What Works- The Brownie Brigade

Many of our projects at the Louisville Free Public Library begin with Susan Moore, the head of children's services, asking, "What can the library do for you?" In the spring of 2000, she posed that question to Fran Fach, executive director of the Girl Scouts of the Kentuckiana region. Together, they decided that the public library was in a unique position to teach computer skills to the Girl Scouts through our new Computer Learning Centers.

The centers, located at the Main Library and three regional branches, each consist of 15 computers arranged in a classroom-like setting, along with a projection screen at the front of the room. Though many adults attend free computer classes at the centers, the library was having a hard time getting children to do the same. The partnership with the Girl Scouts seemed a good way to help the scouts earn their technology badges while attracting more young people to our facilities.

We designed a program to meet the badge requirements of three different levels of area Girl Scouts—8,000 Brownies (ages 6–8), 5,000 Juniors (ages 8–11), and 1,600 Cadettes (ages 11–14). Since we had only a few librarians who could work on the program, the number of girls we hoped to reach was daunting. We decided to begin with the first two levels, Brownies and Juniors, choosing only the badge requirements we felt we could fulfill in a two-hour time period. (For information on badge requirements, go to www.girlscouts.org.)

To help with the classes, we trained three other librarians at a two-hour workshop and, because of our limited staffing, decided to assign one trainer to each class. A Girl Scouts representative then advertised the free programs in the scouts' newsletter. Almost immediately, our phones were ringing off the hook.

The first class included 30 girls and two troop leaders, and to be honest, it was pretty chaotic. The girls sat two to a computer, and there were always several hands waving for help at once. We also faced a number of computer glitches—one computer wouldn't print, another wouldn't allow saving to a disk, and so on. But with the help of a lab technician and the troop leaders, we managed to prevail, and the girls finished their badge requirements. From then on, however, we tried to limited our classes to 15 students—one girl per computer.

What did the girls learn? To earn the "Point, Click, and Go" badge, the Brownies mastered everything from turning on the computer to saving a Microsoft Word document to a disk. In the Juniors class, each girl wrote a paragraph about herself, designed a certificate using Microsoft Word, learned some Internet basics, and how to use e-mail. The Juniors also had to sign the Girl Scouts' Online Safety Pledge, which informs them about the safety issues relating to chat rooms and the dangers of giving out personal information on the Web.

The class sizes ranged from three or four to more than 20, with each class staffed by a librarian and a lab technician. The girls varied widely in their level of computer skills. We found that those who knew little about computers were able to learn a lot from the sessions, and that the girls who were more advanced enjoyed helping their less computer-savvy peers.

In the last two years, we've taught more than 30 classes, or more than 200 Girl Scouts at the Main Library. Our branch librarians have taught more than 16 classes, or more than 160 girls. We've struggled at times to find enough staffing for the program, and we've recently updated some of our classes to reflect changes in the Girl Scouts' badge requirements. All in all, we think the program is extremely worthwhile. It has allowed us to help girls become more computer literate and feel more comfortable asking questions and experimenting with technology. The classes also are a great way to introduce kids to the library. This is especially significant for the Main Library, as many girls admitted that they had never been to the downtown facility. Finally, working with a group like the Girl Scouts gives the library a chance to reach one of the key audiences we strive so hard to serve.