The Tutor.com Blog

Twenty seven of our library clients have been partners for ten years! To celebrate, we’re featuring their unique stories and how Tutor.com has impacted their diverse communities.  

Clinton-Macomb Public Library (CMPL) has a special connection to its Michigan community. Formed in 1992, the library was spear-headed by citizens who were deeply concerned about dwindling resources for children in the community when the county library decided to focus strictly on research. Little more than five years later a tax referendum for funding was passed and the library was able to officially open its doors. We caught up with CMPL to discuss their history and the success they’ve had with their community programs.

Clinton-Macomb Public Library had such an interesting start! Tell us a little more about that.

Our small but tenacious library built a solid base of support in the community after the initial action taken in 1992. The library board realized that the goal of creating a good first class library system for the citizens of Macomb and Clinton Townships could not be achieved without a strong base of sustained adequate financing.  A vigorous campaign for a one mill tax in perpetuity was mounted and with its passage, the “new” Clinton-Macomb Public Library began. A new hired staff managed the ambitious goal of opening three new library buildings. We like to say that the library board’s “promises made” were indeed “promises kept.” The new CMPL system of a Main Library, South Branch and North Branch was all completed in a remarkable five years.

Wow! We love that the community realized the importance of having resources for the children. How large is the community you serve?

CMPL directly serves residents of Macomb Township and most of Clinton Township. We have 86,000 resident library card-holders and serve an additional 30,000 card-holders through reciprocal borrowing agreements.

What is one of the most popular events the library has hosted?

We have been very committed to the idea of promoting reading over the summer months as a way to maintain skills gained during the school year. Back in June, we hosted our first ever Summer Reading Kick-off Carnival with much success. We had magicians, a bounce-house, face-painting, free ice-cream, balloon-animals, and a concert by a local band. It was very well attended and as a result it was a great opportunity for our staff to promote our summer reading initiatives.

We’re excited to be celebrating our 10 year partnership with CMPL this year! What tactics have you used over the years to make it such a successful program?

We do the traditional means of advertising the service through our quarterly newsletter and on our website. But one of the more effective things we have done is contact local schools, specifically the high schools, and asked them to put a link to the service on their website. When they did, usage increased. In fact, we first introduced Tutor.com in 2002 and usage has increased every year since then.

That is a great idea to encourage schools to help get the word out to students. What words of advice would you have for other libraries looking to bring in an online tutoring program?

Don’t be afraid of success – we marketed ourselves to schools and as a result our numbers increased!

Lastly, do you have any student comments that stand out about the Tutor.com service?

Some of our favorites include:

“I had a really great tutor! She helped me brainstorm ideas and I finally was able to start my essay!:)”

“Very clear and helped me out so now I know how to do it now. I have receive 100 on my test thanks fuys for making it possible”

“it’s great iv only use it for a couple of minutes and I’m already hooked ”

We’ll be featuring one of our ten-year library clients each month.  To learn more about our homework, career and reference support services for libraries go to www.tutor.com/libraries

Twenty seven of our library clients have been partners for ten years! To celebrate, we’re featuring their unique stories and how Tutor.com has impacted their diverse communities.  

Founded in 1903 as a Carnegie Library, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library opened with just 2,526 books. Today the library boasts a rich collection of 1.3 million books, digital resources, and much more for their community of 900,000 people. Tutor.com caught up with them to discuss the changes the library has experienced in the last 100 years as well as the last decade of offering online tutoring and career services.

Tutor.com: Being over a century old, we’re sure the library has seen plenty of changes! Have there been a lot of adjustments just within the last 10 years?

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library: In our newest buildings we‘ve sacrificed book shelves for more room for meeting spaces and technology, especially PC’s. This is our future, as it is for most libraries, as we go deeper into digital materials and see more need from the community for technology.

Tutor.com: What are some of the favorite programs or events the library has hosted?

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library: We offer so many programs! One of our favorite events is “Study Zone Sunday” where students can drop by any Sunday during the school year for the event. The goal is to provide teens with a place to spread out and get some school work done, study for tests, work on group projects, etc.

We’ve also worked with  outside organizations. We teamed up with Queens College to create digital literacy programs that taught seniors anything they needed help with, from email to digital pictures. Charlotte Parent Magazine also partnered with us for a Young Author Contest that we judged and orchestrated. Another favorite was when our professional Basketball team collected donations for the library throughout their season with a “Block for Books” campaign.

Tutor.com: Those all sound exciting. Your Library has provided Tutor.com for 10 years now, what is some advice you have for other libraries that might be looking to kick off a homework help program?

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library: Promote often. If folks don’t need to use the service right away, they can often forget it is available through the libraries. It is also helpful to work with sponsors who can help promote and fund the program. They like the idea of getting involved in helping the community’s students.

Tutor.com: What are some of the tactics your library uses to promote often?

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library: Many times we will use some of the student comments in our promotions and advertising. At the beginning of the school year we also give the schools a list of our services, including Tutor.com.

Tutor.com: Great idea! Do any of those comments stand out as a favorite?

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library : “I LOVE LOVE LOVE it more than chocolate”

We’ll be featuring one of our ten-year library clients each month.  To learn more about our homework, career and reference support services for libraries go to www.tutor.com/libraries

Twenty seven of our library clients have been partners for ten years! To celebrate, we’re featuring their unique stories and how Tutor.com has impacted their diverse communities.  

In 2008 Skokie Public Library was awarded a National Medal by the Institute of Museum and Library Services in recognition of their exceptional programs and multicultural services. This included their annual Skokie Festival of Cultures, their Young Steinway Concert Series, and their multitude of multilingual resources. The best libraries are often reflections of their communities needs. And the library is doing just that as 43% of the population in Skokie is foreign born and over 70 different languages are spoken in homes across town. We checked in with Skokie Public Library to see what they were up to now and why Tutor.com has been a successful program for their community.

Tutor.com: Tell us a little bit about your library.

Skokie Public Library: Our library serves our community of 64,784 through a single building and a Bookmobile. Last year there were over 848,000 visits to the library and an annual circulation of 2.1 million. Programming is also very important as in our FY 2012 we had over 54,000 attendees.

Tutor.com: Wow! That is a lot of visits. Which department runs your Tutor.com program?

Skokie Public Library: That would be the Youth Services Department. They offer programs, services, and a vast collection of print and digital materials for children from infancy through eighth grade. Some of those library features include our Computer Lab and Youth Media Center, our Parent-Teacher collection of books and journals which address childhood development and learning, and the library’s ‘Come On In!’ program for children with disabilities.

Tutor.com: Those all sound like great resources for your community’s students. What are some of your favorite programs or events that you’ve hosted?

Skokie Public Library: Some popular and successful programs include, ‘Coming Together in Skokie’, a reading-based program with a six week focus on one of the local cultures. Another is the ‘Young Steinway Concert Series’ for outstanding pre-professional young musicians. This summer we also hosted another year of ‘Booking with a Buddy’, a summer program which matches volunteers with students who have completed kindergarten or first grade and want to keep up their new reading skills over the summer.

Tutor.com: Awesome! With so many different offerings and programs, how do you also fit in promoting your Tutor.com service?

Skokie Public Library: The Live Homework Help graphic and hyperlinks appear prominently on every Youth and Teen Web page and elsewhere throughout our website. We also feature a linked graphic on our opening web page for several weeks during the back-to-school and testing seasons. Youth Services staff members visit schools, classrooms, and faculty meetings to talk about and demonstrate Live Homework Help for students, teachers, and parents. We have arranged real-time tutoring demonstrations with remote assistance from Tutor.com staff and local assistance from student users.

Tutor.com: Thanks for those great ideas. Do you have any quotes from students who have used the Tutor.com service through your library that you would like to share?

Skokie Public Library:

“they should never stop this program ))”

“Great service! I love to use this because it’s hard to work some of my homework problems, but knowing this is here and that it can help me, I feel much more confident in my studies.”

“This place, 100%, gets my answers answered, but also explains how to derive them. Thanks Online Homework help. ”

We’ll be featuring one of our ten-year library clients each month.  To learn more about our homework, career and reference support services for libraries go to www.tutor.com/libraries

Twenty seven of our library clients have been partners for ten years! To celebrate, we’re featuring their unique stories and how Tutor.com has impacted their diverse communities.  

When you visit the city of Park Ridge, IL’s official website the headline notes “Park Ridge -A Wonderful Place!” And that it is. With a community of over 35,000, their door count many days is over 1,500. But even with all those visitors, they still found some time to touch base with us to share a little about their library and how their Tutor.com program has developed over the past 10 years.

Tutor.com: Tell us a little bit about your library.

Park Ridge: The Park Ridge Public Library serves residents and businesses in the City of Park Ridge, a Northwest suburb of Chicago. We serve a top-rated high school district and elementary school district. Our patrons are very supportive of the Library and use it frequently. Our door count is over 1,500 many days! The Park Ridge Public Library opened to the public on December 6, 1913. We will be celebrating our 100^th Anniversary next year!

Tutor.com: Congratulations! What an exciting time. What are some of your favorite programs and events your library has hosted over the years?

Park Ridge: Summer Reading Club encompasses children from infants to adult. We generally have almost 5,000 people sign up for Summer Reading Clubs! Park Ridge Reads is a community-wide reading initiative where everyone is encouraged to read a selected title. We were fortunate enough to have the author Scott Turow come and speak about his book, Ordinary Heroes.

Some other programs include the Summer Lawn Event which ties in with our Summer Reading Clubs. We have games and entertainment for all ages on the library lawn. We also offer Job Seeker Workshops and Job Hunting on the Internet classes. These programs assist job seekers with advice and resources to aid them in their job search.  Teacher Programs provide continuing education credit for preschool and elementary school teachers on a variety of topics including making bulletin boards, using online resources, and creating story props for the classroom.

Tutor.com: What are some of the different ways Park Ridge Library has promoted the Tutor.com service to the community?

Park Ridge: Our website, brochures for students [see below visual], schools visits, one on one with students and parents in the Library, bookmarks placed in books used for homework assignments. We find that many students discover Tutor.com by talking with other students.

Tutor.com: Who uses the service the most?

Park Ridge: We have children, teens and adults using Tutor.com. While we expected the greatest number of users to be students in elementary level grades, we have discovered that the largest number of users are the high school students, especially in math and sciences.

Tutor.com: What words of wisdom do you have for other libraries looking to kick off a Tutor.com program?

Park Ridge: Promote in-house and at school visits.

Tutor.com: Do you have any favorite comments from your student users?

Park Ridge: “I really loved my tutor, Oliver S. She was great. She explained everything so well and was really friendly!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Steve S. should receive a bonus for his great work with my questions!! schmanky thanky”

“The tutor spent a lot of time with me and went through everything. Really helpful!”

“I know exactly what to do on my paper because of [my tutor].”