The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) launched a pilot program this week for free drop-in tutoring for middle and high school students at four branch locations, including two in the San Fernando Valley.
The two library branch locations in the valley offering the program are: Sylmar and Valley Plaza in North Hollywood. The other two are in LA. Each branch hosts the program one day out of the week – Mondays at Sylmar and Wednesdays at Valley Plaza.
This new program is being facilitated by Study Smart Tutors, a professional tutoring organization that currently works with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). These trained educators will provide one-on-one tutoring across different subjects, including English, math and test preparation.
Dana Eklund, a young adult librarian at the Sylmar Branch, said that this program, which is part of LAPL’s Serving All Youth initiative, will run from March 2 to June 11. If the program does well, then it could continue during the next school year.
“[The tutor] will be … addressing the need for more in-depth academic support beyond our current homework help model,” Eklund said, referring to what are called Student Zones. These are also drop-in sessions available for students from kindergarten to 12th grade to get assistance with their homework.
While these Student Zones are held four times a week compared to one day a week at each branch, it’s mainly for assistance in completing homework rather than receiving tutoring from a professional educator.
Eklund said that this pilot program has been in the works for some time by the city’s Youth Development Department, as library staff were first informed of it a few months ago.
The library has been looking to get more in-depth help for students, he added, and he hopes that more students in the Northeast Valley will learn of this new resource and utilize it so it can continue for another semester.
“It will help students succeed,” Eklund said. “We’re hoping this is a great benefit for the community and to help … provide more opportunities for students. We do have a lot of … parents come in asking for tutoring for their kids, so this provides another opportunity we’re hoping they come and take advantage of.”
The pilot program will be available at the Sylmar Library on Mondays from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and the Valley Plaza Library from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.
The Students Zones at the Sylmar Library are held between 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
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