User:LadyofShalott/Pinewoods

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The Pinewoods Library and Learning Center, or Biblioteca y Centro Educativo de la Communidad de Pinewoods is a branch of the Athens Regional Library, established in March 2005 in Athens that serves the growing Hispanic community of the community. The staff is composed of one full time bilingual library manager, with two bilingual part time library assistants. The library serves to provide programs and services that will bridge the cultural gap and linguistic barriers that exist between Hispanics and the community of Athens. The three main goals of the library are: To improve the educational level of the immigrant Hispanic population through extensive outreach initiatives To increase use of library and arts center facilities by the Hispanic community through targeted in-house programming, collection development, and staff training To provide opportunities for educational and cultural exchange between the Hispanic community and the established community, while nurturing understanding. Pinewoods Library seeks to fulfill these goals by offering classes, seminars, and educational opportunities. These opportunities increase the literacy and potential to succeed of the patrons. Pinewoods hosted one of only seven Plaza Comunitarias in Georgia, a great way for Hispanics in the United States to take advantage of catching up on education up to the high school level. Plaza Comunitaria is a distance-learning opportunity for migrants to complete elementary and high school education. The library hosts monthly health seminars, held in both English and Spanish. Volunteer teachers teach English and GED in Spanish classes two days a week, Computer classes, and Spanish classes for those of the Athens community who wish to learn Spanish. Every school day, the library offers after school tutoring for school students with volunteer tutors from the University of Georgia. During the summer months the library offers art classes and Summer Reading programs to encourage children to continue reading during the months out of school.

Audience[edit]

The patrons of the Pinewoods library are predominantly Hispanic immigrants.^[1] Pinewoods Library is located in the largest Hispanic neighborhood in the county, Pinewoods Estates North. Pinewoods Library is visited every day by approximately eighty adults and children. There is an average of 12 people enrolled in the different classes offered. Athens has had a dramatic 300% growth of Hispanic population since 1990. ______percent of the population of Athens is Hispanic, making up a population of ________ people.

The library is critical to the improvement of literacy and standard of life of Hispanics in Athens. The most common impediment to assimilation is the language barrier. That is why the Pinewoods Library is important in aiding child and adult education by offering tutoring, English and GED classes, and +programs to further the cause of literacy in this community.

Pinewoods Library has 12 computers for patron usage and the English teachers try to integrate their lessons through programs on the computers.

Awards[edit]

Pinewoods Library and Learning Center, was recognized as a finalist for Library Journal's 2009 Best Small Library in America, an annual award sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Pinewoods Library was one of the top three libraries out of more than 60 nominated institutions across the United States.

Pinewoods Library and Learning Center has been the recipient of the American Dream Grant for several years. In 2010, with the support of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, the American Library Association embarked on a new iteration of the American Dream Grant Starts @ your library. The money from this grant was used to develop and expand literacy services to adult English language learners and their families, ensuring that Pinewoods continue to help build the dream for new Americans.

“Thanks to a $15,000 grant from the book company Better World Books, matched by the library’s board of trustees... the library moved across the street from its 24-by-60 foot double-wide to a much larger triple-wide building, 36-by-72 feet - 80 percent more space on November 2016.“^[1]

On December 8, the PINEWOODS LIBRARY AND LEARNING CENTER, Athens, GA, opened its new facility. The project involved replacing the ten-year-old original 1,680 square foot double-wide trailer with a new 2,592 location. The work was funded through a $15,000 Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) grant from Better World Books in addition to contributions from the Athens–Clarke County Library Board of Trustees and the Friends of Athens–Clarke County Libraries. The new facility includes two community meeting rooms, an expanded collection, a dozen public access computers, and additional outlets for patron use. A wide entrance ramp facilitates accessibility, and a community garden provides fresh produce.—Bette-Lee Fox