This document summarizes a community engagement project between Criss Library at the University of Nebraska Omaha and Girls Inc. It discusses how a collection development class weeded and helped select new books for the Girls Inc. library to improve the quality and appeal of the collection. It provides background on Girls Inc and details of the project including weeding 58 boxes of books, selecting new titles, applying for a Verizon grant to fund new furniture and an open source library system, and plans for future collaboration between the library science program and Girls Inc. to benefit both organizations.

1. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Criss Library & Girls Inc. Joyce Neujahr, Nora Hillyer

2. Service Learning vs.Community Engagement Service Learning Integrates community service with academic learning Community Engagement UNO partners with community to: Build relationships Share knowledge, resources and energies to address community issues

3. Service Learning – Construction Engineering Class

4. Background Conversations with Service Learning Academy Identified Possible Partners Douglas County Corrections Read-to-me program Donated Scholastic Books Girls Inc. North and South Campus Libraries Needed ability to find books

5. 1864 The first Girls Club was started in Waterbury, Connecticut. 1975 Girls Club of Omaha opened doors to Girls for the first time. Girls Inc.

6. Girls Inc. by the Numbers Age groups Five to Eight..................................................................................... 42% Nine to Eleven ................................................................................. 31% Twelve to Fourteen.......................................................................... 19% Fifteen to Eighteen........................................................................... 8% Ethnic Groups African American............................................................................. 70% Caucasian......................................................................................... 9% Hispanic............................................................................................ 7% Native American................................................................................ 1% Multiracial.......................................................................................... 9% Other................................................................................................. 4% Girls Served Through our Girls Inc. Centers. 884 Through Outreach Programs .... 383 Boys and Girls Served Through “Kid-Ability!”............. 7,126 Grand Total............................... 8,393 Number of snacks & meals served...................... 63,328

8. Barack Obama

9. Bill Clinton

10. Hillary Clinton

12. Background Met with Girls Inc and toured libraries at North and South campuses Met with TED Library Science Instructors Collection Development Cataloging Library Administration Threeyear MOU (Memorandum of Understanding)

13. Girls Inc North Omaha Library Before Weeding

14. Girls Inc North Omaha Library Before Weeding

15. March 26, 2010 Collection Development Class spent 4 hours at North Campus Complete library evaluated, 58 boxes of de-selected material Students selected two books for replacement

18. StudentComments I gained a new appreciation for the librarians who do selection for libraries. I had no idea how difficult it could be to select the right book within certain parameters. - Colina The biggest thing I learned from weeding the Girls, Inc. library was that the amount of library books in a library is not near as important as the content and quality of the books in the library. The library looked so much more appealing after we discarded some of the torn, old, or out-of date books. I am very excited to get to help choose some of the new books for the library. Thank you for the opportunity to help such a great organization! - Callie

19. Where we are now Verizon grant for $25,000 written and submitted Includes new furniture from Cornhusker State Industries Koha Open Source LIS LibLime Support for five yearsincluded in grant

20. Cornhusker State Industries Library Furniture

21. Where we are now $400 from Service Learning Academy purchased new books for Girls Inc. Titlespurchasedweretakenfrom the Collection Development Class’ bibliographies Girls Inc. will be recepient of Scholastic Book Fair Fall 2010

22. Where we are now Great Stories Club from ALA Second Chances Hate List by Jennifer Brown Dope Sick by Walter Dean Meyers The Brothers Torres by Coert Voorhees

23. What’s Next Grant approval Furniture and design of libraries Implement Koha Cataloging Class Training of Girls Inc. Staff South Campus Library Collection Development Class Do it all again!

24. Questions? Comments? jneujahr@unomaha.edu nhillyer@unomaha.edu