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The Pilot Program
Background – No Need to Reinvent the Wheel
There are several very successful student media programs across the country which are focused on the creation and production of digital music and thereby avoid all the issues and costs associated with the acquisition, storage, security, and fragility of physical instruments and also – even more importantly – permit participation in various ways by far more students who do not require any prior training and/or performance skill with one or more instruments.
The existing programs have developed age-appropriate curricula, and some have even assembled low-cost digital equipment packages which can be assembled and replicated anywhere. These kits have the additional virtue of being portable (and often battery powered) so they are easily moveable and securable in instances where the space dedicated to the music program is shared with other uses.
While the underlying technology is constantly advancing and often becoming more robust and less costly at the same time, the good news is that the lion’s share of the “smarts” is software based so that the equipment itself can be used for many years and regularly upgraded through newly developed and delivered programs.
Economics – Low or No Cost for Anything Other than the Gear
The basic expenses of the program (apart from the equipment which should cost about $1500 per location) would be the attributed sunk cost of allocating some likely unused space in each facility to this program (on a dedicated or shared basis if necessary) and the costs of a part-time or full-time mentor, supervisor or instructor who could also be a regular existing employee of the library and who perform other services throughout the day when the prime users (teens 13-17) would generally be in school. It’s likely that some portion of the mentors and instructors for the LL program could also be drawn from and/or provided by local schools and could be either other students or teachers interested in and/or teaching music at the schools.
Locations of the Pilot Program – Phase One
The Pilot Program would be based in the Chicagoland area at roughly twelve of the most-heavily visiting libraries willing to participate in the program. These venues would be distributed across the north half of the city (as indicated by the Ex. A map) with an emphasis on being located fairly close to one or more major high schools which would serve as feeders for the program as well as a source of potential instructors and mentors. The Ex. B map shows the locations of the largest high schools located within reasonable proximity to the target libraries. Having the libraries somewhat concentrated geographically makes it easier and considerably less costly to have regular visitation and any necessary maintenance and upgrading handled by a small LL support team during the pilot.
Costs, Personnel, and Budget for the Initial Pilot Program
TBD…There are a great number of variables, and the available in-place resources will differ significantly from place to place (and ultimately state to state) so the program costs are not finalized at this point even for the Pilot program which we expect to begin formally in January, 2023 after several months of planning, training and preparation of materials.