Tag outreach

A crowd of fifth-graders dressed in colorful costumes talk excitedly while at Battle of the Books 2022.

Celebrating 20 years of A+ Partners in Education

Kristen B. Leave a comment
A crowd of fifth-graders dressed in colorful costumes talk excitedly while at Battle of the Books 2022.
Fifth graders excited for Battle of the Books 2022 at Merriweather Post Pavilion.

by Katie DiSalvo-Thronson

In the fall of 2002, Howard County Public School System and Howard County Library System formed A+ Partners in Education to expand the educational opportunities and enhance the academic achievement of every Howard County student. It was one of the first systemwide school and public library partnerships in the nation.

We are proud to celebrate 20 years of collaboration. Together we have furthered students’ academic success, enhanced their love of reading and learning, and forged a connection to libraries that will serve them their whole lives.

Right from the start
The library is integrated into student’s experiences from the beginning of their academic career. Kindergarten, Here We Come prepares and inspires incoming kindergarteners and gives them a chance to tour a school bus. Then, every kindergarten class takes a field trip to the library for a class, a tour, and a friendly connection to this important family resource. We are proud to add another point of early connection: next year, the HCLS mobile unit will visit every HCPSS Pre-K to engage students and parents!

Connecting to serve students
Every school has a dedicated HCLS liaison, and our educators and staffs collaborate to offer hundreds of school-based HCLS classes and events that serve those school communities. Two great examples of that work: supporting National History Day student projects, and facilitating parent and student engagement at Deep Run Elementary School (both initiatives featured in the current issue of Source, our award-winning publication). We also collaborate on summer reading lists and promotion, to help all students read and continue to learn all summer.

Our systems are connected, too! Did you know every HCPSS student has an account with the library system, built right into the student portal, hcpss.me? With one click, students can access all online library resources and reserve books at HCLS branches. In the last year, students borrowed 80,337 books, e-books, and other resources on A+ accounts.

A+ Partners also connect to offer students free support via Brainfuse: last year, HCPSS students received 12,164 free online tutoring and test prep sessions and used Brainfuse study tools 52,355 times!

A+ Makes Learning Fun
In Battle of the Books, students experience reading as dynamic, social, and exciting. Teams of fifth graders read 10-14 titles over a year and practice answering questions about each book in a competition with pun-ny teamwork, costumes, and a dance party! Affectionately referred to as BOB, the contest grew from one high school gym to six sites. This year, we celebrated with 1,234 students at Merriweather Post Pavilion.

HCLS also sponsors the local competition of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. More than 7,000 students from 41 HCPSS schools participated last year alone. Saketh Sundar, one of the historic Octo-champs of the National Spelling Bee, was a four-time winner of the HCLS Spelling Bee!

More Outreach, Equity & Impact
HCLS is deeply grateful to the leadership of HCPSS, library instructors, and school-based educators, staff, parents, and volunteers who help us serve children through this partnership.

We look ahead with energy and commitment. HCLS is dedicated to strategic, collaborative work and additional outreach and engagement with schools to help every student and their family enjoy increased opportunity and academic success with library resources. Whether as a volunteer, school leader, or prospective sponsor, we welcome you to reach out and join us in this important work.

Here’s to 20 more years!

Katie is the Community Education and Engagement Manager for HCLS. She loves people, the big questions, the woods, and chocolate.

County Executive Dr. Calvin Ball and HCLS President & CEO Tonya Aikens, with other officials, cut the ribbon for the new mobile library van, whichis decorated in bright colors with many photos.

National Library Week: Reach Out!

Kristen B. Leave a comment
County Executive Dr. Calvin Ball and HCLS President & CEO Tonya Aikens, with other officials, cut the ribbon for the new mobile library van, whichis decorated in bright colors with many photos.

by Katie DiSalvo-Thronson, Community Engagement and Partnership Manager

I believe outreach is for everybody, and it’s a first step towards many good things. Why not do some outreach today, and consider reaching out to the library?  

Wait, what?  

I’m Katie DiSalvo-Thronson, and I’ve got about 20 years of community engagement experience from girl scout cookie sales, to working for a community school in the Dominican Republic, to community organizing. I’ve seen the power of outreach and steps that can follow, again and again.  

Today is also Library Outreach Day. It’s also National Library Week, and this year’s theme is Connect With the Library. In honor of all that, I want to share some inspiration!  

I view “outreach” as simply reaching out. It can be as easy as a hello at the mailbox. It is extending a welcome to someone new and inviting them to start being in a relationship with you.  

Reaching out helps us live in friendlier, more connected communities. Connecting to people outside of our familiar circles helps us gain new understanding of the world. New relationships and new knowledge mean new possibilities.  Reaching out also gives us a chance to share who we are with others. 

It’s a step outside of the familiar and predictable. It’s a small, brave thing to do that makes the world a better place. 

StoryWalk station two dislays the cover and first page of Janey Monarch Seed. The black metal frame stands in lush greenery.

What is library outreach? Library outreach gives us a chance to share about the library  – and we have beautiful spaces, incredible books and other resources, and tremendous free classes and events! Reaching out with that is phenomenal! We are committed to bringing as much as we can to the community. Did you know that we also have a new mobile unit, that provides books, children’s classes, and community engagement all over the county? 

Library outreach also gives us a chance to listen and hear you! Did you know that we’ve recently talked to people at a flea market, a rock climbing event, and Howard Community College? That we connect with local civic, business, and cultural groups every day? Did you know that we’d like to connect to and hear from your community group? (we really would!) 

Three Native American dancers in traditional costume danicng at the Native American Heritage Celebration held at the East Columbia Branch Library in the fall.

But then what? 

After we’ve reached out and gotten to know each other, that’s when the magic can happen. 

  • A Native American Heritage Month event with Ani Begay Auld, a local artist and activist, and the Howard County Office of Human Rights and Equity.
  • Presentations about library resources followed by a craft class with the Howard County Family Child Care Association.
  • Library-based food distributions by the Indian Cultural Association.
  • Presenting related Library books at an education session with Community Advocates of Rainbow Youth about how to support trans/non-binary youth.
  • A collaboration on story walks in the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area with local environmentalists and Howard County Recreation and Parks.
  • The NAACP’s young men’s group meeting in the Library’s new Equity Resource Center.
  • A great author event on the history of Muslim cooking with the Muslim Family Center. 
  • A new project lending chromebooks and providing remote English Language Conversation Classes to parents at Deep Run Elementary School.
  • Local heroes featured on the Library podcast.

These are just a few of the ways we are collaborating with community members.  

Bring your dreams here. Help your Library System provide the educational opportunities, community connections, culture, and joy that matter to you. Reach out to us, and let’s work on it together.  

I mean it. Reach out to us! Talk to your favorite branch staffer or email me at
Katie.disalvo-thronson@hclibrary.org. 

And try saying hi to someone new today. Odds are it’ll make you smile.