In April 2014, The Los Angeles Public Library became the first public library in the country to start a Career Online High School for adults.
Since 2014, they have graduated over 875 students, offering a less traditional way for adults to obtain their accredited high school diploma. Their most recent fall graduation ceremony was held on Oct. 20.
“We’ve just found that we tend to attract a lot of adults who have a lot going on in life that might make it hard for them to attend classes in person. So, the fact that it’s an all-online program and is available 24/7 with the support of an academic coach has been really helpful for adult students in sort of priding themselves in that circumstance,” said Kelly Tyler, the managing librarian at the L.A. Public Library for almost 20 years.
“You know, many have children, or they might have multiple jobs. So, they just find that this is one way that they can still prioritize their education.”
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The students also graduate with one of 10 career certificates so that when they finish their studies, they have a job portfolio ready to go if they want to enter the workplace after graduation. Tyler has found that many of their graduates decide to continue pursuing their education with college after they finish their diploma at the library.
“There’s general career preparations – that’s kind of covering the general one. Some of the ones that are pretty popular right now would include home care professionals. We also offer food and hospitality for people who are interested in pursuing an industry credential in that area.
“And there’s manufacturing, retail customer service; there’s a commercial driving course. Childcare and education. So that prepares students also for an industry credential. So, it’s a lot of different opportunities to choose whatever you want, but if you’re not sure, you can always do general career preparation,” Tyler said.
According to Tyler, once students apply for and receive their scholarship, they don’t have to pay for anything. Tyler said they also don’t have to buy anything because all the curricula are integrated into the computer, besides some books required for specific courses.
Still, they could also borrow from the library. Tyler also mentioned that they have 18 months in the time that they get started to complete the program and they can transfer in any unfinished credits as well.
One of their Fall 2023 grads, Jessica Crummie, said she was inspired to join the program after her uncle, Elridge Titus, who had received his diploma through the program, told her about it.
“I chose Home Care Professional to major in because I have been working in the home care medical field since I was 20 and wanted to continue. I had a lot of support from my friends and family and my coaches at the school; they stayed reaching out seeing if I needed help,” Crummie said.
Crummie is from a non-profit organization called Sisters of Watts and is planning on presenting a class to help people begin obtaining their diplomas through the library as well. She said that since she’s graduated, she’s helped three people get started and four more people are supposed to start soon.
“It felt great to be a part of the class of 2023. It was a bittersweet moment for me cause my oldest daughter graduated from high school this year as well and to say I did it with my daughter felt great,” Crummie said.
“Hopefully, next year, one of our 10-year anniversary goals is to reach back out to the graduates and see if we can get updated stories on everybody and hear what they’ve all been doing,” Tyler said.
“Because we know, just from past surveys, that a lot of them do have that goal of going on and getting more education. And a lot of them are also motivated by wanting to prove to themselves they could do it but also wanting to make sure that they’re a good example for their children.”
