STAFF REPORT
CITY OF BURBANK
BURBANK
PUBLIC
LIBRARY
DATE: September 12, 2023
TO: Justin Hess, City Manager
FROM: Elizabeth Goldman, Library Services Director legible BY: Cindy Yee Akuin, Senior Administrative Analyst
SUBJECT: Acceptance of a Grant from California Library Literacy Services in the Amount of $20,974 and Amendment of the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget
RECOMMENDATION
Accept a grant from California Library Literacy Services in the amount of $20,974 and authorize the Library Services Director or her designee to take all actions necessary to receive such funds and amend the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget as specified to receive and appropriate these grant funds.
BACKGROUND
Burbank Public Library (Library) has participated in the California State Library California Library Literacy Services (CLLS) program for more than 30 years, offering services to English-speaking adults who read below an 8t grade level. In 2021, CLLS received expanded funding from the California State Legislature to provide a new stream of funding to libraries for services directed at adults learning to speak and read English as a second language (ESL).
DISCUSSION
Through the new State funding stream, the Library has been awarded a grant of $20,974 to provide ESL services, in addition to baseline funding for general adult literacy services.
Adult literacy services support about 25 English-speaking students annually in an intensive tutoring program.
Census data shows that 44% of the Burbank population speaks a language other than English at home and 32% are foreign-born. Services for those needing to improve their 1 English language skills are primarily offered through the Burbank Adult School (BAS), part of the Burbank Unified School District. BAS requires a commitment of 12 hours per week for a 16-week semester for its intensive ESL classes.
Library staff have long observed a need for additional ES services beyond what BAS can provide. The Library aims to use grant funding to meet the need for ESL training for more casual learners, as well as those who want to practice English conversation in a supportive environment. The Library will use grant funding as follows:
• Offer regular English conversation groups for beginning-level ESL students, • Contract with trainers to develop the ESL teaching skills of staff and volunteers; and
• Expand the Library's collection of bilingual books for adults and preparatory books for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), which is required as a prerequisite for many educational programs.
The Library will work in partnership with BAS to make mutual referrals for students to the appropriate program, as is already done for the existing adult literacy program. As part of grant reporting, the Library will track use of the ESL services and outcomes of the effort, which can be used to adapt services in future years.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This activity has no potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and as such, is not a "project" subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 14 Cal. Code Regs § 15378.
FISCAL IMPACT
CLLS has received funding to provide ESL grants through Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-26, and Burbank can expect to receive a similar level of funding in each of the next two years.
Staff is requesting City Council authority to amend the FY 2023-24 Adopted Budget by accepting a grant from the California State Library in the amount of $20,974 and appropriating $20,974 from revenue account no. 001.LB000.48010.1015.00000. 000000. (General Fund, Library Services, Other Intergovernmental Revenues, Literacy) to expenditure account no. 001.LB02A.62625.0000.00000.000000 (General Fund, Library Services, Public Services, Literacy).
CONCLUSION
Accepting the CLLS grant allows the Library to offer ESL services to adult learners who are not proficient English speakers, helping them build skills to succeed. Staff 2 recommends that the Council accept the grant awarded to the Library in the amount of $20,974 from CLLS and amend the FY 2023-24 budget to appropriate funds.
ATTACHMENTS
None.