THE LIBRARIES DIVISION RECOMMENDS THE RETROACTIVE APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTIONS.
Approval of this item will support the Board's Value to cultivate community culture, arts, recreation and life-long learning and the Goal to provide diverse artistic, cultural, educational, and historical amenities and programs that contribute to a vibrant, multi-cultural and economically-viable community.
The Broward County Stirling Road Branch Library is one of 75 libraries selected from over 500 applicants to participate in the NASA @ My Library initiative between May 1, 2017 and October 31, 2018. NASA @ My Library is made possible through the support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate as part of its STEM Activation program. This agreement is Phase I of the NASA @ MY Library Program. A future Phase II (November 2018 through December 2020) may be offered with an additional stipend; in the event Broward County Library is selected to participate in Phase II, an agreement will be provided to the Board for approval.
The Library will provide programs that encourage Science Project Readiness, STEM Community Engagement and the tools and resources to direct the underrepresented minorities in the community down the STEM career pipeline by making STEM fun and interactive on a regular basis. A secondary goal of this project is to increase the comfort level of Broward County librarians with conducting STEM programs on their own.
While this project will be beneficial to many underserved populations in the Hollywood area, the principal audience for this project is the Native-American population of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. At least once every three months Libraries staff will conduct a NASA @ My Library program on the local Reservation.
Also, the Library will host monthly NASA @ My Library programs for a variety of target audiences. The theme and content of the program will vary each month depending upon the target audience (children, teens, adults or families) and larger community events already scheduled such as Earth Day and the Solar Eclipse. At least one of the required programs will be publicized as a high-profile NASA @ My Library event. The Friends of the Stirling Road Branch Library have generously offered to supplement the program budget allotted by the grant to ensure this goal is met.
The County's Risk Management Division has reviewed and approved the agreement as to insurance requirements. The County Attorney’s Office has approved this agreement as to form.
|