English Exchange Kits & Staff-Led Classes
Palm Beach County Library System
Innovation Synopsis
In April 2022, grant funding was secured that enabled Palm Beach County Library System Adult Literacy Project staff to create and distribute resource kits full of educational tools and lesson plans to 18 branches. Each location now has the means to host their own English Exchange conversation classes in a relaxed and educational atmosphere.
Challenge/Opportunity
In 2020, the Library’s partnership with AmeriCorps sunset, leaving the Library’s English Exchange program without volunteer facilitators. Adult Literacy staff transitioned to training public services staff, but feedback indicated that preparation was overly cumbersome and classes differed in content and style from branch to branch. The Nora Roberts Foundation Literacy Opportunity Grant was secured in 2022 and led to the creation of resource kits to standardize classes and ease the burden of staff preparation.
Key Elements of Innovation
Identical kits consisting of conversational balls, books on topics such as idioms and pronunciation, educationally based games, Bluetooth speaker, a dry erase board and world/U.S. maps are contained in labeled storage totes. Materials were chosen based upon facilitator/student feedback, best practices, educational value, student need, availability and price. A binder with 12 complete lesson plans and instructions for games, lists of monthly topics, and an extensive list of free online resources is included in each.
Achieved Outcomes
Early FY23 statistics already show an increase in student participants and instructional hours over the previous year. In FY22, staff at fourteen locations offered classes to 1,262 students for a total of 2,013 instructional hours. From October 1, 2022, through January 31, 2023, fourteen locations held weekly classes, served 620 students, for a total of 995 instructional hours. At the request of the participants, one virtual class remains.
