Literacy – Spanning North America: Danville IL :: Bergen Co NJ :: Little Elm TX :: Ruidoso NM :: Ottawa ON

DACC seeks tutors for literacy program

Danville Commercial News: 6.04.2016 by Carol Roehm

Danville Area Community College’s Reader’s Route seeks volunteer tutors to help adults learn to read, write and improve math skills.

Forty-five million people in the United States are functionally illiterate. The Reader’s Route literacy program provided by DACC’s adult education division hopes to change that number with the help of volunteer tutors who help people learn to read or read better.

“We’d like to have a dozen tutors,” said Laura Williams, director of adult education at DACC. “We have a couple of tutors retiring.”

The tutor training sessions are set to begin in mid-June to prepare volunteers who want to help adults with basic reading, math and conversational skills.

“Tutors don’t have to be a specialist in any specific thing,” Williams said.

For example, the program helps 20 to 25 English as a Second Language students who need to hear tutors talk and with whom they can practice conversational English, Williams said.

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The Readers Route program, which is in its 32nd year in Danville, is made possible with a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a division of the Office of Secretary of State, using state funds designated for literacy.  READ MORE @

Project Literacy

Adult literacy tutors are always in demand

NorthJersey.com: 6.06.2016 by Jim Beckerman

If you're reading this sentence, you're probably in the habit of reading newspapers – either in print or online.

Which means you're probably in the habit of reading. Which means you probably don't remember when you couldn't read.

Strain your memory – way back to the first grade – and you just might recall vocabulary lists ("boy, joy, toy, Roy, royal.") Or "reading comprehension" paragraphs. Or spelling quizzes. Or punctuation drills.

David Fogarty can't. "I don't remember learning to read, which makes me think I didn't have a problem with it," says Fogarty, a volunteer for Project Literacy of Greater Bergen County, Inc.

In any case, he's getting a reminder now. For two years, he's been working with Ken Ross (name changed to protect his privacy), a highly capable 48-year-old custodian from Bergen County with an awkward problem. He doesn't read too well.

"What did Dave say Bob's friends should buy him?"

It's a question on a "comprehension" exercise called "A Birthday Party for Bob." Fogarty and Ross are going over it, at a table in the second floor lounge area inside the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center of Bergen Community College, where Project Literacy (not affiliated with the college) has its Hackensack headquarters.  READ MORE @

Library banquet honors students in ESL, adult literacy program

Star Local Media: 6.09.2016 by Lorelei Day

The Little Elm Friends of the Library held its sixth annual Adult Literacy Banquet on Monday at Button United Methodist Church. During the banquet, volunteers and participants in the nonprofit literacy and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs were recognized.

The ESL and Adult Literacy programs are run entirely by volunteers from the community. Each participant is first evaluated by the Assessment Team to determine their English proficiency and placed in the appropriate course level. There are a total of four levels to advance through. After placement, students gather for a weekly class to help them with their English skills.

Volunteer Coordinator Diana Russell said there is a great need for the ESL program in the area, but the Adult Literacy program is just as important. There are 26 ESL students and one Adult Literacy student, who Russell said recently completed the final level of the program.  READ MORE @

HEAL: Adult Literacy volunteers begin program to assist domestic violence survivors

Ruidoso News: 6.07.2016 by Jessica Martinez, Guest contributor

Thirty-two million adults in the United States read below a basic level.[1]  Further, 70 percent of prison inmates and 19% of high school graduates cannot read. For these reasons, volunteer groups like the Lincoln County Adult Literacy (LCAL) who seek to help adults improve their reading, writing, and math skills are important in our communities.

LCAL’s volunteers are trained in one-to-one tutoring and offer those services free of charge to adults 18-and-over in Lincoln County and Mescalero.

“The program’s purpose is to improve quality of life for individuals and the betterment of the community,” explained Program Coordinator Deborah Abingdon. 

The group is active in the community, offering several initiatives.

“These include, a women’s literacy program at the Lincoln County Detention Center, an English as a Second Language program for workers at the Ruidoso Downs Race Track, a family literacy project involving Mescalero Seniors, three drop-in computer skills initiatives, and the services the program offers to residents of The Nest,” said Abingdon.

Recently, the group began visiting The Nest to offer their services to the survivors of domestic violence who reside there. “We know that transportation can be a challenge for many of the individuals The Nest serves,” said Abingdon. “It makes perfect sense for volunteers to go to the students.”  READ MORE @

Forest of Reading - 2016

Ottawa Public Library: 6.07.2016 par Megan_Library

Did you know 4 out of 10 adult Canadians, age 16 to 65 – representing 9 million Canadians – struggle with low literacy? (AccessOLA: 2016). The Forest of Reading Program was created to help individuals improve their literacy levels. Individuals with higher literacy skills earn more income, are less likely to be unemployed, experience shorter periods of unemployment, and are more likely to find full- time rather than part- time work (AccessOLA: 2016).

The Forest of Reading Program is Canada’s largest recreational reading program which offers eight reading programs to encourage a love of reading in people of all reading levels: Blue Spruce, Silver Birch, Red Maple, White Pine, Golden Oak and Evergreen. French literature is celebrated through Le Prix Tamarac and Le Prix Peuplier programs. Over 250,000 readers participate in the annual Forest of Reading program through schools, public libraries, literacy centres and within their homes.

The Golden Oak Award developed by librarians and literacy specialists, provides a unique opportunity for new adult readers to read books chosen specifically for them. Golden Oak helps new adult readers to gain the skills to accomplish everyday tasks, as well as foster the love of reading. Readers are encouraged to read one, two, or all of the books nominated and to share their thoughts. The winner is chosen based on the ratings each reader gives to the titles. After weeks of voting, on June 2, 2016, Ontarians have decided: Residential Schools: With the Words and Images of Survivors by Larry Loyie, coauthored by Wayne K. Spear and Constance Brissenden has won the 2016 Forest of Reading Golden Oak Award. Residential Schools honours the survivors, the former students, who attended residential schools.  READ MORE @