Provides an overview of marketing efforts of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Examples of a marketing plan that stresses fostering relationships with the community are described, including staff training in customer service, a cultural festival, and services to the business community. A sidebar offers marketing tips for…

Notes that adoptive families have formal (agency-related) and informal (indigenous) resources to draw on for assistance with a variety of issues. Describes Hope for the Children (HFTC) program located in Rantoul, Illinois, a created community designed to foster permanence of special-needs adoptions, in which adoptive families live alongside agency…

Discusses issues that affect school library media specialists and provides Web sites that are helpful in presenting and discussing these issues. Highlights include who our learners are in elementary and secondary schools; what they need to learn; how to get community support; and whether media specialists make a difference. (LRW)

According to a former community relations director for a Washington State district, there are three key elements of effective public engagement: choosing a focus, acknowledging that employees are a school system's first public, and using feedback loops. Employees are school ambassadors whose words and actions can either build community support or…

This strategy guide is for mentors, support workers and coaches who are working with school-aged children and youth who are affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). In addition to supporting these children and youth at home and in the community, mentors may be involved in advocating for and supporting them at school. This guide…

After South Lyon Community Schools (Michigan) lost their first tax levy campaign, a committee formed to interview voters and devise a new plan discovered that voter priorities had been overlooked. The solution--enlisting community support and communicating the importance of voters' priorities. An inset provides specific campaign techniques. (MLH)

To promote aquatic facilities, it is essential to assess the attitudes, needs, and desires of the community. Effective promotion, use of available community resources, and cost-effective operation are the realities of the future. (JMK)

The "Parent Speakers Program" combats misunderstanding about the nature of disabilities, misconceptions regarding the disabled, and stereotypes about disabled persons held by the community. Parents present factual information regarding disability; following the presentation, a discussion time and question/answer period is set aside to…

Describes the plan used in Consolidated High School District 230, in Palos Hills (Illinois), for fostering an informed and interested school community by providing standardized test results to the school board, central and building administrators, parents, teachers, counselors, elementary educators, and the local press. (PGD)

Demonstrates how one community family life education agency deals with pressures for and against sex education, describing the agency's philosophy and curriculum and providing suggestions for strategic planning. (MP)

Describes the local financing of the vocational agriculture program at East Butler School in Nebraska. In addition, the article provides guidelines that must be followed when planning a local budget. (LRA)

Ralston (Nebraska) Public School District's communitywide survey helped set school facilities priorities while keeping the district's finite resources firmly in mind. With an outline of maintenance costs for the next 10 years, the district can develop a strategic construction schedule. The board also has the option of financing projects through a…

An Illinois school system won a bond issue election with a 30-day marketing campaign. Helpful marketing practices include identification of the target audience and finding the best medium to reach the audience. (MLF)

The Green Spaces Project in Lincoln County (Ontario) allows elementary students to develop habitats on or near school property to attract wildlife back to the city. Success of the project is attributed to community support and the hiring of a coordinator. (KS)

Many districts (like District 28 in Tempe, Arizona) that made major cuts in their arts programs in the 1980s have rebuilt them only to be challenged by burgeoning student populations. Some, like one Colorado district, have begun sharing arts facilities with community organizations. Community support is essential. (MLH)