NWACC opens new Adult Education library

NorthWest Arkansas Community College will host an open house on Tuesday (Feb. 11) for its new library for the Adult Education program, located in Room 1300 of the Center for Nonprofits at St. Mary’s in Rogers. The reception will be from 8 to 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, and coffee and doughnuts will be served.
 
NWACC’s Adult Education program offers non-credit classes designed to teach and review academic skills culminating with preparation for taking the high school equivalence (GED) test battery. Other areas such as English as a Second Language and computer classes also are offered. In the 2012-13 college year, a total of 3,134 students were served through NWACC’s Adult Education program.
 
The library collection was funded by an NWACC innovation grant. Such grants are awarded to faculty and staff to help provide financial support for innovative ideas that are not currently supported through the operating budget. The grants enable faculty and staff the opportunity to implement an idea with a pilot project. In some cases, innovative grant projects have become a continuing initiative with some operating budget support in successive years.
 
Several faculty, administrator and staff members collaborated on the project, which was initiated by Librarian Erin Galbraith. Galbraith initiated the project as a graduate school assignment to address an under-served population. Galbraith worked with the Dean of Adult Education Ben Aldama; Adult Education Media Specialist Vicki Kelley; Library Director Gwen Dobbs; and Librarian Rachel Ackerman on this project.