The Oviatt Library’s outreach programming with LAUSD offers many local high school students with the opportunity to borrow books and receive reference assistance from our librarians concerning their assignments. This not only helps them to be successful with their high school research papers but it also helps to acclimate them to the Library and campus and prepares them for college-level expectations.
The Oviatt Library has a special working relationship with Northridge Academy High School (NAHS) in this regard. Located on our campus its teachers and teacher librarian work closely with Oviatt librarians to coordinate Library instruction sessions which will support these students to be successful with their research and coursework. Each spring our librarians visit NAHS and instruct students in finding books and trustworthy articles in our databases. We also talk about the importance of citing their sources and direct them in creating proper MLA citations. Discussing the importance of utilizing Library resources for their assignments instead of going straight to Google is also addressed. Students closer to graduation are guided in more advance research techniques.
After the initial Library instruction at their school, NAHS students visit the Oviatt and put into practice what they learned by retrieving credible articles and emailing these articles and MLA citations to themselves. For many of these students it is the first time they have visited an academic Library. These visits often embody a sense of excitement and accomplishment as they experience the research process in a college setting alongside university students. Beginning this week and continuing through March approximately 800 NAHS ninth, tenth and eleventh-grade students will visit the Oviatt for Library instruction sessions. We are excited for these NAHS student visits and look forward to supporting them in their research process!