Delinquent youth write and illustrate their own books.

LIBRARIES; PUBLIC institutions; JUVENILE offenders; EDUCATION; SEGOR, Phyllis

MIAMI-Dade County (Fla.); MIAMI (Fla.); FLORIDA

This article features the Dade County Juvenile Justice Center School (JJCS) in Miami, Florida, which is one of the recipient of the first Apple Library of Tomorrow equipment grants in 1989. Phyllis Segor, library media specialist and a recent graduate of the Florida State University School of Library and Information Studies, wrote the school's winning proposal Create-a-Book. In the spring of 1990, through the grant, she inspired delinquent youths to write and illustrate their own children's books using Apple equipment. Later, she was to distribute the books to nearby elementary schools. The prize includes two Apple II GS computers, two printers, peripherals, colored ribbons, and accompanying software. The school is housed in a Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services juvenile detention center. Approximately 180 to 220 boys and girls, ages 10 to 18, reside there. Physical size, age and severity of their crime determine where the students will live in the center. The Create-a-book project involved these delinquent youth in using the library. Segor became energized when working with the youngsters and teaching them how to communicate their feelings through computer programs. The average JJCS student reads at third-grade level. Many have dropped out of school. Many are learning-disabled. Unable to function well in a classroom setting, each student required individual attention in learning how to use the computer. They could not be counted on to spell or file anything correctly. At each session they had to be taught how to punctuate a sentence. Despite all the problems, the students have been able to write and illustrate stories on AIDS, the evils of gangs, and talking to strangers on the phones. The most useful software awarded proved to be Appleworks, for it allowed students to both write and draw. INSET: Other Apple Library of Tomorrow 1989 contest winners..