The demographics of student-athletes at the University of South Florida closely resemble that of many urban areas in the USA. These students often have little academic success. The School of Information pioneered a credit bearing information literacy course specifically for student-athletes to increase their academic success and to improve their information literacy. The article describes five strategies that make this class successful. These strategies can employed in this class can be employed in other setting such as an urban library or other institution interested in improving clients information literacy.