ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 8, Number 84 August 25, 1999 In this issue: [1] CTCNet and the Civil Rights Forum to Distribute $70,000 to Rural Community Technology Centers for Telecommunications Policy Projects; Guidelines for Third Round Applications Due October 8, 1999 [2] The Institute of Museum and Library Service Responds to Challenge to Help Children Learn [1] CTCNet and the Civil Rights Forum to Distribute $70,000 to Rural Community Technology Centers for Telecommunications Policy Projects; Guidelines for Third Round Applications Due October 8, 1999 Note: The following is excerpted from a CTCNet/Forum Telecom Policy grants announcement. For more information contact Peter Miller at peterm@ctcnet.org or (617) 734-1910. The Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet) and the Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy, as part of a grant from the Kellogg Foundation's Managing Information with Rural America (MIRA) program, are overseeing the distribution of $70,000 over the remainder of 1999. This grant program seeks to support low-income and other disenfranchised people in rural communities who have had some experience with computers and the Internet to educate their communities and advocate telecommunications policies that support technology equity and universal service. CTCNet affiliates, MIRA clusters of community teams, and other low-income center-based education and access programs are all well qualified to argue that funds and other kinds of support are important in helping this constituency become involved in communications policy decisions at the local, state, and federal levels. These CTCNet/MIRA funds are to support involvement in telecommunications policy decisions. Successful applicants will receive $1,000-$5,000 for community center-based projects involving students and participants in rural job training or literacy programs, 4-H or Boys and Girls Clubs, libraries, Indian councils, multi-service agencies, community cable access centers, health centers, community networks, or other similar efforts. Current CTCNet rural affiliates are eligible to apply for these grants, and rural programs not currently affiliated with CTCNet are encouraged to join as well as apply. Non-rural CTCNet affiliates that have a clear rural impact and/or partner will also be considered. Applications should describe a project on telecommunications policy in rural communities. A community technology center may undertake this either as a stand-alone effort or one that is integrated with an on-going program. Projects may range from public policy advocacy and grassroots organizing, to research and analysis, to efforts that build the capacity of those who are not ordinarily involved in public policy. Guidelines for third round applications are due by October 8. For more information, including a list of recent grant recipients and application requirements, go to http://www.ctcnet.org/mira or contact Peter Miller, CTCNet's public policy project coordinator, at peterm@ctcnet.org or (617) 734-1910. [2] The Institute of Museum and Library Service Responds to Challenge to Help Children Learn Note: The following is an August 16 IMLS press release. For more information contact Eileen Maxwell at (202) 606-8339 or emaxwell@imls.gov Washington, D.C.-- Museums and libraries across the country are welcoming America's students back to school. With increasing frequency, schools and school districts are tapping museums and libraries to help teach and enrich the K-12 curriculum. Some students whose schools link their curricula with nearby museums and libraries are even reporting scoring higher on standardized tests. Launching his annual America Goes Back to School effort, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley is calling for greater community involvement in education: "America Goes Back to School is a special time for communities to reaffirm their commitment to learning and education." By providing crucial Federal support (grants and technical assistance) to the nation's museums and libraries to carry out their educational mission, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) reaffirms its commitment to learning. Museums and libraries are natural partners in education. IMLS recently funded a nationwide survey, "True Needs, True Partners," which found that 88 percent of museums provide K-12 educational programming. Seventy percent have at least one full-time paid staff member who administers K-12 educational programs. Museums report substantial use of school curriculum standards in shaping educational programs for a variety of school subjects. IMLS grants for museum-school partnerships have involved 82,000 students, 228 schools, and 82 museums. IMLS funds libraries that provide curriculum study programs, homework centers, and after-school programs. Perhaps most important, IMLS supports libraries which often provide the only Internet access to students without home computers. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce report on the "Digital Divide," libraries are the number one point of access to the Internet for minorities, low-income families, children of single parents, and children of the unemployed, especially those who reside in rural areas or central cities. Some IMLS-supported museum/library school partnerships are: MINT MUSEUM OF ART AND CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG SCHOOLS, NC: The Mint Museum of Art has partnered with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in developing a program for fifth graders called D.I.G.S (Deciphering and Investigating Great Societies). This program integrates the Museum's collections of pre-Columbian and Spanish Colonial art into the fifth grade social studies curriculum on Latin America. Designed with a team of 50 classroom teachers and the social studies curriculum specialist, the program meets North Carolina Standards of Performance in social studies and visual art. The program combines technology, teacher in-service workshops, hands-on museum lessons for students, and a pass to all fifth graders to encourage return visits with their families. About 11,000 fifth graders are served by the D.I.G.S. program annually. In its first year, students testing at or above grade level in social studies rose by 5 percent. COLORADO STATE LIBRARY AND COLORADO SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA CENTERS, CO: Information technology in school libraries plays a valuable role in helping students meet standards under Colorado's standards-based education system. An IMLS funded study, The Impact of School Library Media Centers on Academic Achievement, demonstrated that high test scores were a direct result of library media specialists and classroom teachers working together, ruling out demographics, economics, and teacher-pupil ratios. The result of this study, The Power Libraries project of the Colorado State Library, focuses on developing school library media centers to help students achieve high academic standards. Fifteen Colorado school library media centers were identified as models, to be replicated throughout the state under the Power Libraries program. ARIZONA SCIENCE CENTER AND PHOENIX PREPARATORY ACADEMY, AZ: The Arizona Science Center partners with the Phoenix Preparatory Academy and the local Big Brothers-Sisters for the Computer Connections Club after-school program. Held in a technology and multimedia lab based at the Science Center, the project offers technology training to students and teachers. Students work on a series of computer related projects in technology, art, science, robotics, and music. The Computer Connections Clubs helps students and their teachers become comfortable with technology and applied science. MUNCIE PUBLIC LIBRARY CYBERMOBILE, MUNCIE, IN: The public library cooperated with several local organizations -- including Ball State University and the area schools -- to expand technology access for those who are unable to travel easily to their local library. A high technology van was outfitted to offer computer training and on-line resources through regularly scheduled stops throughout the community. The Cybermobile makes a special effort to visit inner-city and rural residents, students, and the disabled. This project was developed as a logical offshoot of the traditional Bookmobile, and demonstrated to the library world the need to expand technology access. CHATANOOGA MUSEUMS, COUNTY LIBRARY, AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS, TN: Three area museums (the Tennessee Aquarium, Hunter Museum of Art, and the Warner Park Zoo) are pooling their resources with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Library and the City of Tennessee for an after-school program. This long-term project brings science, art, literacy, and library use to children living in local public housing complexes. NATIONAL AQUARIUM AND MARYLAND SCHOOLS, BALTIMORE, MD: From its beginning, the National Aquarium in Baltimore has been committed to serving the diverse needs of the Baltimore community. Programs such as Deaf Awareness Day, AccessAquarium, and First Saturdays and Sundays offer exclusive access and activities for physically and mentally challenged visitors. Unique educational opportunities -- on-site tours, gallery and classroom activities - - are available to 200,000 Maryland students and teachers. The Aquarium also offers free teacher training and classroom materials, the training of teen-age "ocean ambassadors", and undergraduate and graduate internships for local youth. HANSON PUBLIC LIBRARY, HANSON, MA: In Hanson, Massachusetts, a total of 47 homework centers have been established since 1992. All are still in existence. Each site has a core package of CD-ROMS: Animal Planet, Chronicle of the 20th Century, Encarta 97 Encyclopedia, Encarta 97 World Atlas, and Science on File. All are backed up with printed reference materials. Each homework center receives 10 - 12 students per day during the school year, primarily 3rd to 5th graders from the area schools. JASPER PUBLIC LIBRARY AND JASPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, TN: A grant used for Children Living in Poverty developed into one of the best Young Adult Reading programs in Tennessee. 51.8 percent of Jasper Elementary School families are at or below poverty level. Through YARC, the Jasper Public Library's Young Adult Reading Council, 31 students from the Jasper Middle and High Schools help these children with classroom work and after-school tutoring. These teenage volunteers learn the value of an education and the dramatic difference community volunteerism makes in the lives of other-the number of At Risk Students at Jasper Elementary dropped by as much as 70 percent in some classes. For a copy of the Department of Education's America Goes Back to School organizers kit, call 1-877-4ED-PUBS. For a copy of IMLS' museum-school survey, True Needs True Partners, call 1-202-606- 8339. For more information about libraries and the Digital Divide, visit our website at www.imls.gov ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Editor: Lynne E. 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