Alabama Libraries 60(1)

An Educator’s Perspective: How Public Libraries Enhance Access to Online Learning for All Socioeconomic Backgrounds

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By Lacie Sutherland Circulation Administrator Autauga-Prattville Public Library lsutherland.appl@gmail.com

Abstract

Students of various socioeconomic backgrounds, but those from a lower background in particular, depend on the free and readily available resources that a public library provides. Now that we are living in the digital age of learning and interacting, utilizing all that a public library provides for teachers, students, and patrons is more important than ever. This case study of three free e- resources created for public libraries highlights my personal experience using said resources with the Autauga-Prattville Public Library (APPL) and additional employment as an educator and library technician. These different sites, Transparent Language Online, Learning Express, and Homework Alabama not only provide online classes for various subject learning but also offer online tutoring and homework assistance for students and educators who depend on electronic resources for equitable accessibility. Furthermore, this article will not only contain comprehensive explanations of the e-resources provided by the participant in this case study but will also discuss an observation on the role in which public libraries provide easily accessible resources for patrons of various socioeconomic backgrounds during the digital age of learning.

Keywords: online resources, homework assistance and tutoring, public libraries, digital age learning, socioeconomic backgrounds

A Breakdown of the Participant: Autauga-Prattville Public Library

The Autauga-Prattville Public Library (APPL) is a semi-rural public library system located in Autauga County, Alabama. The main branch is located in the “capital” of the county, which is Prattville. Its sub-branches are located in Billingsley, Marbury, and Autaugaville, all three of which are towns that service the mostly rural areas of the county outside of Prattville. As an example of its impact on the local community, in 2021, APPL’s Bibstats recorded over 39,000 patron visits, 33,065 website visits, and 1,413 new members. Those numbers are only going to increase exponentially once the data for 2022 is published (McClendon, 2021 Year in Review). According to United States Census Records:

With 55,639 people, Autauga County is the 24th most populated county in the state of Alabama out of 67 counties. The largest Autauga County racial/ ethnic groups are White (74.0%) followed by Black (19.5%) and Hispanic (2.9%). In 2020, the median household income of Autauga County households was $57,982. However, 12.7% of Autauga County families live in poverty. The median age for Autauga County residents is 38.6 years young (United States Census Bureau, 2022).

The vast majority of the users who patronize APPL are families with children of various ages but second in frequency would be elderly individuals followed by single adults without children. Additionally, since Autauga County borders the capital of the state, Montgomery, APPL attracts many military families, both domestically and from abroad. The two most commonly spoken foreign languages of APPL patrons are Spanish and Korean. However, families, mostly military, whose first language is Dutch, Estonian, or Mandarin also frequent APPL. Also, Autauga County receives families and individuals who live in nearby Elmore County, a rural area that contains only two small public libraries, located within Millbrook and Wetumpka.

Crossing the Digital Divide

When COVID-19 surprised the world in March of 2020, schools and librar-

aries were forced to convert their classes and patron services to an online-only format using various contact-free strategies. Almost all classes around the world were administered via some form of online video-call sites, including students who utilize tutoring, homework help, or writing labs. Since most students were no longer allowed to enter physical buildings in order to access these learning resources, public libraries stepped up to bat for those students. Despite the social restrictions, COVID-19 became the catalyst for public libraries like APPL to fight to remain relevant within their community by expanding access online for books and other resources, through sites like Libby and Hoopla for starters. Furthermore, this fact was mirrored in the 2020 Public Library Technology Survey collected by the American Library Association (ALA), detailed on their News site, which illustrated this fact:

Survey data, captured for the first time, show more than half of public libraries report circulating technology (e.g., hotspots, laptops, and tablets) for patron use off-site. A similar percentage provided streaming public programs (e.g., story times and author events) in the previous 12 months, as well as diverse digital content, resources, and training (American Library Association, 2022).

In retrospect, when COVID-19 forced APPL to close indoor access, two suitable solutions to still put books in the hands of patrons were to provide curbside assistance and online applications for new patron cards. However, many patrons were not aware that, along with that card, they also had access to an app and many different online sites for free that would meet all of their needs for reading, learning, tutoring, and media. Now that the library has been fully operational for over a year, many changes have occurred. This point was emphasized in the early fall of 2021 and again in early summer of this year when the children’s librarian visited local schools in the Prattville area to promote not only the library and its many programs but also how the students and their families can utilize the e-resources for homework assistance on the website. Curbside services and online applications are still provided, but it is now required protocol that when a patron receives their new card or has their current one updated, they will also receive wallet-sized literature detailing how to access their accounts via an app (called Librista), how to watch movies and listen to

audiobooks (amongst Libby and Hoopla’s other resources), and how to take classes in over one hundred languages. This is all on top of an updated brochure listing the services, account information, and educational e-resources available on the website.

Subsequently, while all of these spoken and paper protocols were expanding, the library’s official website received a proverbial touchup as well. Buttons and QR codes for Wi-Fi printing were developed, as well as providing hotspots and launchpads, and links to the educational e-resources were moved under the "Online Resources” tab, located in a user-friendly position front and center on the website. These modifications multiplied the online learning tools offered, not only so that the average patron could access them at their leisure but also so that teachers and students could still maintain their professions or education uninterrupted. Examples of these educational e-resources include Learning Express, Transparent Language Online, and Homework Alabama. Because we live during a digital age where access to online resources and digital literacy education is critical for the modern curriculum, having free access to online learning resources at public libraries so that students and patrons can utilize it for tutoring and homework assistance is vital for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds.

Digital Literacy Relevance

Having access to online, free resources and websites to further one’s career or education is easier now more than ever. Public libraries and the staff that run them have availed themselves as public servants for the community in which they are integrated. The main objective has always been to promote literacy, provide a myriad of necessary materials available for temporary use, but overall to put books into the hands of readers. With technology advancing so quickly, digital literacy has become as vital a necessity for the average citizen as traditional literacy itself, and the reality of disparities in equity amongst background knowledge and financial means has become transparent. To put it into perspective, a student of today’s understanding of digital literacy must have “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, and communicate [digital] information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills” (ALA Literacy Clearinghouse, 2022). According to Linda Braun, past president

of ALA’s Young Adult Library Services Association, libraries themselves, however, should keep in mind that “Staffers must connect with the public to uncover community assets and service gaps before developing or advertising resources” (Braun, 2022). Now, more than ever, all of this is obvious for students of today’s curriculum versus older generations whose educational requirements hardly exposed them to the need for knowledge of technology. Public libraries were the boots on the ground (or cyberspace) for patrons struggling due to those disparities in digital literacy and Wi-Fi access. In order to express this concept further, Heidi Daniel and Michael Fried of the Enoch Pratt Free Library explain:

Terms like ‘digital inclusion’ feel insufficient to describe the reality for so many of our residents. We are living through the pandemic of the disconnected. We can see a path forward, one that builds on our legacy of a community center and support system and uplifts the best of what is around us to form a coalition of progress. We must replace systemic disparity with institutionalized equity (Daniel & Fried, 2022).

Learning Express

To illustrate this, the first offering on the list of educational e-resources encouraged for the patrons of APPL is Learning Express. This is a comprehensive, interactive learning program of practice tests and tutorial exams that requires nothing more than setting up an account either via the user’s library card number or a product key. This website provides learning materials on a myriad of topics including career preparation, high school equivalency, college admissions test preparation, grades 4-8 education resources, high school and college skill-building resources, adult core skills, or lessons for native Spanish speakers (EBSCO LearningExpress, 2022). Although free to the patrons of APPL, Learning Express does require a paid subscription, which the library itself pays for using funds from the annual budget. Obviously, for every age level, this site targets specific educational needs that a student can access directly from their local library website at any time. Once the patron has set up their own password and log-in information, Learning Express will save the work and help monitor progress (EBSCO LearningExpress, 2022). This resource is similar to resources like Khan Academy, a website that offers free, lecture-type, educational videos.

Futhermore, Learning Express provides step-by-step, librarian-recommended educational videos and exercises.

Although designed for students of any age, the main audience for Learning Express is adult students, a fact that mirrors APPL’s mostly adult students and educators using the e-resource. Many more tabs on the homepage are geared towards high school students, college students, adults furthering their postsecondary education, and elementary teachers than those geared towards younger learners. Employees of APPL have been known to guide elderly patrons who request information on adult computer classes to the tab titled “Computer Skills Center”. Unfortunately, it would seem that APPL has much work to do; despite the availability on the library website and encouragement from staff, according to general data retrieval provided by the Alabama Public Library System, barely seven hundred users, on average, readily accessed this e- resource in 2021 (Institute of Museums and Library Services, 2022).

This website is sufficient for users who cannot afford private tutoring or supplemental classes. It also provides users of all socioeconomic backgrounds access to equitable online learning environments by assisting those students who wish to progress through the lessons on this site at their own pace with little to no outside pressure.

Transparent Languages Online

Additionally, APPL includes in the annual fiscal budget a comprehensive subscription for a novel site called Transparent Languages Online (TLO). Many patrons of the Autauga-Prattville Public Library are not native English speakers. Some books in other languages, including one in Braille, are available for patrons, but the choices are overwhelmingly limited. This is to be expected in a semi-rural environment. For those patrons who visit the library at all, it is clear for staff to see that those patrons still learning English appreciate having a free website available that will help them develop those skills on their own without having to pay for tutors or any subscriptions and premiums within more commonly used applications. The advancement of these skills in English can help these patrons, who are most often adults, with employment or academic opportunities in their personal lives.

Similarly to Learning Express, the only requirement for use is for the patron to create their own log-in information and provide a library card number. Also similarly, the site provides interactive, comprehensive tutorials, supplemental vocabulary and grammar courses, and video lessons in over 120 languages. Patrons practice challenging games and lessons that target all four comprehensive skills required for mastering a language (listening, reading, speaking, and writing) (Transparent Language Inc., 2022). Available for any age, its enhanced compatibility is optimized for touchscreen use on iPads and Android tablets, or any laptops or computers (Transparent Languages Online: About 2022). During the month of October 2021, APPL encouraged patrons to sign up for TLO and practice a language for fifteen minutes a day for one week in order to have their names entered into an Amazon gift card raffle sponsored by TLO itself. Although not a large number of patrons participated during that week, 216 registers were reported for all activity sessions since then with 307 circulations (TLOxp, 2022); this has also encouraged patrons to utilize supplemental language learning books from the library, apps, or classes offered within the local community in order to continue their personal learning endeavors.

Transparent Languages Online is entirely free when the account is synced with a public library card. From personal experience, I highly recommend this site because, as a Spanish-as-a-Second-Language speaker, there is a tab with four specialized lessons titled “Survival Spanish for Librarians”. Despite similarities to sites like Duolingo and IXL.com, APPL plans to continue participation for weeks in the future in order to encourage all patrons, but English Language Learners in particular, to continue utilizing this incredible e-resource for their own personal educational journey towards a second language proficiency.

Homework Alabama

Thirdly, another e-resource offered by APPL is called Homework Alabama, a free service that provides homework help from subject specialists available from Sunday through Thursday during after-school hours. The age range for students is anywhere from Kindergarten Math and Social Studies to college introduction courses and online job searching assistance for adults. According to the Homework Alabama website, “Homework Alabama can be accessed from virtually any

computer or mobile device with internet connection while in the state of Alabama. If you do not have internet access at home, please visit your local public library to get online” (Alabama Public Library Service, 2019). All that is required, once again, is a library card number from a public library within Alabama. The downside with this resource is that it does also require emailing the library support administrators if logging on for the first time is not automatically successful. As stated on the homepage of the site, “Because the HomeworkAlabama.org program uses GeoIP location as its primary authentication method, once in a while, especially if using a cellular internet connection, you may receive an IP address error when trying to access the service” (Alabama Public Library Service, 2019).

Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds whose families lack the financial resources to pay for private tutoring can supplement their children’s struggles with homework with this site in a way that encourages the student to learn instead of searching for the answers online. Though a family within the state of Alabama has a seemingly endless number of options to use if their children are in need of homework assistance, Homework Alabama is already a free online website sanctioned by the state and public library services and available for at-home use or while at school, or at a local public library.

As organized under the “Online Resources” tab of APPL’s website, Homework Alabama can also be found on any public library website within the state and is dedicated to all ages in need of specific test prep or homework assistance. Live tutors, via the company Tutor.com, are available online during their scheduled hours, which was another resource available to students when COVID-19 forced all schools to convert to virtual learning. Additionally, this site is similar to Tutorme.com, since it too offers students the ability to meet with a live tutor for homework assistance or hours of study. As long as the student is not requesting help with a quiz or test, Tutorme.com does allow live tutors all over the world to meet virtually with a student, as long as the correct plug-ins are downloaded, as well as chat instantaneously with administrators on a chat sidebar. However, like IXL.com and Duolingo, this site is not entirely free and charges the students at personal expense. As for Homework Alabama, public librarians can faithfully recommend this free site to patrons and students due to

the seal and logos at the bottom of the page that prove legitimacy: the Great Seal of Alabama, The Institute of Museums and Library Services, and Alabama Public Library Service (APLS).

Conclusion

This case study and analysis highlights the important effect public libraries can have on modern education. By providing online learning tools, they improve users’ access to resources that can help further one’s education. When students and educators utilize these free e-resources, it only further proves the necessary role that public libraries play in their local communities. The fact has become even more apparent since COVID-19 disrupted educational progress for many school systems, prompting APPL to promote at schools and the community at large for information on how users could utilize all that their public library has to offer, whether in person or online. The e-resources mentioned specifically are all readily available on APPL’s website and, as an educator, have proven useful to me as well as to other students and educators who depend on access to free, online resources during this digital age of learning. The ability to access local public libraries and utilize their resources can bridge this inequity. Autauga-Prattville Public Library is one such library that is bridging that gap for Alabama’s students.

References

Alabama Public Library Service. (2019). Homework Alabama.org. https://aplsws2.apls.state.al.us/homework/

ALA Literacy Clearinghouse. (2022). Digital literacy. American Library Association. https://bit.ly/3OLYs9O

American Library Association. (2021). National survey finds libraries play expanded role in digital equity, bridging gaps in access to technology. http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2021/08/national-survey-finds libraries-play-expanded-role-digital-equity-bridging

Autauga-Prattville Public Library. (2022). Learning Express Library: What is Learning Express Library? https://www.appl.info/Pages/Index/214624/learning-express

Autauga-Prattville Public Library. (2022). Summary report: Transparent Languages Online administration console. Prattville, AL.

Braun, L. W. (2022). Achieving relevance: Codesigned services Boost impact of our work. American Libraries, 53(5), 48.

Cubit Planning, Inc. (2022). Autauga county demographics summary. https://bit.ly/3HVcVxE

Daniel, H. & Fried, M. (2022). Digital equity: Beyond the COVID-19 response. Public Libraries, 61(2), 21–27.

EBSCO LearningExpress/Autauga-Prattville Public Library. (2022). Welcome to LearningExpress Library. https://bit.ly/39ZPrLh

Institute of Museum and Library Services. (2022). Public libraries survey: Fiscal year 2021. https://www.imls.gov/research-evaluation/data collection/public-libraries-survey McClendon, C. (2021). (rep.). 2021 year in review. Prattville, AL. Transparent Language, Inc./Autauga-Prattville Public Library. (2022). Transparent Language Online: About. https://library.transparent.com/applal/game/ng/#/about

TLOxp. (2022). K-12 language solutions. https://www.transparent.com/education/k-12-languagesolutions.html

Tutor.com/Princeton Review. (2019). HomeworkAlabama.org. https://aplsws2.apls.state.al.us//homework/

United States Census Bureau. 2020 American community survey: 5-Year estimates. U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey Office. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/autaugacountyalabama