Literacy – Spanning the US :: Wisconsin :: W Cook Co IL :: New Castle-Henry Co IN

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.     

@LitNet 

Phillip Morgan talks about how Literacy Network helped him

YouTube: 2.21.2018

Literacy Network

“It’s one thing to help a man up, but it’s another thing to help him get his education so he can stand up on his own.”  WATCH

Literacy Volunteers

Western Cook County

If you can read this headline, maybe you can help

Chicago Tribune: 2.21.2018 by Paul Sassone

Sometimes we take it for granted that everyone knows how to read.

This, unfortunately, is a false assumption. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are more than 30 million adults with low reading skills, a number that represents approximately 14 percent of the population.

The estimate for Cook County is that one in five adults has low reading skills.

Yet it is by the written word that we encounter the greatest minds throughout history, and it is through writing and reading that we pass what we know to the future. In fact, reading is the way we learn there even was a past. We can't ask Plato what he thought or Newton what he discovered.

Reading also is fun. Think of all the wonderful moments you've spent flipping through the sports section on a Sunday morning or curled up on the couch, trying to figure out who the murderer is before Sherlock Holmes does.

In fact, reading can be the key to survival. For those who can't read, or barely can read, the world can be a cold and forbidding place.

How do you get a job if you can't read?

How do you know which bus to take?

How do you order from a menu?

How do you know how much medicine to take?

How do you get a driver's license?

How long do you cook a microwave dinner?

There is a lot you can't do — and a lot that is much more difficult to do — if you can't read.

For those who need help with their reading skills, the Literacy Volunteers of Western Cook County can help. Based in Oak Park, this nonprofit agency provides free tutoring to adults with reading problems or for whom English is a second language.  READ MORE >>

Library bringing back adult literacy program

Courier Times: 2.21.2018 by Travis Weik

The New Castle-Henry County Public Library wants to do more to help patrons and area residents be successful in life.

Library director Winnie Logan wants to get the Adult Learning Center back up and running strong. Specifically, Logan wants to bring someone on who can help those adults in the community who can’t read well enough to even begin studying for their high school equivalency tests.

“We need more literacy services in Indiana,” Logan said.

The library board voted Monday to let Logan hire a part-time adult learning coordinator. This person will go out into the community and recruit volunteers to help at the library with reading and basic math skills.

There are already programs in the area that are designed to help adults get their high school diploma, but people can’t even get into those programs if they cannot read at the fourth-grade level.

The New Castle-Henry County Public Library may be the only program in the area designed to help adults develop those base skills.

“The need has not gone away at all,” Logan told her board.  READ MORE >>