A Family Developing Their Future at the FLC
Sagrario with her four children and Christine, a Learning Guide, at the Dana Library Family Learning Center.
Sagrario works hard to help her children to succeed. She is a mother to three daughters and one son, all high school students, who need assistance with challenging homework and are preparing for college. Although she does not speak English, Sagrario found a great resource at the Long Beach Public Library to give her children the guidance they need.
Sagrario and her children are one of many families in Long Beach that cannot afford an Internet connection. According to a 2016 American Community Survey, an estimated 1 in 4 Long Beach households lacks an adequate portal to the Internet. This makes researching and completing homework difficult for her kids who are usually required to complete their assignments with the use of a computer.
A little over a year ago, Sagrario and her children were looking for a quiet place to study at the Dana Neighborhood Library. It was there that they discovered the Dana Library Family Learning Center. The space is equipped with computers, a printer, text books and, most importantly, a qualified Learning Guide is available to provide one-on-one assistance with homework. They currently visit the Family Learning Center about four days per week.
The Family Learning Center program began in 1999 with the support of the Long Beach Public Library Foundation to provide students and job seekers with one-on-one guidance and resources. Initially, a Family Learning Center was established at the Main Library and each neighborhood branch library. The program has evolved through the years to include virtual tools and the Library’s makerspace Studio program with instruction in advanced technology. In the Library’s 2018 fiscal year, the Family Learning Center program held 22,281 sessions thanks to generous donations to the Library Foundation.
“The Family Learning Center has helped me actually get my homework done on time with my crazy schedule,” said Sagrario’s daughter.
After they are done with homework, her children use the computers in the Family Learning Center to look up colleges they would like to attend. They are currently looking at universities in Hawaii and Utah.