[CALIBK12] Funding public libraries: more public, more private and vice versa

[Stephen Krashen]

Intel Science Talent Search 2008
7th place winner 

Xiaomeng (Jessica) Zeng, 18, of Iowa City, studied the
long-standing debate of whether public library funding
from either government or private sources might
adversely affect funding from the other group, for her
Intel Science Talent Search project in behavioral and
social sciences. Using Iowa public library statistics
and U.S. census datasets, Jessica constructed an
econometric model that included public funding,
private donations, population size, and local economic
and demographic factors. Although her data was
restricted to Iowa, comprising mainly of small towns,
she reached the surprising conclusion that funds from
private and public sources are relational - as one
increases, so does the other - an effect called
"crowding in." Jessica attends West High School where
she's active in the Federal Reserve challenge,
academic decathlon and chemistry club. The daughter of
Yu Zeng and Hongbo Xie, she enjoys tennis, yoga and
playing the violin, and hopes to study pro-social
behavior after attending Harvard or Yale. Jessica
immigrated to the US at age nine from the People's
Republic of China, and hopes her research will benefit
the public libraries that helped her learn the English
language.

From:
http://www.societyforscience.org/sts/67sts/Zeng.asp