Literacy:
Spanning the U.S.
Alameda County: Librarian connects
incarcerated youths to lesser-known writers
Contra
Costa Times: 3.11.2015 by Lou Fancher
Literacy can save a life -- or at least
define one.
Manifested in the personal and professional
life of librarian and advocate Amy Cheney, the idea comes to full fruition for
the incarcerated youths at the Alameda
County Juvenile Justice Center.
Cheney's "Write to Read" program
brings library services and materials to underserved youth. The 54-year-old
Oakland resident has won the "I Love My
Librarian" award from the Carnegie Institution and The New York Times
and was honored at the White House with a National Arts and Humanities Youth
Program Award.
The library program she has helmed at the
center since 2000 is funded by the Alameda
County Library and the county's education and probation departments.
Expanding her sphere of influence, Cheney
created the annual "In the Margins Award" in 2013. After the School
Library Journal published lists of the top books the 250 kids in her facility
were excited about reading, Cheney realized greater attention could come to the
authors and small presses whose stories about people of color resonated with
incarcerated youth.
"What's important is that the whole
world of books revolves around reviews," Cheney says. "If a book
doesn't get reviewed, it doesn't get attention."
Furthermore, incarcerated kids represent "niche
readership" and the books available to them in juvenile detention centers
are limited. The restrictions, like most things in Cheney's life, are simple
constructs that flower into complexity under close scrutiny. READ
MORE !
Literacy Council
student: Learning English ‘opened a big door for me’
Salisbury
Post: 3.16.2015 by Susan Shinn
It took Lucy Vargas
three tries before she got up the nerve to attend tutoring through Rowan Literacy Council.
She’s glad she did.
“Learning English has
changed my life,” says Lucy, who’s been working with tutors for four years. Her
current tutor is Char Molrine, a retired teacher who works with three other
students.
“She’s just a joy to
teach,” Char says. “She wants her work to be perfect.”
Lucy was the featured
speaker at Rowan Literacy Council’s annual volunteer recognition dinner. The
organization also used the recent event to promote its upcoming Scrabble
Scramble, set for April 21 in the special events room at Trinity Oaks. READ
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From the community:
English conversation group meets for 100 consecutive Saturdays
Chicago
Tribune: 3.17.2015 by Steve Carmody, Aurora Public Library Spanish
Materials Librarian
Something special
happens every Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. at the Aurora Public Library at 1 E.
Benton Street.
Adult English language
learners from all walks of life and corners of the world get together and share
their stories and experiences with one another for an hour and a half. It's
more relaxed than a formal classroom setting-some come with a child in tow,
others trickle in a bit late, and fluency levels vary among participants-but
all the conversations are led by a dedicated volunteer from the Waubonsee Community
College Adult Literacy Project.
On February 28, the
conversation group quietly celebrated its 100th consecutive Saturday meeting.
You'd have to go back to March, 2013, to find a Saturday when there wasn't a
conversation at the library. It seems fitting that the milestone event occurred
with volunteer Debbie Angello, of Aurora, leading. Angello, the library's
longest serving tutor, has been volunteering here once a month since 2009.
The Waubonsee-Aurora
Public Library partnership began in 2008 when librarian Tina Viglucci and some
volunteers started offering conversations at the library twice per month. The
conversations caught on, and participants began requesting that they meet every
Saturday. So Elsie Mills, the volunteer tutor coordinator at Waubonsee
Community College Adult Literacy Project, helped recruit a few more volunteers.
Now, thanks to their efforts, the library is able to offer conversations every
Saturday. READ
MORE !
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