Guidelines and Expectations

Below are guidelines and expectation for the Partners in Technology (PiT) Program. By applying and confirming your participation, you are agreeing to follow the rules listed below as well as the Normal Public Library's Rules of Conduct for Library Users Policy.

Mentors

• Attend orientation or make other arrangements with Jane Jankowski before beginning PiT.
• Submit to a background check.
• Have a Normal Public Library or Bloomington Public Library card in good standing - not barred, expired, or with fines exceeding $5. (Contact Jane Jankowski if you need help obtaining a card or ensuring it is in good standing).
• Arrive early or on-time for all meeting times.
• Meet a total of 8 times for 1 hour with your partner at the library, preferably over the span of 8 weeks.
• Check-in for meeting times at the Children's Information Desk.
• Meetings can take place on either the Main or Children's floors of the library. Do not meet behind closed doors or in sequestered areas.
• Physical resources may be checked out from the Children's Information Desk with a library card in good standing. You are responsible for returning any physical resources and their accompanying pieces in the condition you found them to the Children's Information Desk at the end of your meeting. While the library has additional copies of some of these items available for checkout, the copies you will use for Partners are for in-library use only.
• Communicate with your partner and their guardian about meeting times. If a meeting must be missed, work out a time to make it up during open library hours. Make sure to contact your partner with as much advance notice as possible.
• Check the Partners in Technology site weekly with your partner at the beginning of your meeting for updates on necessary forms or new resources.
• Provide feedback throughout the program via google forms.
• Communicate with guardians in person or via email at least twice during the program to let them know what you and your participant are working on.
• Contact Jane Jankowski immediately should conflicts or challenges arise.

Participants

• Arrive early or on-time for all meeting times.
• Check-in for meeting times at the Children's Information Desk.
• Be respectful and engaged during meetings.
• Communicate with your partner about what areas of technology you want to explore.
• Check the Partners in Technology site weekly with your partner at the beginning of your meeting for updates on necessary forms or new resources.
• If physical resources are checked out for your session, you are responsible for keeping up with all pieces, helping with clean up, and ensuring that resources are returned to the Children's Information Desk before you leave the library after your meeting.
• Provide feedback throughout the program via google forms.
• If your parent or guardian does not check in with you, know who to contact if you need to be picked up.

Parents/Guardians

• The program runs for 8 weeks with 1 meeting per week scheduled at an agreed upon time.
• Ensure that your child arrives early or on-time for all meeting times.
• Mentors are volunteers from the community who are donating their time to meet with your child. Please keep this in mind and avoid being late, cancelling, or rescheduling meetings unless absolutely necessary.
• Communicate with your child's partner to confirm meeting times. If a meeting must be missed, work out a time to make it up during open library hours. Make sure to contact your child's partner with as much advance notice as possible.
• It is not necessary for you to walk your child to the Children's Information Desk to check-in. However, if you choose not to do this, please make sure that your child knows who to contact and how if something comes up or if a mentor does not arrive.
• Per the Rules of Conduct for Library Users, children over the age of 8 can be at the library unsupervised by a parent or other responsible caregiver age 16 or older for no more than an hour. The library, library staff, and library volunteers do not assume responsibility for participants before checking in or after ending their meeting session each week.
• Partners in Technology is not a tutoring program, but rather a program to foster a life-long love of learning and technology exploration. Your child might choose to work on the same subject each week, or they may choose to work with a range of available technologies throughout the program. The intent of the program is not to produce experts, but to give them the skills, tools, and confidence to continue their technology exploration on their own beyond the 8 week program.
• Participant feedback may be used in presentations or articles for the purposes of the Libraries Ready to Code grant initiative.