart Start by many years, but had been focusing on similar objectives before Smart Start existed.- Forsyth Technical Community College
Since the 1970s the Library has worked cooperatively with Forsyth Technical Community College to offer GED, literacy, and Adult Basic Education services. These programs have had a consistently strong public library presence.In the last several years there has been a deepening of the collaboration, reflecting a community sense that institutions that address a common mission need to share resources and truly work together. The new Carver School Road Public Library Branch wa s built in conjunction with a new satellite campus of Forsyth Technical Community College and shares a common site. Both institutions are working closely together to shape a new service model in the community, with the public library branch serving the curricular library needs of FTCC students attending the Carver campus, as well as the areas general library needs. The Forsyth County Public Library has invited Forsyth Technical Community College to use the western end of the Main Librarys first floor for computer classes and small business counseling, as well as GED classes. The Forsyth County Public Librarys com munity committee for the librarys future was alert to FTCCs search for a downtown auxiliary location, and saw a FTCC presence in the Main Library as illustrating the Librarys importance as a place for education and especially technology education. These efforts are effective to the extent that collaborations with these partners are strong. The Library continually rebuilds the formal collaborations with FTCC and the N. C. Smart Start program, and ongoing working relationships with the Public Scho ols, charter schools and private schools, daycare centers, the City Recreation Department, Brenner Childrens Hospital and numerous other community educational agencies.
Funding for these services comes from several sources: the County, grants from the State of North Carolina and the federal government. County funding pays for staffing, operating supplies and the maintenance of facilities. State funds have provided for collection development, the NC LIVE database and the acquisition of computers and software products. Eighty percent of the Smart Start Program is funded by the State. Federal funds provide assistance in collection development and programming.
- Specifically defined service measures exist for Smart Start and are part of the overall Smart Start evaluation of all of its agencies.
- Attempts are made to track services to home schoolers, including tracking them by location. The Childrens Services Committee addresses these needs on a regular basis.
- Circulation of materials to students is a traditional method of measurement.
- Success in outreach to students is also evaluated using such traditional measures as school visits, tours, and requests for specialized service. Service measures for Homework Hotline, co-sponsored by the Public Library and the Winston-Salem/Forsyth Cou nty School System, are kept by the school system.
- Service to community college students will be measured by traditional methods at the Carver School Road Branch serving the community college satellite campus. Forsyth Technical Community College itself keeps use statistics for their services located in the Main Library. They meet with library staff periodically to make changes in services to meet changing needs.