At 101, This SU Alumna is Influencing Readership in Syracuse and Beyond via Daily Orange

At 101, this SU alumna is influencing readership in Syracuse and beyond

Daily Orange: 3.26.2018 by Sandhya Iyer

A Way With Words

After reading an article on U.S. Census Bureau statistics in 1961, Ruth Johnson Colvin was shocked to learn that 11,000 people in her hometown of Syracuse could not read. Although Colvin said she knew other places in the world had this issue, she was astounded by the prevalence of illiteracy in Syracuse.

She started by visiting a class in the area that helped adults learn English. An avid reader herself, Colvin decided to take matters into her own hands. She set up an office in her basement, sought out volunteers and worked with local organizations to create Literacy Volunteers of America, designed to help adults learn how to read.

March is National Reading Month — a month dedicated to literacy, just as Colvin is. Colvin, now 101 years old, graduated from Syracuse University in 1959 and has since influenced literacy worldwide while remaining young as ever at heart.

In 2002, LVA merged with Laubach Literacy International to form ProLiteracy Worldwide. At first, Colvin thought making a change in Syracuse was going to be the end goal for her organization. Today, ProLiteracy has more than 1,000 volunteers in the United States and a presence in about 30 countries.

There are about 36 million people in the U.S. who have reading levels below that of a third-grader, said Michele Bellso, director of marketing at ProLiteracy Worldwide. But literacy isn’t as black and white as learning to read and write, she added. ProLiteracy serves individuals who are learning English as a second language, who need workforce training and who have reached high-school fluency levels, in addition to those who can’t read at all.

People generally think if you can’t read, you must be unintelligent, Colvin said. But when she heard the stories of illiterate people and how they survived, she realized they were “extra smart.” They had figured out ways of getting by without being able to read things most people take for granted, such as street signs and bottle labels.

“And it’s only because (illiterate people) didn’t have the opportunities I had or others had, not because of something they did,” Colvin said. “People are very important to me … It’s not things, it’s people.”

Since graduating from SU, Colvin has been recognized with an honorary Ph.D. from the university. In September 2017, she attended and spoke at the ProLiteracy Conference on Adult Literacy, which took place in Minneapolis, Bellso said. After Colvin’s speech, a woman hobbled up to her and said, “I think you’re amazing. I’d like to do what you do, but I think I’m too old.”

When Colvin asked the woman how old she was, she replied that she was 80 years old. Colvin responded by saying she was 100, so if Colvin could do it, so could the other woman. She said she saw the woman stand up a little higher and walk away a little more proud.  READ MORE >>

National Literacy & Library Events :: April 2018

National Literacy & Library Events :: April 2018

Literacy & Library Events & Conferences

visit

the Southern California Library Literacy Network

for more information

#SchoolLibrarians

School Library Month

Financial Literacy Month

National Poetry Month

Apr. 01      Young People’s Poetry Day   

Apr. 01      International Edible Book Festival - Books2Eat Global

Apr. 02      International Children's Book Day  

Apr. 08+    Value of Play Clemson Univ SC

Apr. 08+    National Library Week "Libraries Transform"   

Apr. 09+    Summer Library Reading Program Collaborative Conf Denver CO

Apr. 10      National Library Workers Day       

Apr. 11+    Nonprofit Technology Conference New Orleans LA

Apr. 11      National Bookmobile Day     

Apr. 12      Drop Everything & Read Day

Apr. 13+    American Educational Research Assc Conf NY NY

Apr. 13      Elementary Literacy Conference UNI IA

Apr. 13+    Orton Gillingham Conference Charlotte NC

Apr. 13      Urban Librarians Conference Brooklyn NY

Apr. 15+    Intl FundRaising Conference New Orleans LA

Apr. 15+    Cowboy Poetry Week  

Apr. 15+    National Volunteer Week     

Apr. 16+    World Voices Festival of International Literature NY NY

Apr. 17+    Computers in Libraries  Arlington VA

Apr. 17      Haiku Poetry Day

Apr. 19+    American Occupational Therapy Assoc Salt Lake City UT

Apr. 21+    Money Smart Week    

Apr. 23+    Dyslexia Virtual Conference Dyslexia Training Institute Cyberspace

Apr. 23+    Head Start Conference Anaheim CA

Apr. 23      World Book and Copyright Day     

Apr. 23      World Book Night

Apr. 27      Tell a Story Day 

Apr. 28      Indie Bookstore Day

Apr. 28      Great Poetry Reading Day    

Apr. 30+    Children's Book Week "A great nation is a reading nation."

Apr. 30      Dia: El día de los niños/El día de los librosDíapalooza @ Public & School Libraries

State Library Associations :: Conferences

African American Book Events

Book Fairs by State Library of Congress

Children’s Book Council Kid Lit Events

College Children’s & Young Adult Literature Conferences Festivals

Everfest Book Festival Calendar

ILA :: Literacy Calendar Worldwide

Storytelling Events

US Book Festivals

Who doesn’t read books in America? via Pew Research

Who doesn’t read books in America?

Pew Research: 3.23.2018 by Andrew Perrin

About a quarter of American adults (24%) say they haven’t read a book in whole or in part in the past year, whether in print, electronic or audio form. Who are these non-book readers? Several demographic traits correlate with non-book reading, Pew Research Center surveys have found. For instance, adults with a high school degree or less are about five times as likely as college graduates (37% vs. 7%) to report not reading books in any format in the past year. Adults with lower levels of educational attainment are also among the least likely to own smartphones, even as e-book reading on these devices has increased substantially since 2011. (College-educated adults are more likely to own these devices and use them to read e-books.)

Adults with annual household incomes of $30,000 or less are about three times as likely as the most affluent adults to be non-book readers (36% vs. 13%). Hispanic adults are about twice as likely as whites (38% vs. 20%) to report not having read a book in the past 12 months.  READ MORE >>

Literacy Reports & Statistics

   General

America’s Most Literate Cities, CCSU

2016: Book Reading 2016, Pew

2013: Remodeling Literacy Learning, Natl Center for Literacy Education (NCLE)

2012: Improving Adult Literacy Instruction: Options Practice Research, NAS

2007: To Read Not To Read, NEA

2004: Reading At Risk, NEA

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Bonita Springs FL :: Hendersonville NC :: San Diego CA

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.     

Literacy Council

Gulf Coast

Literacy Council leads the way to success

Naples Spotlight: 2.16.2018 by Ann Marina

Naples resident Vincent Carosella teaches English as a Second Language for nine hours each week through the Literacy Council Gulf Coast. He’s been volunteering for 16 years.

“I wanted to help people who are new to our culture,” he said, “so they can more easily assimilate here.” Some of Carosella’s students have obtained better jobs by improving their language skills.

After each lesson, he asks if they learned something new. “Their answer is always yes,” he said. “I’m happy if they learn just one new thing at each meeting.”

Originally from New York, Carosella is retired and lives in Naples for six months each year.

“Some of my clients come and go for personal or work-related reasons,” he said, “but if they stay for the six months when I’m here, they make excellent progress. That is evidenced in my quarterly reports.”

As one of the largest organizations in the country devoted to adult and family literacy, Literacy Council Gulf Coast has provided services for students across Lee County and North Naples for 25 years.

“Every student has unique goals and needs, and we work to help them reach their objectives,” said LCGC President and CEO Susan Holman. About 4,000 people received instruction through LCGC programs in fiscal year 2016-17.

The Family Literacy Program includes the Moms and Tots program and the Kids+ Lifelong Learning Initiative.  READ MORE >>

Blue Ridge

Literacy Council

Blue Ridge Literacy Council Inmate Program – Henderson County
Tribune Papers: 2.15.2018 by Heather Berry

On Feb. 7, thirteen inmates graduated from a life skills training program in the Henderson County Jail. Sheriff Charles S. McDonald, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office and the Blue Ridge Literacy Council congratulated two classes of inmates, one male and female, after they completed a four-week long module in a pilot program developed by the Literacy Council.

The Self-Advocacy and Empowerment workshops promote healthy, lawful, foundational skill building for life and work. Students learned about self-awareness, empowerment, change potentiality, conflict resolution, goal setting and emotional intelligence. The class also connected students with various resources offered in Henderson County to assist them with their educational goals. The workshops were offered on a voluntary basis and had no effect on the participants’ charges, status or sentencing.

Amber Hollinger, the Adult Basic Education Coordinator with the Blue Ridge Literacy Council, said “It has been great to come in and work with men and women in a workshop environment to connect with them, hear their stories and concerns as we deliver skill building that helps them to strengthen areas in their lives. The hope is, and the research shows, that it will be more likely they will improve their quality of life and less likely that they’ll be returning to jail.”  READ MORE >>

@SDLiteracy

Meet Jose L. Cruz of San Diego Council on Literacy in Mission Valley

SD Voyager: 2.15.2018

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose L. Cruz.

Jose, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.

My work in literacy began in 1985. I made a transition from teaching and joined Project READ which was the new adult literacy program for the National City Public Library. As it turns out, National City still has the lowest rate of adult literacy among the 18 cities in San Diego County.

At Project READ, I was a student-tutor coordinator, tutor trainer, and Executive Director, all between 1985 and 1988.

In 1986, the San Diego Council on Literacy (SDCOL) was formed. For the first time in history, San Diego County had a literacy coalition. This corresponded with Project Literacy U.S. (PLUS), which was the national ABC and PBS campaign for adult literacy in America. Things got big and busy fast!

In 1988, I joined the SDCOL as its first paid staff person. My job was to serve the needs of the network of affiliated literacy programs that belonged to the coalition. At that time, there were five programs in the coalition. Today, there are 27.

After 14 years with the SDCOL, I worked for California Literacy, a statewide literacy coalition. This was probably my dream job, but, after three years, California Literacy was forced to close down. All of us were saddened because we had actually delivered on our vision of producing a statewide effort for literacy. My job at that time was to, again, attend to the needs of the hundreds of programs that made up the California literacy network.

For the next two years, 2005-2006, I was the first executive director for the Southern California Library Literacy Network. At the end of the 2006, the SDCOL called me back to serve as its CEO. I have been the SDCOL’s CEO for going on 12 years now. All along, I kept my head down and learned all that I could along the way. When I looked up, 12 years had passed.  READ MORE >>

Inside Books Project Promotes Literacy in Texas Prison

@InsideBooksATX

Inside Books Project Promotes Literacy in Texas Prisons

Correctional News: 2.14.2018 by Rachel Leber

 “There’s so much more to a book than the reading,” Maurice Sendak, the author and illustrator behind “Where the Wild Things Are,” once said. The Inside Books Project (IBP) in Austin understands this better than most — and this is exactly why the organization sends books to prison inmates in Texas.

The key mission of IBP, a community service volunteer organization that sends free books and educational materials to inmates in Texas, is to promote reading, literacy and education among incarcerated individuals and to educate the general public on issues of incarceration.

It is the contention of IBP that every inmate has the right to quality reading and educational materials and that “reading, learning and self-expression are invaluable opportunities that are too often denied to Texas inmates,” according to the organization’s website.

Cuts to prison education programs and libraries are prevalent in the U.S., and IBP exists to attempt to reduce those impacts with a goal of rehabilitation over punishment. The nonprofit strongly believes in the benefits of literacy to the post-incarceration lives of inmates as well as a beneficial relationship between additional reading and increased literacy.

How the program works: IBP receives written requests from inmates for books and resource guides, and then volunteers send each inmate a custom and personalized package based on their letter. IBP currently sends an average of 35,000 free books to inmates annually, and receives an average of 1,200 written requests per month from inmates across Texas. During each volunteer session, dozens of volunteers personally read and respond to requests from inmates. READ MORE >>

Literacy Reports & Statistics

Prison

2013: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education, Rand

2011: Correctional Education, OVAE
2010: Prison Count, PEW
2009: One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections, PEW
2006: Locked Up Locked Out: Educational Perspective on US Prison Population, ETS
2003: Literacy Behind Bars, NAAL 2003

2003: Education And Correctional Populations, BJS

1994: Literacy Behind Prison Walls, NCES

From Awareness to Funding: Voter Perceptions and Support of Public Libraries in 2018 :: OCLC

From Awareness to Funding: Voter Perceptions and Support of Public Libraries in 2018

OCLC: 2018

In 2008, OCLC published From Awareness to Funding: A Study of Library Support in America,¹ a national study of the awareness, attitudes, and underlying motivations among US voters for supporting library funding.

The research, which was led by OCLC with funding by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and conducted by Leo Burnett USA, dispelled longheld assumptions and provided eye-opening insights about who supports public library funding and for what reasons.

@oclc

A decade later, OCLC has partnered with the American Library Association (ALA) and its Public Library Association (PLA) division to investigate current perceptions and support among US voters and how they may have shifted in the intervening years. The partners re-engaged Leo Burnett USA and revisited the survey instrument used in the original research.

Voter Perceptions and Support for Public Libraries Today: Key Overall Results

A majority of US voters value public libraries.

Analysis shows that 55% of voters² view the public library as an essential local institution, and 53% as a source of community pride. Fifty-eight percent (58%) feel that public libraries advance education, and 51% believe libraries enhance the quality of life of any community.

About half (49%) of voters agree that the public library remains an invaluable community resource, even in the Internet age. Over a quarter (27%) see the Internet as a suitable equivalent to libraries as an information source, and only 19% agree that bookstores or online retailers are an easier source for books. Just 13% question the necessity of libraries at all in the Internet age.

Voters frequently visit the library. Seventy percent (70%) of voters have visited the library in person in the past year, an average of 8.6 times. Two-thirds of voters place high importance on foundational library services such as:

• having quiet areas for doing work or research (67%)

• providing free access to books and technology (66%)

• being convenient to get to (66%)

• providing free access to computers and the Internet (65%)

• having a broad range of materials to explore (65%)

 • providing Wi-Fi (64%).

More than half (56%) of voters feel it is important to be able to download a variety of materials via the library’s website; and 52% have accessed their library’s website in the past year, an average of 7.6 times.

OCLC has partnered with the American Library Association (ALA) and its Public Library Association (PLA) division to investigate current perceptions and support among US voters and how they may have shifted since 2008 when OCLC published From Awareness to Funding: A Study of Library Support in America, a national study of the awareness, attitudes, and underlying motivations among US voters for supporting library funding.  READ MORE >>

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Stanislaus Co CA :: Broome/Tioga Cos NY :: Victoria TX :: Kauai HI

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.     

Why literacy is important, and how Stanislaus County programs are finding success

Modesto Bee: 2.10.2018 by Mike Dunbar

Literacy matters. Teachers, librarians, policymakers and even probation officers all will tell you that. But no one knows it better than someone who can’t, or couldn’t, read.

David Geren realized the value of reading and comprehending the written word while sitting in his jail cell. The victim of his own bad choices, the 29-year-old Oakdale man had a child but no job and no prospects.

“A month ago, I was down in the dirt,” he told counselors at LearningQuest, a Modesto organization whose roots go back 40 years. “I couldn’t get a good job, I didn’t have a GED.”

After release and LearningQuest tutoring, Geren was reading well enough to study for and pass the equivalency exam. Now he’s reading – and comprehending – materials and manuals that will help him grasp a new life. He wants to learn welding; more importantly, he wants to provide for his 2-year-old son.

Geren is one of some 600 people being helped by LearningQuest. Of those, nearly 70 are taking classes while in jail.  READ MORE >>

Literacy Volunteers

Broome-Tioga Counties

Johnson City couple gives back volunteering for literacy

AZ Central: 2.12.2018 by George Basler & Connie McKinney, The Press & Sun-Bulletin

Larry and Susan Blumberg love it when one of their students has an “ah hah” moment during their tutoring sessions with Literacy Volunteers of Broome-Tioga Counties.

By “ah hah” moments they mean those moments when a student realizes he, or she, has mastered a new skill in math or reading after hours of work. “They’re very conscientious people, and they want to learn. And they’re grateful to literacy volunteers for helping them learn,” Susan said.

The Johnson City couple are among some 60 active volunteer tutors with the local literacy organization that for more than 50 years has worked to boost reading, math, computer literacy and English language proficiency skills of adults.

Tutors play a key role, Kristen Gordon-Pier, executive director, said. “We couldn’t run the program without dedicated volunteers like Larry and Susan,” she noted.  READ MORE >>

Victoria Adult

Literacy Council

Literacy should never be taken for granted

Victoria Advocate: 2.13.2018 by the Advocate Editorial Board

Chances are you take for granted the ability to read and comprehend what you have read.

Illiteracy, for many of us, is something we tend not to think about.

To be literate opens the doors to many opportunities that we may not realize, like job access and health information.

Many who are illiterate grow up in poverty, and others drop out of school. In most cases, the two go hand in hand.

The number of those who are illiterate, we believe, is astronomical.

About 32 million adults in the U.S. cannot read, according to the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy.

If that statistic alarms you as much as it does us, then doing something about it should be your first step.

That's where the Victoria Adult Literacy Council's and Rotary Clubs of Victoria's 25th annual Knowledge Bowl comes in.

Since 1993, the event, which was launched by the Victoria Advocate, has helped raise funds and awareness to better bridge the adult illiteracy gap on a local level.  READ MORE >>

@HawaiiLiteracy

Coordinator of adult literacy has room for more students, tutors

Garden Island: 2.14.2018 by Bill Buley

There is more to helping adults learn to read and write than putting words to paper.

For Dennis Dresser, knowing the stories of those adults is how he can best do his job as adult literacy coordinator of Hawaii Literacy on Kauai.

Some could be after their citizenship.

Others might be going for a driver’s license.

A few may be looking for a job or hoping to start a business.

But before they can do that, they need to learn or sharpen up on the English Language.

Dennis Dresser might just be their best friend.

“We try and help people in any way they need,” he said. “We take whatever their needs are, teach them what they need to get into it, then help them get into it.”

The 88-year-old has been leading the free program on Kauai the past 14 years. In that time, he and his volunteer tutors have helped hundreds of people improve their reading and writing skills, or even learn English. Many of his students, young adults to kupuna, have come from Japan, China and Chile.  READ MORE >>