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L.A. Public Library provides online help for students

Los Angeles Public Library has transformed its Student Zones – after-school homework centers located in libraries – into a virtual resource, allowing students to connect online with an assistant for using library resources to complete homework assignments.

Students can book a 30-minute appointment between 3 and 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and from 2 to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.

When they log in for an appointment, students are connected with a helper who can assist students in a variety of ways, from offering explanations of homework assignments to listening to a student read aloud and offering help with pronunciation. Student Zone helpers also help students access library resources, including ebooks, and other interactive learning portals on the library’s website such as Scholastic’s ScienceFlix, Britannica School and a new Teen Health and Wellness database.

“The Los Angeles Public Library is excited to offer a Virtual Student Zone as a way to provide free localized homework help and navigation of the library’s online resources for students in grades K-12,” said Madeline Bryant, principal librarian of the Youth Services Department.

“Our trained homework helpers have prior experience working with youth in the library and in their communities, and it’s a natural fit for them to do so online,” she added.

Student Zones are offered in partnership with PowerMyLearning and supported through the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. The library installed helper-staffed Student Zones in many branch library locations in 2017. The Student Zone helpers are all based in Los Angeles and are trained in available library resources. Service is available in both English and Spanish.

For information, visit lapl.org/teens/homework-help/student-zones.

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Los Angeles Public Library “Student Zones” go Virtual, Offering Personalized Help with Online Resources

Published January 15, 2021

Los Angeles Public Library Student Zones — after school homework centers located in libraries—have been transformed into a virtual resource, allowing students to connect online with a Student Zone Helper for assistance in using library resources to complete homework assignments.

Students can book a 30-minute appointment between 3 and 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday and from 2-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. When they log into to their appointment, students are connected with a helper who can assist them in a variety of ways. The helper can offer explanations of homework assignments, listen to a student read aloud and offer help with pronunciation. Student Zone Helpers also help students access library resources, including ebooks and other interactive learning portals – such as Scholastic’s ScienceFlix, Britannica School and a new Teen Health and Wellness database – on the library’s website.

“The Los Angeles Public Library is excited to offer a Virtual Student Zone as a way to provide free localized homework help and navigation of the library’s online resources for students in grades K-12,” says Madeline Bryant, Principal Librarian, of the Youth Services Department. “Our trained homework helpers have prior experience working with youth in the library and in their communities, and it’s a natural fit for them to do so online.”

Student Zones are offered in partnership with PowerMyLearning and supported through the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. The library installed helper-staffed Student Zones in many branch library locations in 2017. The Student Zone Helpers are all based in Los Angeles and are well-trained in available library resources. Service is available in both English and Spanish.  

For more information, visit https://lapl.org/teens/homework-help/student-zones .

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Students are creating free tutoring services to help during COVID-19

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Alex Yan and Arvin Ding, seniors at Irvine’s Portola High School, have held free weekly in-person tutoring sessions for elementary and middle school students since they started their organization Math at the Library in 2017.

When COVID-19 hit, their team of high schoolers quickly transitioned to online tutoring and later banded together with two other student volunteer organizations — Girls Empowering Girls, founded by Annette Yuan, a junior at Irvine High School, which offers one-on-one English conversation practice with language learners, and Code Champion, a coding class Ding started with his sophomore sister Cindy Ding — to form the nonprofit StudySmart Youth Services .

For the record:

3:01 p.m. Oct. 13, 2020 A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Dana Lin as being from Pasadena. Lin is from South Pasadena.

While the teens previously served their local community, now they tutor students from Seattle to Toronto.

The Irvine youths are part of a growing number of advantaged high school and college students across the country who have stepped up during campus shutdowns and mandated distance learning, hoping to help narrow the educational gap between students who can afford to hire private tutors and those who can’t and are quickly falling behind .

Emme Shaffer, a senior at the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, and her team of high school students have tutored over 500 students since she started Tutor Together in the spring.

Recent high school graduate Dana Lin, from South Pasadena, was a volunteer instructor teaching stem cell biology at the Wave Learning Festival , a student-run educational platform that was founded in May by undergraduates from universities like Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.

Triplets Sonia, Esha and Nikhil Mathur, high school juniors in Tucson, started Peer 2 Peer Tutoring to help high school students who were missing school because of health reasons.

But since the pandemic, they’ve opened up their services to all students, and since May, P2P Tutoring has expanded from Arizona to five other states, including a branch in Granite Bay that serves all of California.

These teen volunteers hope to help fill an exponentially growing demand.

In August, the Los Angeles Unified School District partnered with the startup Step Up Tutoring to offer free one-on-one tutoring, though they currently only serve the communities of Huntington Park, Fremont and Taft. Even if the pilot is successful, Step Up co-founder Nati Rodriguez told the L.A. Times it’d likely take two years to make the services available for all students in the district.

Other organizations around Southern California and beyond are adapting their tutoring programs to distance learning.

Eddie D. Tafoya, the CEO and executive director of The Southeast Community Foundation, said the tutors at their Enrichment Tutoring Academy are hired credentialed teachers, supported by grants and donations .

The Enrichment Tutoring Academy has been serving the neighborhoods of Southeast Los Angeles, from Montebello to Compton and from Huntington Park to La Mirada since 2015.

He anticipates it’ll be a challenge for them to meet the high demand this year.

Parents are paying up to $100 an hour for tutors, driving up demand and worsening inequities

Tutoring could be the solution to learning losses brought on by coronavirus-forced school closures. But students who need it the most have the least access.

Oct. 13, 2020

Here is a list of some free virtual tutoring resources

Many of these websites have detailed information about their staff and partners, tutor vetting process, platforms used, privacy and safety precautions, testimonials, languages available and any restrictions. Parents should familiarize themselves with the procedures of any tutoring service they choose and monitor all their children’s online interactions.

The COVID nineTEEN Project About: Started by 17-year-olds Sarah Shapiro and Skye Loventhal from Granada Hills Charter School, the COVID nineTEEN project offers one-on-one tutoring in 15 languages through 30-minute sessions. They also offer other teen-led activities. Activities available for the week are updated on the website the Friday morning prior. Age: First to fifth grade Subjects: English, math, science, history Contact: Register ; volunteer

EdRise Tutoring About: Started by North Hollywood High School students, EdRise Tutoring serves students in a variety of subjects through weekday video calls. The tutors are trained and verified high school and college students. The program is geared toward students struggling with school, but tutors can also offer resources for students who want additional materials. Age: Third- to eighth-grade Subjects: Math, science, social studies, Spanish, computer science, English and more Contact: Register , Volunteer

El Nido Family Centers About: A social service nonprofit agency, El Nido Family Centers provide counseling and family support services to disadvantaged communities in L.A. El Nido started offering tutoring during the pandemic, when many of its clients requested extra support for their children struggling with distance learning. Age: Elementary school to college students Subjects: Reading and math Contact: (323) 998-0093 ; volunteer ; donate

Evergreen Initiative About: Founded in 2018 by Steven Luo, a junior at Evergreen Valley High School in San Jose, the Evergreen Initiative provided free in-person tutoring to locals in the Bay Area pre-pandemic, in addition to online tutoring for anyone with internet access. It has continued its virtual tutoring during shelter-in-place orders. Age: Kindergarten to 12th grade Subjects: Math, English, history, biology, Chinese, physics, computer science and other elementary school subjects Contact: Register ; volunteer

Front Lines Tutoring About: Founded by Mackenzie Lowenstein and led by fellow UCLA students and recent graduates, Front Lines Tutoring offers free 50-minute virtual tutoring with tutors who are college students from UCLA, Carnegie Mellon, Yale and elsewhere. Limited to: Kids of healthcare professionals. Subjects: Chemistry, biology, English, history, algebra, geometry, pre-calculus, calculus, Spanish, college prep and more Age: Kindergarten to 12th grade Contact: Register ; volunteer ; donate

Joseph Learning Lab Joseph Learning Lab supports school districts across California by providing tutoring, mentoring and other services to close the learning gap and reduce the dropout rate. Students meet with volunteers via Google Classroom and Meet sessions for 90 minutes a day during the following time periods: Monday to Thursday, from 3:10 p.m. to 6:10 p.m. Volunteers are coordinated by L.A. Works. Age: Third to sixth grade Subjects: Core subjects, such as English and math Contact: Enroll , Volunteer : Donate

Jumpstart Tutoring About: Founded by Drew Soshensky in 2019, Jumpstart Tutoring started with Soshensky tutoring a few students in person, and now there are about 40 high school and college students who offer free one-on-one tutoring. Soshensky is based in New York, though tutors are based all around the world. Age: Fifth to 12th grade Subjects: Math, history, test prep and FAFSA applications (coming soon) Contact: Register ; volunteer

Kara Tutoring About: Founded in 2018, Kara Tutoring is a student-led organization that has more 250 tutors in over 45 countries. Tutors are required to score at least 1500 on their SATs. Limited to: Students who receive public assistance; live in public housing or a foster home or are homeless; receive financial aid or have other financial disadvantages Subjects: U.S. and international test prep and general subject tutoring Contact: Register ; volunteer ; donate

Learn To Be About : Learn To Be is a nonprofit that brings free one-on-one online tutoring to underserved youth around the United States. Since 2008, they’ve paired K-12 students with volunteer tutors in an online classroom. Sessions are one to two times per week on anything the student needs help with. To date, they’ve hosted over 30,000 hours of tutoring. Ages : 5 to 18 Subjects : Math, science, reading, writing and social science Contact : Register ; Volunteer ; Donate

Los Angeles Public Library About: The Los Angeles Public Library provides free online tutoring through Tutor.com , powered by the Princeton Review. Students just need to enter a library card barcode and password, and it’s available daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The student and tutor work in a virtual classroom with chat and two-way white boards. Age: Kindergarten to 12th grade Subjects: Homework help in math, science, English, social studies and writing, career resources and SAT/ACT essentials Contact: Register

Pandemic Professors About: In April, Harley Simpson founded Pandemic Professors alongside a group of fellow UC Berkeley graduates to connect low-income students with free tutors. Age: Kindergarten to 12th grade Subjects: Homework help, language, math, science, reading, coding, college application and financial aid, fitness, career guidance and more Contact: Register ; volunteer ; donate

Peer 2 Peer Tutoring About: Peer 2 Peer Tutoring (P2P Tutoring) was founded by high school students Sonia, Esha and Nikhil Mathur in 2018 to help students who were missing school due to sick days. The nonprofit expanded during the pandemic to help any student in need. They work with principals and teachers to try and find tutors in the student in need’s school or class, so they can teach the same material. Age: High school, elementary and middle school Subjects: All Contact: Register ; volunteer ; donate

Southeast Community Foundation’s Enrichment Tutoring Academy About: Pre-COVID-19, the Enrichment Tutoring Academy offered 90-minute after-school sessions in its Vernon classroom. It has transitioned to online tutoring and found that two 50-minute sessions, one for English, one for math, with a 10-minute break, work best for its students. Locations served: Cities in southeast Los Angeles County, including Bell, Bell Gardens, Bellflower, Cerritos, Commerce, Compton, Cudahy, Downey, Huntington Park, La Mirada, Lynwood, Maywood, Montebello, Norwalk, Paramount, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, South Gate, Vernon and Whittier Ages: Kindergarten through high school Subjects: English and math Contact: Register ; donate

School on Wheels About: Founded in 1993, School on Wheels volunteers provide one-on-one weekly tutoring services and mentorship to students experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. During the pandemic, the organization has been matching each student with their own tutor, as well as offering backpacks, school supplies and technology. Homeless children are nine times more likely to repeat a grade and four times more likely to drop out of school. Location: Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Orange and Riverside counties Age: Kindergarten to 12th grade Contact: Register ; volunteer (temporarily not training new tutors, but people can sign up for updates or start a virtual supply drive); donate

StudySmart Youth Services About: Started by Irvine high school students, StudySmart is a fusion of the organizations Math at the Library, started by Alex Yan and Arvin Ding; Girls Empowering Girls, started by Annette Yuan; and Code Champion, started by Arvin and Cindy Ding. Fall 2020 math sessions are held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 4 to 5 p.m. Pacific time. English-language students are paired with tutors. Coding sessions take place on Saturdays in five-week sessions. The next session starts Oct. 18. Subjects and age: Math (grades K-8); English as second language (all ages); coding (recommended grades 5 and 6) Contact: Register or volunteer

Tutor Together About: Started by Emme Shaffer, a high school senior at the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, Tutor Together offers one-hour one-on-one tutoring sessions with high school students through Zoom. Weekdays 3:30 to 8:30 p.m., and weekends 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Age: Kindergarten to 8th grade Subjects: Language and math Contact: Register

Upchieve About: Started by Aly Murray and Katie Sgarro in 2016, Upchieve provides free tutoring-on-demand 24/7 to low-income students whose families cannot afford a private tutor or admissions consultant. The average wait time for a tutor is under 5 minutes, and most are college students or young professionals who have prior tutoring experience and have passed certification quizzes in the topics requested. Age: 13 and over Subjects: Math (pre-algebra through calculus), science (biology, chemistry, physics and environmental science), and college counseling Contact: Register ; volunteer ; donate

Wave Learning Festival About: The Wave Learning Festival is a college-led, free educational platform that provides tutoring and over 300 live classes. Volunteers include over 400 college and high school students, and they’ve been able to reach students in 47 states and 59 countries since they started in May. Age: Sixth to eighth grade Subjects: English and math tutoring, plus unique classes Contact: Register ; volunteer ; donate

These services are expected to be available soon

Communities in Schools of Los Angeles About: Communities in Schools of Los Angeles is a dropout prevention organization that supports students in Los Angeles’ public schools . In the last school year, 99% of its case-managed high school seniors graduated on time, and 97% said they felt supported during school closures. The nonprofit is planning to launch its first virtual tutoring program with volunteer teachers, private tutors and college students. Contact: Donate

COV-Tutors About: Though the name is a nod to its beginnings, founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, its tagline is “We’ve got you COV-ered.” The virtual tutors are high school and college students, and they provide one- to two hour Zoom sessions per week. Age: Kindergarten to 12th grade Subjects: Biology, chemistry, college essay writing, computer science, economics, English/grammar, math, physics and statistics Contact: Register (currently accepting waitlist)

Young Leaders of Orange County About: Started in 2011 by Helen Youn and her then-teenage daughter , Young Leaders of Orange County provides tutoring for low-income elementary and middle school students in Buena Park, La Palma, Fullerton, Stanton, La Mirada and Anaheim. During the pandemic, it’s been uploading YouTube lessons . Their first Zoom tutoring session starts Oct. 17, and they are planning more sessions for the future. Age: Kindergarten to eighth grade Subjects: Math, reading, art, music Contact: Register ; volunteer ; donate

To submit other free tutoring resources that should be on this list, email [email protected].

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• What We Fund
• Helping Students Succeed

Student Zones

Student zones provide k-12 students with dedicated spaces in 38 neighborhood libraries to access laptops, internet, 200+ academic subscription databases, printing, school supplies, and in-person homework help and referrals. during covid-related closures, the library began offering the virtual student zone that allows any k-12 student to reserve a 30-minute session with a homework helper online between 3 and 9 pm, monday through thursday, and from 2 and 5 pm saturday and sunday..

Student Zones also provides part-time employment, training, and professional development to young adults who typically serve as homework helpers. Homework helpers usually live in the communities of the libraries that they support.

Student Zones at the Los Angeles Public Library are supported by the generosity of:

• Edythe Broad Technology Fund for Students
• The Council of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles/Literary Feasts
• The Cecile and Fred Bartman Foundation
• The Sanders Charitable Fund
• Victoria Foote Endowed Fund
• The Duttenhaver Fund at National Philanthropic Trust
• Bank of the West
• Lynn Strasburg Miller Fund
• Aviva Weiner
• Judith Fiskin
• Simone Forti

We Read Together

Online tutoring, ideas at lapl, democracy project: teens leading change, exhibitions of lfla, student smart: get ready for college, career online high school, reading challenges, adult literacy services, digitization & collections, health matters, full steam ahead, privacy overview.

Counseling: Homework

• Library Welcome
• Counseling 20: Career Paper This link opens in a new window

Homework Assignment

You probably already have a copy of this assignment in your Counseling workbook. If you'd like an extra copy, you can download it here.

• Library Homework for Counseling: Website Evaluation Exercise

Google like a Pro

• Google Advanced Search More options that just that simple search box!
• Supercharge your keyword search Shortcuts you can add to your keywords to narrow down your search results.
• Limit results by date After you do a Google search, click on "Search tools" (near top of page, under search box). There, you can pick a time frame (for example, within the past year).

What's on this Page? Support for your Library Homework Assignment

Most of the sources traditionally used for college-level research (such as books,  newspapers  articles, magazine  articles , and scholarly journal  articles) go through an editorial process before they are published, which may include fact-checking, review of grammar and spelling, comments from an editor, or vetting by experts in the field.

For websites, we don't always know how much things have been checked before they are published online. Because anyone can publish a website, what we find online may or may not be credible, accurate, or biased. As a college student, it's your job to pay attention to what you find online and use your critical mind to evaluate  whether a website is appropriate to use. This page will help you do that:

• The CRAP Test guides you to think about four important aspects of any source. (Note: You can use the CRAP Test on books, articles, and other sources too!) 
• More questions you could ask! outlines many issues that might suggest whether a website is  appropriate for college-level research .  Not every question will be relevant for every source, but this list will  give you ideas . (Scroll down to the bottom of this page.)
• Google like a Pro will help you use the Google search engine with a critical mind, yielding results closer to what you want (vs. what Google thinks you should want).
• The CRAP Test
• Reliability
• Purpose/Point of View

When was the information published or posted?

Do you need historical or current information?

Has this information been revised or changed since it was first released?

BOTTOM LINE: Does this offer appropriately current or historical information?

Image:  Bummer   by  Nick Harris1 .  U sed under  CC BY-ND

Is the content of the resource primarily opinion?

Is it balanced?

Does the creator provide references or sources for data or quotations?

BOTTOM LINE:  Is this quality, trustworthy information?

Image:   "Reliable"  by  Eva the Weave r. Used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Who is the author?  Who is the publisher?

• What expertise do they have with this subject?
• What is their educational background?
• Where are they from? Where are they living now?
• What political party do they belong to?
• What organizations or causes do they support?
• Are there any other biases you can ascertain?

BOTTOM LINE: Can you trust this author and publisher to know what they're talking about?

Image:   [Man with Cameras]  by  i k o . Used under  CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

What is the purpose of this information source?

• To entertain? Inform? Educate? Pursuade? Sell? 
• Are advertisements included? Photographs?

Is the information fact, opinion, or propoganda?

Do the authors/publishers make their intentions clear?

• Is there bias - political, cultural, religious, ideological, personal, etc?

BOTTOM LINE: Is this source objective and impartial, or is it influenced by bias or hidden agendas?

Image:  "Is your trip necessary?"  by  Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious . Used under  CC BY-SA 2.0 .

More questions you could ask!

Dang, this list is long!  Not every question will be relevant for every source, but this list will  give you ideas to consider when you're choosing online sources.

Purpose of the site and intended audience

• Is there an "About" link that describes the site's purpose or intended  audience?
• Just by looking at the site, can you guess what audience the site's author is trying to reach?
• Is the site scholarly or popular?
• Does the site contain advertising? What might this tell you?
• What is the overall purpose of the site? To inform? Persuade or advocate? Entertain? Sell a product?

Authority and credibility of author

• Can the author of the site be identified? Is it clear who (a person or an organization) has ultimate responsibility for what's on the site?
• Is contact information given for the author or organization responsible, so you could get clarification or more information?
• What are the author's qualifications? Do they list their occupation, employer, or education? Is this information easy to find, buried, or a few clicks away?
• Do you think the author has expertise on the subject? How would you know?
• Does the author work for an educational institution? A nonprofit organization? A company?
• What is the domain of the site (.edu, .gov, .org, .com)? Is it an academic, governmental, organizational, commercial, or personal site? From what country does it originate?
• Is this site connected to an organization of any sort? If so, what is the mission of this organization?

Accuracy and reliability of the information on the site

• Does the site appear to be well researched? 
• Are there references to sources of information supporting any statements made or viewpoints held?
• Is statistical information labeled clearly and easy to read?
• Are the sources for any factual or statistical information documented so that they can be verified in another source?
• What method of data collection or research was used by the author (if applicable)?
• Does the site include grammatical, spelling, or typographical errors?
• How does the site compare to print information resources available on this topic?
• If links to other sites are listed, are they quality sites?

Currency and timeliness of the information on the site

• When was this information published? Does the page list the date it was created?
• Does the page indicate when it was last updated?
• Are there any "dead" links -- that is, links to other sites that no longer work?
• Does the graphic design of the site look old-fashioned or outdated?

Objectivity or bias of the site

• Are the goals of the author clearly stated? Is there a statement of scope, target audience, or purpose?
• Does the site present mulitple opinions on the topic, or only one?
• Can you tell if the site contains mostly opinions or facts?
• Can you identify any bias in the information and opinions provided?
• Is the site sponsored by a company or organization?
• Does the site reflect the agenda of a political, religious, or social group or institution?
• If there is advertising on the site, is it clearly differentiated from the informational content?

Structure and navigation of the site

• Is the organization of the site easy to understand? Is it clear and logical?
• Is it easy to navigate between different parts of the site?
• Is there a link to return to the first page of the site, the home page?
• Does the site offer a table of contents or a site index?
• Do graphics on the site add to or detract from the site itself? (or distract you from the informational content?)
• Is this site a reliable, well-documented source of information from a reputable author or organization?
• Would this be a good source of information for a college-level research paper?

(This list is adapted from  pp. 87-88 in   Teaching Information Literacy  by  Burkhardt , MacDonald, and  Rathemacher , 2010)

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Staffing Your Homework-Help Center

Pairing the right minds with student learners.

By Cindy Mediavilla | July 18, 2018

More than anything, staffers make the difference,” Eva Mitnick, director of Los Angeles Public Library’s engagement and learning division, said to me about the library’s after-school Student Zone program. Indeed, providing adequate staff is the single most important element in offering effective homework assistance at your library. While some librarians call their curriculum-based collection of computers and reference materials a homework center, true homework assistance cannot happen without a staff member or volunteers to help students complete their work. Plus, many youngsters need the attention of an adult or peers to keep them on task when completing school assignments. They may also need validation to succeed.

The challenge comes in maintaining a paid or volunteer workforce large enough to provide sufficient assistance to the multitude of students who use the library every day after school. Most libraries cannot afford to hire the number of part-time employees needed to provide necessary homework help. Nor are they prepared to recruit and train a battery of after-school volunteers. Still, many libraries have succeeded in accomplishing this seemingly impossible task by maximizing the combined efforts of paid and volunteer staff.

Paid versus volunteer staff

Most homework centers would not exist without volunteer help. Paid employees are usually responsible for recruiting, training, and scheduling homework helpers, but it is often the volunteers themselves who provide the actual after-school assistance. At the Hennepin County (Minn.) Library, each homework-help site has a team of three essential program personnel: a librarian, a lead tutor, and volunteers. More than 300 volunteers staff the program throughout the library.

In lieu of a salary, some libraries give their volunteer homework helpers free parking passes, email accounts, T-shirts, lapel pins, mugs, water bottles, and recognition through public newsletters or social media. The motivation to volunteer can be extrinsic—for example, the chance to build one’s résumé—or intrinsic. At Seattle Public Library’s Lake City branch, a retired homework assistant said she enjoys helping kids because it’s fun and the emotional reward is immediate. In addition, Seattle’s 230 homework helpers can attend all-city training on various topics, including teen behavior and race relations. Ninety percent of Seattle’s homework helpers are adults.

Consistency is key in a program where young students expect to see familiar faces every day. Therefore, some libraries prefer to hire their homework helpers, rather than rely on the unpredictability of volunteers. Boston Public Library pays its teen homework helpers $11 an hour and requires them to sign a contract stipulating that they will work the entire school year. Likewise, the Long Beach (Calif.) Public Library staffs its Family Learning Centers with paid learning guides who work for the library year-round and help with the summer reading program.

In their 2015 joint “Homework Help Best Practices” statement, the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) recommend that an in-house staff person be designated to manage the homework center and train, coordinate, and schedule volunteers. In Monterey County, California, part-time homework site coordinators are hired to oversee individual centers and recruit and schedule volunteer helpers. At the Castroville branch, for example, the site coordinator works closely with the local university to recruit service-learning students, who are required to complete 30 hours of volunteer service each semester. The library gets free help from educated young adults, while the college students receive credit for required community service. Everybody wins.

Staff qualifications

Many libraries look to local school districts for homework helpers who are either current or retired teachers. Perhaps the best example of this is at Chicago Public Library, where accredited teachers provide after-school homework help at most branches, four days a week. The educators, many of whom are bilingual, are paid through the privately funded Teacher in the Library program. Thousands of hours of assistance are provided library-wide every school year. In Boston, teacher-tutors offer after-school help courtesy of the Boston Teachers Union. A schedule of the tutors’ availability, which varies from branch to branch, is posted on the library’s website.

Of course, not all homework helpers are teachers, nor should they necessarily be expected to have extensive educational backgrounds. Libraries should, however, appoint assistants who enjoy working with kids and are committed to helping them succeed. Previous experience working with youth, either in a paid or voluntary capacity, is often preferred. At the Winters (Calif.) Community branch of the Yolo County Library, high school juniors and seniors become helpers only after spending one or two years as mentors-in-training. At the Free Library of Philadelphia, college-aged homework helpers become associate leaders in the after-school program only after serving as teen leadership assistants during high school.

Other qualities are also highly desirable. The primary responsibility of Los Angeles Public Library’s homework helpers is to assist students using Student Zone laptops to complete school assignments. Therefore, strong knowledge of and experience with computers are mandatory. The ability to read and speak in languages other than English is important, too. Across the country, libraries are being tasked with helping students who speak Farsi, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Urdu, and Vietnamese, among other languages.

The coordinator of King County (Wash.) Library System’s Study Zone program maintains a list of bilingual homework helpers, noting exactly where and when they are scheduled each day, so students can be referred accordingly. Other, more generic qualifications include problem-solving skills, patience, flexibility, organizational skills, the ability to work as a team player, access to reliable transportation, and availability after school and on the weekend.

Recruitment

Homework assistants are generally recruited in the late summer and early fall, before the school year begins. Libraries use various methods of recruitment, including word of mouth, in-person conversations with community members, and printed fliers. A colorful brochure distributed by Monterey County (Calif.) Free Libraries beckons prospective homework center volunteers by promising a rewarding experience where one can learn about library resources, explore science kits with students, and play educational games, in addition to helping children complete their homework.

Libraries also post recruitment announcements on their websites, linking either from the homework-help site, general volunteer recruitment page, or library jobs page, if the position is paid. In Hennepin County, the announcement for paid homework-help lead tutors includes program goals, the position’s primary duties and responsibilities, minimum qualifications, number of hours per week, and hourly wage.

Several libraries make use of established programs to provide homework assistants. These include Literacy Volunteers of America, AmeriCorps VISTA, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, America Reads, Learning Is ForEver, and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program. RUSA and YALSA recommend working with the National Honor Society to recruit teen homework volunteers.

College-aged helpers make good role models, too, especially in communities where dropout rates are high. Saint Paul (Minn.) Public Library recruits young adult assistants through local college work-study programs, which often pay up to 100% of the homework helper’s salary. Education majors and members of the Future Teachers of America work especially well with younger kids. College students may even treat the homework center as a laboratory for testing their own teaching and disciplinary skills.

Library staff also welcome the assistance of teenaged homework helpers. Despite occasional problems with teens forming cliques or flirting with each other, high schoolers perform as well as, if not better than, their older counterparts. At the La Habra branch of Orange County (Calif.) Public Libraries, sophomores, juniors, and seniors are recruited to help younger kids with homework. Once they gain enough experience, they can become tutor captains responsible for checking in and matching students with an appropriate helper. In a 2003 study of teen-assisted homework programs, Virginia Walter and I found that student helpers gain a sense of pride from serving their community, especially in low-income neighborhoods. We also learned that teen helpers are more socially competent and better prepared for the job market as a result of their homework center experience.

Benefits of homework-help programs

Students may develop meaningful relationships with homework helpers. In the library, young people have an opportunity to see adults in a nonclassroom, nonparental role. Most students appreciate the assistance they receive and understand that these adults are dedicating their time to help. Teenage homework helpers often bring hope and encouragement to neighborhoods where few positive role models exist. They prove that succeeding in school is possible. As one program coordinator explained, sometimes tutors become mentors.

Helping young people succeed in school can be very rewarding for the helpers, too. A retired teacher in San Diego told me she provides homework help because she wants to enrich children’s minds. Another helper, a retired administrator in Sacramento, California, revels in seeing youngsters’ “eyes light up” when they suddenly understand their homework. Likewise, a grandmother in King County, Washington, said she enjoys seeing students grow mentally as well as physically. “It’s a lot more fun helping other kids do their homework than it was helping my own daughters,” she joked.

CINDY MEDIAVILLA managed a homework center for Orange (Calif.) Public Library in the early 1990s and has been studying after-school homework programs ever since. Mediavilla has an MLS and a doctorate in library science from UCLA and was a public librarian for 18 years.

Tagged Under

• ALA Editions
• public libraries
• young adult services
• youth services

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