The more that you READ, the more THINGS you will KNOW.

The more that you LEARN, the more PLACES you’ll GO.

- Dr. Seuss

Baltimore Elementary/Middle School Library Project: OVERVIEW

The Great Recession persists. The U.S. Census Bureau’s recently released report on poverty in 2010 reveals the frightening, if not shocking, condition of many Americans: 1 in 6 people in this country are now living in poverty. Among the report’s alarming findings, 46.2 million people (the largest number in 52 years) live below the poverty line which, for a family of four, is $23,314; and 16 million children are living in poverty.

For The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, the Census Bureau report affirms the importance of the philanthropic community not only in times of financial crisis but, especially, in hard times such as these. Through grants totaling nearly $100 million annually, the Weinberg Foundation has been helping low-income and vulnerable individuals for decades by providing grants to nonprofits that provide direct services. In these turbulent and uncharted times, however, we must ask the question: Is giving grants enough to make a difference? While none of us can solve the entire problem of poverty, we certainly can do something. For The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, this means working toward a larger, collective goal by leveraging grants with other funders to advance a shared agenda. We must work even more collaboratively than in the past. We need to exercise leadership differently. This project is an example of identifying federal funding, leveraging it along with support from Weinberg and other funders, and engaging leaders from multiple organizations crossing all sectors for the greater good of the community.

With a long list of partners, the Weinberg Foundation is about to launch a new Baltimore Elementary/Middle School Library Project. One of the major challenges facing Baltimore City, as well as many major urban areas, is the education of our children. Despite ongoing, demonstrated improvement under the leadership of Baltimore City Schools Superintendent and CEO Dr. Andrés A. Alonso, serious obstacles remain.

LIB ARYR | 2i All data from Baltimore City Public Schools By the Numbers 2011 – 2012 <http://www.baltimorecityschools.org>

2010-2011 Student Enrollment: 83,800 all gradesi

• 42,830 students in grades pre-k-5 (inc ludes 4,712 pre-k students)

• 16,659 students in grades 6-8

2010-2011 Student Demographics

• 86.6 percent African American; 7.8 percent White; 3.9 percent Latino; 1.1 percent Asian or Pacific Islander; 0.4 percent American Indian or Alaska Native

• 83.9 percent low-income (based on Free or Reduced Price Meal eligibility)

• 3.2 percent English Language Learners

Schools and Programs in 2011-12: 204 all grades

• 54 elementary schools

• 74 elementary/middle schools

Reading proficiently in elementary school is crucial in a child’s educational development. A recent national study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds that one in six children who are not reading proficiently in third grade do not graduate from high school on time. This rate, which is four times greater than that for proficient readers, is an alarming reality for many Baltimore City students and educators. The belief among education reformers and non-reformers alike is that strong literacy skills, and love of reading and writing, are keys to helping these young students break the cycle of poverty.

Not unlike Robin Hood Foundation’s L!brary Initiative in New York, Baltimore’s Elementary/Middle School Library Project intends to work with schools to design, build, equip, and staff new or renovated elementary/middle school libraries in high-poverty neighborhoods with low academic achievement. The Weinberg Foundation is committed not only to building new school libraries, but also to improving student performance. Children will read what they love to read and reinforce fluency, accuracy, and comprehension all at once. Most importantly, each library will have thousands of new books, along with new computers and new e-readers.

The Elementary/Middle School Library Project will not pay a mortgage, or provide a paycheck, or put food on the table. It will not solve “all the ills” of this economic world. But The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and its many partners believe it is a critical starting point in changing what we can change.

BaltimorePoverty, Children, Literacy...& LibrariesBaltimore is a city with many strengths and challenges. One of the major challenges facing Baltimore City, as well as many other major urban centers, is the education of our children. Despite demonstrated improvement, many of Baltimore City’s public school students are reading below grade level. Eighty-eight percent of Baltimore City 4th graders scored basic or below basic on a 2009 national reading assessment while only 12% scored proficient or advanced.ii On the 2011 Maryland State Assessment, 30.6% of 3rd graders were considered to be below grade level in their reading – almost one of every three students and double the state average.

In order to develop critical reading and thinking skills, much attention has been focused on the potential educational opportunities available to schools through school libraries. In fact, as of 2008, more than 20 studies in various states demonstrated a positive correlation between school libraries and academic achievement.iii Examples of findings include:

• Schools with a strong library media center in elementary, middle, and high schools reported higher reading levels.iv

• Scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills were not only higher when a librarian was on staff, but the scores were also shown to be related to library staffing levels, collection sizes, librarian interactions, and levels of technology.v

• Illinois students who visited the library frequently scored better on assessment tests than their peers who did not have access to libraries.vi

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ii 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress Trial Urban District Assessment.

(2011 results will be released in mid-October).iii http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/other/libraries/libraries09.pdfiv http://www2.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/s/slw3_2008.pdfv

http://www2.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/s/slw3_2008.pdfvi http://ns116.webmasters.com/*islma.org/httpdocs/pdf/ILStudyFactSheet.pdf

How Will the Libraries Look?Each library will include a vast array of new furniture and reading materials, not limited to:

• Informal reading areas with soft, comfortable chairs or other seating that would encourage students and their parents/guardians to read together

• A flexible floor plan with separate areas for study and research, instruction, and group discussion

• An administrative area with a circulation counter and librarian’s desk

• Book shelving to accommodate a collection of several thousand hard- and soft-back books (some books will be provided by the City, others will be provided by generous partners)

• At least 100 e-readers (Nooks) including training and a content management system

• A bank of computers and other technological instructional devices

• A “Parenting Corner” for parents/guardians to visit the library, read a newspaper (complimentary copies will be available), go on-line to the Enoch Pratt Library site (with a computer provided by EPL), look at parenting resources, and relax for a few minutes

• An overall space that is well-designed with well-made, durable materials that can be easily maintained for years to come that meet all standard requirements

What Funds Are Already in Place?In 2001, the Baltimore City Public Schools began applying for Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) funds that are used for the renovation of public school libraries. The QZAB funds renovate the physical space and ensure proper configuration, environmental abatement, quality air control, lighting, and flooring for a few approved libraries each year. To qualify for QZAB funds, the school must be located in either an Empowerment Zone or Enterprise Community with 35% or more of its students eligible for the free or reduced price meal program.

To date, 53 City School libraries have been renovated with $14.2 million in QZAB funds. More than $2.5 million has been donated in-kind through volunteer hours that have been logged as part of the project. City Schools have contributed an additional $8.5 million for architectural/mechanical work, construction costs and furniture. The Elementary/Middle School Library Project is able to leverage these funds and bring in additional partners to maximize additional resources for schools and students.

How Will it Work?Baltimore City Schools has identified elementary/middle schools that have either completed or have started the QZAB process and need additional resources to complete their project. The Weinberg Foundation has visited each proposed school and selected three schools to receive new libraries with QZAB funds and one school financing the library outside of the QZAB process: Moravia Park Elementary/Middle, Southwest Baltimore Charter School, Thomas Johnson Elementary/Middle, and the East Baltimore Community School (outside QZAB).

Working with Dan Proctor of Kirk Design and Ana Castro of JRS Architects, the architect assigned by City Schools, the Weinberg Foundation will present each school with a concept for the library design. After a series of meetings with each school to gain feedback, a final concept will be approved. Kirk Design and JRS Architects will develop and oversee the integration of the concept design into the construction documents and will assist the City Schools Facilities Department with managing the completion of the library. The office of Media Library Services will play a critical role in the success of each project.

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The Weinberg Foundation will financially support up to 30% of the actual costs of each library. In addition, through a separate contract, the Foundation will provide an operating grant for two years to increase staff support in the library and provide additional professional development opportunities for each librarian. Each school community will also commit volunteer hours of parents and community members to the project to ensure the library is utilized and valued by all.

The Elementary/Middle School Library Project will maximize additional partnerships to bring added value to this initiative. A range of partners will breathe new life into the library: corporate and individual underwriters, children’s book publishers, product and technology manufacturers, media outlets, book-stores, public libraries, design companies, educators, and of course, the administrators, teachers and students in the schools. See enclosed materials about the program’s many sponsors.

How We Know it Will WorkWe have been fortunate to learn about other Foundation-led public-private partnerships that have worked in New York City and the District of Columbia. The L!brary Initiative, a partnership of the Robin Hood Foundation and the New York City Department of Education, funded 58 library renovations from 2001-2009 throughout the city. They have published design guidelines and lessons learned that will help guide our project. The Capitol Hill Community Foundation, DC Public Schools, and many others partnered on eight library renovations in 2006 and 2007. The project also has learned from the Baltimore Community Foundation’s Library Funds that renovated three libraries in Baltimore City from 2001-2008. These initiatives have provided inspiration, advice, and resources that can be replicated here in Baltimore City to make this project a success.

Community InputAn Advisory Committee, made up of all of the partners involved in this project, will help provide input and feedback into the Project’s development and implementation. Focus groups will continue to be convened throughout this process in order to gather student and parent input into the design and programmatic elements of the initial library renovation concept. Each school will also have its own opportunity for input and feedback regarding their own library to ensure the library renovation meets the school’s unique needs and school culture.

The Project’s FutureIt is our hope that the Foundation and other partners will be able to support similar initiatives in schools that leverage future QZAB and non-QZAB dollars, including charter, contract, and parochial schools. We look forward to demonstrating significant success with this approach in order to share the valuable lessons we learn with other schools.

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Through their work with Baltimore City Schools, Kirk Design, and more than a dozen other partners, the Weinberg Foundation will take the lead on the selection, design, and coordination of each school library project. In addition, the Weinberg Foundation will financially support up to 30% of the actual costs of each library (at approximately $140,000 per school) as well as provide, under a separate contract, an operating grant for two years to increase library staff support and provide additional professional development opportunities for each librarian ($50,000/year for two years). Finally, the Weinberg Foundation will maximize additional partner-ships to bring added value to this initiative and ensure it is a collaborative project that inspires similar initiatives in additional charter, contract, and parochial schools. In doing so, the Weinberg Foundation is committed not only to building new school libraries, but also to improving student performance. In the first year of this effort, the Foundation is committed to providing up to $1 million in library funding.

Kirk Designs Inc. will design and detail all aspects of the library pertaining to selections for, but not limited to, light-ing, flooring, wall and window treatments as well as all furnishings while creating a usable and exciting space for grades Pre-K through Eight. Kirk Designs will interface with vendors as well as provide and enforce a schedule for completion. Kirk Designs will be donating a substantial design cost for each project, approximately $15,000 per library.

JRS Architects, Inc., as a consultant to Baltimore City Public Schools, will work closely with Kirk Designs to incorporate the elements of the concept plan into the architectural plans, including coordination of proposed lighting and technology with electrical and data plans, incorporation of floor, wall and window treatments into the construction documents. JRS Architects will also help coordinate the efforts of other part-ners donating technology and equipment to ensure smooth coordination into the finished library. JRS Architects, Inc. will be donating the time required to coordinate the efforts of the partners in the three QZAB-funded projects.

Baltimore Elementary/Middle School Library Project: PARTNERS

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The Enoch Pratt Free Library will be a major partner in the library project. Each elementary school library will include an “Enoch Pratt Parent Corner” with a computer connecting parents to the Enoch Pratt system. In addition, each library will have a permanent loan collection on parenting books and other appropriate adult literature. Enoch Pratt will also provide four Family Reading Circle programs during the school year. This six-week program brings a library professional to the school, with high-quality books and dinner for the group. Enoch Pratt will also provide limited funding for students to take public transportation from their homes or from school to the closest Pratt Library. Finally, Enoch Pratt Free Library will host students from each school for field trips to the central library each year. The estimated value of this partnership is $20,000 per library, or $80,000 for the first four libraries.

Barnes and Noble will provide 400 Nook digital devices and Certified Pre-Owned Nook digital devices, at special discounted prices for this project. Barnes and Noble will donate up to 20 hours of student and teacher training per month to ensure that every user is comfortable with the technology.

The Baltimore Sun commitment at this time will be to deliver 25 papers each day (M-F) to each of the first six schools. The value of the papers for a year at full retail price is $11,700, a total of $70,200 for all six schools!

Wells Fargo is proud to further its commitment to Baltimore City students by serving as the Weinberg Library Project’s Financial Literacy Partner. Their commitment will include a $20,000 donation to fund library technology thereby providing access to a world of information including www.handsonbanking.com, the online portal to its free financial literacy program. They also commit their most valued resource, the time and talent of local Wells Fargo team members. Its team members will provide financial literacy to members of the Weinberg Library communities, including teachers, students and their families. Additionally, through Wells Fargo’s Reading First program, team members will read aloud to Pre-K through 1st grade classes to support early childhood literacy and will then donate those books to the library.

Baltimore Elementary/Middle School Library Project: PARTNERS

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Baltimore Elementary/Middle School Library Project: PARTNERS

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Incite Creative is proud to be one of the creative partners involved in the launch of the Library Project. The firm’s focus group facilitation with students and their parents helped guide their design and development of the Library Project’s logo and overall identity. These elements are being lever-aged by Incite Creative to design the print and electronic event invitation, bookplate, promotional giveaways such as pencils and bookmarks, sponsorship materials, and event day brand signage. Incite Creative will be donating a substantial portion of the cost for this project, valued at $10,000. Incite Creative is committing to the first library (and the bulk of its work will apply to subsequent libraries).

Parks & People will consider each renovated library as a potential site for after school and summer programming. Site assessments for the first six libraries could amount to as much as $2,000 per site, or a total of $12,000. For libraries that are determined to be a fit for an after school or summer program, services provided would range from $5,000 - $80,000 per site.

Studies repeatedly show that hungry kids can’t learn no matter what the environment. Maryland Food Bank is happy to investigate the implementation of their school pantry program in each of these school locations and can also help with summer feeding programs when school is out of session.

ABAG will publicize the library effort to ABAG members, particularly the Education Funders Affinity Group, through ABAG’s monthly Members’ Memo, website, and social media. ABAG will write a Daily Record article, and will be helpful in other ways identified over the life of the initiative.

Baltimore Elementary/Middle School Library Project: PARTNERS

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The Baltimore Community Foundation will encourage its donors to participate in the Library Project, will cite the work as part of BCF’s overall vision for improved school facilities and will weave school libraries into our efforts to increase school literacy. We will use our full slate of com-munication tools to cite the work as a prime example of how a foundation can attract private sector partners to address a public need, inviting more businesses and individuals to find ways to join the Weinberg Foundation in promising Baltimore’s youth a brighter future.

Comcast is pleased and proud to sponsor the Baltimore Elementary School Library Project with its valuable produc-tion and air time capabilities. Comcast is offering in-studio and on location filming and interviews which will be aired on CNN Headline News. This sponsorship package is valued at nearly $100,000. Comcast will continue to review additional ways to sponsor the Library Project.

The Maryland State Department of Education, through its partnerships with corporate stakeholders, will develop collaborative arrangements to provide significantly dis-counted books for this project, yielding potential savings in purchase price of over 60% per book. MSDE is also reaching out to a corporate partner for the provision of comic books (graphic novels) to libraries included in the project. The value of discounted books and donated graphic novels will depend on library capacity with the potential of $2,000 per library. Additionally, MSDE will provide focused technical assistance that will support the library/media specialists in these four schools in the incorporation of digital resources and in the utilization of the MDK12 Digital Library. MSDE staff will also facilitate linkages with public libraries to promote professional development opportunities and broaden access to materials. To assist with sustaining these schools’ library/media centers over time, the Department will assist with the identification of funding sources and non-profit collaboratives. During the transition to the new Maryland State Common Core Curriculum, MSDE staff will commit time and energy to supporting the work of the library/media center specialists in providing assistance to teachers who are engaged in integrating primary resources into their lessons.

Baltimore Elementary/Middle School Library Project: PARTNERS

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, one of the largest private charitable foundations in the United States, provides approximately $100 million in annual grants to nonprofits that provide direct services to economi-cally disadvantaged people, primarily in the U.S. and Israel. The Foundation gives grants responding to a range of needs and populations, including older adults, workforce development, education, disabilities, and basic human needs and health. In the State of Maryland, the Weinberg Foundation has provided more than $113 million over the past three years. The greater Baltimore region receives more grants each year from the Weinberg Foundation than any other location worldwide. For more information please go to www.hjweinbergfoundation.org

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The Fund for Educational Excellence has worked side by side with Baltimore City Public Schools for over 25 years securing the financial, human, and knowledge resources necessary to support policy and practice resulting in increased student achievement for Baltimore City Public School students. On this project the Fund will serve on the fiscal agent working as an intermediary between City Schools and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation to ensure all grant dollars are allocated to the project appropriately.

Diamond Book Distributors will donate a total of 200 graphic novels (50 to each school) to support the four schools identified for the Baltimore Elementary School Library Project. The value of this donation is approximately $2500-$3000.