Library System Review of Related Literature Essay Example

college. A significant number of these students may be categorized as 'at-risk' due to economic, geographical (environmental), and educational concerns (being the first in their families to attend college); I prefer to denote these groups as "the three E's."

Existing programs such as Upward Bound, Trio Program, and Early Identification Programs are already assisting students in preparing and gaining admission into college. We believe that the American Library Association ought to collaborate with these pre-existing programs to integrate research capabilities, information literacy/proficiency skills, and technology competencies that are frequently missing from many of these programs. A high proportion of existing programs are aware that their initiatives may lack these critical learning skills. Consequently, one recommendation would be to form a partnership with one of these pre-existing programs.

About 850 federal projects, titled Upward Bound, are spread across urban and rural regions in the U.S. These projects encompass a summer curriculum that would enable the integration of library and information elements by the American Library Association into the existing program.

Trio Programs - Unlike Upward Bound, Trio Programs are specifically associated with a certain school. Hence, students who get admission into these programs and maintain a stipulated minimum GPA are guaranteed to be accepted into the University. (www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html)

Council for Opportunity and Education - Founded in 1981, this nonprofit organization is dedicated to expanding educational opportunities throughout the United States. The Council offers numerous membership services and works in conjunction with colleges, universities, and agencies that run TRIO Programs. Its primary goal is to support low-income Americans in their quest to attend and successfully finish college.

Suggestion for Program - Collaboration between Public Library Systems

There are existing precedents of summer

reading initiatives and local "Library Camp" days, which sometimes include sleepovers for children and their parents. One potential idea for a National Library Camp could involve harnessing the current summer reading events in public libraries, incorporating professional information-oriented talks, opportunities for "shadowing" librarians, and research-based assignments for students. A key feature of this camp could involve a trip to the Annual ALA Conference Exhibit Hall, assuming that the location of the National Library Camp coincides with the city hosting the ALA conference that year. Additionally, students could be invited to one of the numerous author or speaker hosted meals like the Annual Coretta Scott King Book Awards Breakfast. The public library system could handle outreach and recruitment activities for this endeavor.

A proposal for a program – National Library Camp, which will be a part of California Pilot Project Meeting, is presented here. The site for the 2008 ALA Annual Conference is Anaheim, CA, located in Orange County. Two significant institutions, the Library Graduate Schools at West Los Angeles's UCLA and Cal State Fullerton University in Orange County, which also operates as a satellite/distance learning center for the San Jose State University Program, could potentially contribute resources such as speakers, mentors, and logistics to pilot a small project. This can be incorporated with the Early Outreach Program currently operational on the campus of University of California at Irvine (UCI). I am happy to report that preliminary talks with the UCI Program Director have been encouraging.

Throughout the academic year, the team engages with pupils and offers them an opportunity to attend UCI during summer for various programs. However, due to the scheduling overlap of the ALA Conference

in early summer and UCI's summer sessions in August, it might be effective to facilitate an initial meeting between the UCI program staff and ALA National Library Camp coordinators. This could pave the way for prospective partnerships. Additionally, funding options potentially exist through collaborations with the California State Library staff, with whom I've had interactions. It might also be beneficial if the State Library Associations could undertake a rotation system for hosting the annual National Library Camp. Such a system could ignite a healthy rivalry among them for exceptional and innovative program planning.

Project Idea - Combined or Digital Library Camp

Establishing a combined or digital library camp could amplify participation by facilitating virtual participation from campers worldwide. A web-based camp would substantially cut down the cost of involvement in the camp. This notion would leverage iPods, blogging, wikis, etc., to download data and establish an interactive atmosphere. We also have the opportunity to involve the Second Life Teen Grid EYE 4 U Alliance, a teen library project, in this camp initiative.

Examination

Our investigation involves a large portion of data gathered from the American Camp Association (ACA), boasting over 7,000 members and providing accreditation to more than 2,400 camps globally. We primarily center our examination on figures related to day camps as our proposals predominantly revolve around the concept of the National Library Camp emulating a day camp model rather than a residential camp model where students dwell at the camp for consecutive nights.

The following information provides key facts about American camps. Over 12,000 day and residential camps exist in the US, with more than 11 million kids and adults attending them annually. Around 8,000 of these

are run by nonprofit bodies while an estimated 4,000 are under private or profit-based ownership. The fee for partaking in these camp programs differs, with weekly costs averaging from $325 to $780. Recent findings from an ACA survey reveal that three-quarters of camp directors have added new activities and programs lately. Moreover, it also highlights that two-thirds of the camps have sustained or boosted their attendance over the past five years, and one-third operate at a capacity between 90-99%.

Jon Malinowski, in a 2006 Camping Magazine article, revealed that out of 305 day camps in his study, 66% charged a weekly fee of $100-299. The average cost for these camps per week was around $303, while only 3% reported a weekly cost exceeding $700. 43% of these camps were associated with "agency-sponsored" programs, primarily affiliated with the YMCA, and had the lowest weekly fee of just $157.

Although nonprofit day camps typically had higher average daily fees due to a few programs with excessively high charges, the median weekly fee of these camps was actually lower ($230) than that of for-profit camps ($400). It's noteworthy that the majority of the day camps in Malinowski’s study offered scholarships to students unable to afford the camp fees.

The structure of day camps generally results in a majority of their income being derived from camper registration fees, which are primarily directed towards labor costs. A typical allocation of day camp expenditures is approximately 54% for labor, 10.2% on transportation, and program supplies, along with a 7.6% for other miscellaneous expenses (Malinowski). The 2003 Camp Industry Benchmarking Survey revealed that the median annual expenditure for such camps was $237,000, but it's noteworthy

that 11% of respondents were residential camps.

The ACA carried out a research study involving 938 participating camps and the results revealed that 79% of day camps presently have a full time, all-year-round camp director in their employment, who earns an average yearly income of $38,300 before tax deductions. It was noted that most of these regularly employed directors are recipients of health benefits, retirement funds and funding for professional development. The structure of day camp staffing frequently incorporates fully salaried seasonal positions. From the responding campuses, it was observed that 71% have full time seasonal counselors, 58% have a lead or head counselor and 51% house an assistant camp director.