The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Friday, March 29, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Grant allows Chapel Hill Public Library to offer tutoring service

The Chapel Hill Public Library will launch a new service Thursday to help local students with a library card get the extra help they need.

Tutor.com — a national service that offers one-on-one tutoring through the Internet with a real person — will be free to anyone in Chapel Hill with a library card.

Meeghan Rosen, head of technical services at the Chapel Hill Public Library, said the library received a $10,000 grant from the Love Trust fund through the Chapel Hill Public Library Foundation.

The grant covers one year of service with Tutor.com.

Rosen said the tutoring will be primarily for K-12 students.

“In Chapel Hill there are a lot of kids whose parents can afford tutors,” said Melissa Cain, executive director of the Chapel Hill Public Library Foundation.

“But there’s also a lot of kids whose parents can’t afford tutors … it’s leveling the playing field really.”

But Rosen said college students and adults can also benefit, as the services include resume building and job interview practice.

She said the library has been reaching out to local school and after-school programs to make sure they are aware of the new service.

“This really is in aid of the library’s mission, which is to aid individuals’ pursuit of self-education and provide educational support,” Rosen said.

Cain said her group gives about $10,000 quarterly to the library for general use.

She said the additional Love Trust grant for $10,000 was given specifically for the program.

Cain said they hope to attract more teenagers to the library with the service.

“There will be a new teen space in the library,” she said. “Our interest is increasing the number of people who can take advantage of library resources.”

Cain said they became interested in the program after speaking to librarians in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area who also use Tutor.com.

About 1,800 public libraries across the country offer the service, she said.

Ronald Bergquist, clinical assistant professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science, said services like Tutor.com are examples of how libraries are always adapting to new technology.

“Our focus is on teaching people theory, so they can go out and be leaders in practice,” he said.

Cain said the last donation for a specific program to the library was for the purchase of five Kindle e-readers — a program so popular that it has a 76-person waiting list.

And Bergquist said technologically advanced programs like these go beyond what a library is traditionally thought to provide.

“They’re not a required function, so no community or city or municipality is required to have a library,” Bergquist said.

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.

“So keeping libraries vital and active is always a constant challenge.”

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.

Special Print Edition
The Daily Tar Heel's Collaborative Mental Health Edition