Books@Work has undergone tremendous change and growth over the past year. In 2014 we offered 27 programs (up from 12 in 2013 and 5 in 2012) serving nearly 500 participants across four states, various sectors and in a number of community settings.
Dozens of professors from more than 15 institutions of higher learning taught many titles that spanned genre, authorship and time period. These include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, The Periodic Table by Primo Levi and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. (For a complete list of books taught in Books@Work seminars, see the interactive bookshelf on our homepage.)
We more than doubled the number of participants served from the previous year, while building new partnerships with companies, community institutions and foundations. Among the most exciting developments at Books@Work in 2014 were the following:
Partnerships with new companies – In 2014, a number of new companies joined repeat Books@Work partners. We expanded our offerings to three new sectors – hospitals, education and legal services. Among companies served for the first time in 2014 were the following: Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP, GGB Bearing Technology (a division of EnPro Industries Inc.), Lorain City Schools, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Maple Heights City Schools and MetroHealth Medical Center. In addition, we expanded our programs to several new offices of pre-existing company partners, most notably DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. locations in two states.
Partnerships with community institutions – For the first time, Books@Work moved beyond company hosts, working with two organizations to involve larger segments of the community. With generous funding from the St. Luke’s Foundation in Cleveland, we launched three Books@Work programs: one for staff at the public and charter schools on the St. Luke’s campus; one for parents and mentors associated with those schools; and one for the staffs of the foundation, the grantee organizations supported by the foundation, and the staff of related community organizations in and around the St. Luke’s campus. And we also piloted a Books@Work program in partnership with From Lemons 2 Lemonade, a support group for single mothers that works with the East Cleveland Municipal Court on developing life skills to women convicted of misdemeanor offenses as part of an innovative sentencing program.
Responsive selection of books – In 2014 we developed new systems for working with professors to select literature to read with participants. Surveying participants to understand their reading histories, interests and expectations for the seminar, and considering the diversity of works included within each individual program and across all Books@Work programs, we worked to expose participants to challenging works that were new to them, while also ensuring that they were comfortable reading the entirety of texts and participating fully in the discussion across the many months of a Books@Work program.
Certification of participant learning – We launched a Books@Work digital badge program in collaboration with Mozilla Open Badges. This program allows participants an opportunity to reflect more deeply on the texts that they read across the Books@Work program, thinking in a structured way about the books themselves and their own learning. A number of participants are currently working to obtain a Books@Work digital badge to certify their learning and participation.
Books@Work in the news – In 2014 we received media attention from the Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Cleveland Business and the Harvard Business Review blog, among others. In addition, we contributed broader insights during a conversation on literacy on Cleveland Public Radio’s Sound of Ideas, and on critical thinking skills needed in the workplace through an article syndicated in Time.com, Slate and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others.
New sources of funding – Philanthropic support and the donations of many generous individuals allows us to offer programs in non-profit organizations and in the community, as well as to support our general operating expenses as we build partnerships with companies that will make Books@Work sustainable in the long-term. In addition to receiving funding from a number of new supporters and foundations in 2014, we received our first public funding this year – a commitment from the Ohio Humanities Council to support a second Books@Work program for classified staff in the Maple Heights School District.
We feel so grateful to our partner companies, community institutions, funders, colleges and universities and, of course, the professors and participants who make the Books@Work experience what it is. We look forward to building on these 2014 achievements in the year to come. From our entire team, please accept our best wishes for a healthy and happy holiday season – with a little time to curl up with a good book!
Image: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Narcissus, 1594-6, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica [Public Domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
