Collaborative Citizenship Classes at Neighborhood Library Branches

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

The San Diego County Library offers citizenship classes in partnership with local adult schools. By reaching out to and partnering with local adult schools, the library is able to accomplish its goal of offering classes in citizenship at no cost. Members of the large immigrant population are introduced to their neighborhood public library as they sign up for class and attend on a weekly basis. Many of these individuals have told staff members that the atmosphere of a community college or a high school can be rather intimidating. The familiar neighborhood library is much more inviting, so they are more apt to take the big step of coming through the door to start the climb upward to citizenship and a better life. Classes are offered on a free basis throughout the year. Students can register for sessions of regularly scheduled classes or can also drop in if that is more realistic for their schedules. Once students are introduced to the library via citizenship classes, they start to take advantage of the many other resources and services at their neighborhood branch.