Ventura County Library*

The Ventura County Community College District (VCCCD) is expending significant funds to provide remedial reading, English and mathematics classes to students who should have gained these skills prior to college. VCCCD Response to FA-06: Providing remediation for basic skills students is part of the mission of community colleges. R-02. The Grand Jury recommends that a means to reach out to potential volunteers be initiated. There are a number of programs that could be staffed with volunteers. Also, the VCLS may find that the community will help support the development of new programs, such as: used book sales tutoring for remedial reading, English and mathematics, to relieve the VCCCD and enhance the services provided by the VCLS enhanced study programs research assistance and guidance encourage more help from the list of organizations, identified as "Friends of the Library" and the local public provide programs that showcase the library and expand public awareness, such as professional workshops and entertainment pursue electronic and Internet programs that offer the library participants volumes of information and references that could not be housed within a small library investigate the potential of linking the libraries within the VCLS, whereby every library within the system has total access to the collective information sources of the system libraries pursue and encourage book clubs, business groups and organized educational entities to use the facilities in their local library VCCCD Response to R-02: Providing remediation for basic skills students is part of the mission of community colleges. Recommendation numbered R-02, if implemented, would require further analysis by parties outside the Ventura County Community College District.