LEARNLA is the Best Place for Bookworms! Creating Lifelong Readers With Digital Media
We want to engage the next generation of LA readers. We’ll take the free podcast to 3-5 public schools or libraries every month. At least half of the tapings will be in front of a live audience, which will be invited to participate on the show by talking about their favorite book. We will focus on local authors who are available for book signings, and we’ll invite local public officials and influencers to be celebrity readers. Curriculum will be developed for episodes, also available for free. Episodes will be branded LA2050 episodes.
In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
Central LA
East LA
San Gabriel Valley
San Fernando Valley
South LA
Westside
South Bay
City of Los Angeles
LAUSD (please select only if you have a district-wide partnership or project)
In what stage of innovation is this project?
Expand existing program
Please list the organizations collaborating on this proposal.
LA Public Library
Access Books
Cal Poly Pomona College of Education and Integrative Studies
If you are submitting a collaborative proposal, please describe the specific role of partner organizations in the project.
Access Books has been building school libraries in Southern California for decades. They are assisting us to identify public schools that would like us to record on campus with their students. We will be providing books to students and school libraries.
The LA Public Library (LAPL) has approved Book Club for Kids to tape episodes at branches across the city under their “performer” program. They’ve also distributed Book Club for Kids bookmarks and will distribute a new LA2020 “LA is the Best Place for Bookworms!” bookmark. LAPL also helped publicize our recent taping at the Studio City branch on its website, on social media, and with printed materials.
Cal Poly Pomona researchers will study how the podcast can influence reading habits, using surveys and focus groups, sharing findings..
What is the need you’re responding to?
We lose readers in middle school.
More than half of 9-year-olds read every day - this according to the 2007 National Education Association report. By the time they turn 13, less than a third of kids are daily readers. The reading numbers fall off a cliff by the time kids get to high school.
The key is creating a love for reading and a habit of reading at that most crucial time: middle school.
Book Club for Kids reinforces the importance of tween reading and fosters a love of literature that will carry over to high school and beyond.
Our podcast is designed to interact with educational systems to maximize our impact. Teachers and librarians incorporate the podcast into their own lesson plans or tap into our curriculum.
Our podcast offers a smarter way to use a smartphone, melding literature with a tween's favorite device.
By taping episodes before live audiences at public schools and libraries, Los Angeles actively demonstrates that “LA is the Best Place for Bookworms!”
Why is this project important to the work of your organization?
The podcast began in 2015 in Washington, DC. Creator Kitty Felde moved the show home to her native Southern California in 2020. We want to play a central role in LA's literary life.
Book Club for Kids has received the California Library Association’s Technology Award and the DC Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Humanities. The program was named one of the top ten podcasts for kids in the world by The Times of London and rated “excellent” by Common Sense Media.
We’ve taped live shows at the National Archives and book festivals from Maryland to Colorado to California.
Our celebrity readers have included the former US Secretary of Education, a Laker, a Dodger, members of Congress, a governor, a mayor, a spy, an FBI agent, and numerous LA actors.
We offer free learning resources at our website: curriculum, reading tips, and an extensive recommended reading list.
Kitty Felde is a veteran public radio journalist who first created Book Club for Kids for her talk show on KPCC.
Approximately how many people will be impacted by this proposal?
Direct Impact: 1,800
Indirect Impact: 420,000
Please describe the broader impact of your proposal.
Los Angeles has always been a city of readers. And writers. Has technology changed that forever? What happens to LA if its future citizens are poor readers?
Using technology for good is Book Club for Kids' way of creating lifelong readers.
In addition, talking about a book together connects us, creating community. It allows us to talk about what's on our minds, inspired by what we've read.
NOTE: To further explain the impact of “LA is the Best Place for Bookworms! Creating Lifelong Readers With Digital Media,” we estimate 300 young readers will directly participate in podcast tapings with another Angelenos; 1800 in the audience at live events. Additionally, we estimate the number of downloads of LA2050 podcast episodes to top 420,000.
Please explain how you will define and measure success for your project.
We can measure success in a number of ways:
- The number of patrons who join us at their local library for live events
- The number of LA2050 episode downloads
- The increase in sign-ups for free reading tips newsetters
- The number of press mentions
But our larger purpose is to inspire that lifelong love of reading. It’s a tough metric to measure.
To help us with data, we have partnered a pair of professors from the College of Education and Integrative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona. These researchers will study how the podcast can influence reading habits. Their methods will include both surveys and focus groups. The research will be published as part of “LA is the Best Place for Bookworms! Creating Lifelong Readers With Digital Media”! final report and distributed widely in the press and academic media.
Which of the LEARN metrics will your submission impact?
Student proficiency in English & Language Arts
Are there any other LA2050 goal categories that your proposal will impact?
LA is the best place to CONNECT
Which of LA2050’s resources will be of the most value to you?
Access to the LA2050 community
Host public events or gatherings
Communications support
Capacity, including staff
Strategy assistance and implementation