Literacy – Spanning the US :: Athens-Clarke Co GA :: Denver CO :: Kenosha WI :: Tulare Co CA

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.     

Athens Clarke Library

Athens Regional Library Association Funds Culinary and ESL Classes with Grant

Red And Black: 12.05.2018 by Anika Chaturvedi

Entering a library usually offers the smell of old books, but on Nov. 5, the aroma of basil wafted into the air upon entering one room of the Athens-Clarke County Library.

This delicious smell was courtesy of the American Dream Literacy Initiative Grant awarded to the Athens Regional Library Association earlier this year.

Although the six-week culinary and English as a Second Language program has ended, it’s just the beginning of the journey.

“This the first series that we’re doing, and it is something we are planning to roll out to our other library branches in some format in the future,” Eades said.

The six-week program, which ran from Monday, Oct. 22 through Monday, Nov. 19, had the goals of improving participants’ English skills and providing affordable recipes.

The $10,000 grant from the American Library Association and Dollar General Literacy Foundation funded a mobile cart and other cooking equipment.

“It’s cooking skills but it’s also  [English as a Second Language],” said Rhiannon Eades, the public information officer of the Athens Regional Library System. “We’re using a curriculum called the Edible Alphabet program developed by the Free Library in Philadelphia.”  READ MORE >>

@denverlibrary

Denver Public Libraries Are Helping Immigrants Become Citizens

A unique program in the Mile High City seeks to integrate the city's growing immigrant and refugee population into its 75 neighborhoods—and the country as a whole.

PS Magazine: 12.06.2018 by Jennifer Oldhamdec

On a recent wintry night outside west Denver's Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales Branch Library, green-card holder Ricardo Flores proved that he knows more about how the United States government works than many people who were born here.

Flores, who emigrated from Mexico six years ago, studied for weeks for a 100-question civics test that will accompany his December 5th interview to become a naturalized American citizen. At the library, he aced a mock exam conducted by English instructor Joanne Kuemmerlin.

"How many amendments does the Constitution have?" Kuemmerlin asked. Flores answered: "27." And, she queried: "If both the president and the vice president can no longer serve, who becomes president?" His response: "The speaker of the House."

"I want to become a citizen so I can qualify for more jobs," said Flores, a 33-year-old heavy-equipment operator who also practiced reading and writing sentences in English with Kuemmerlin.

Held in a facility ringed by multi-colored aluminum bands, which symbolize the neighborhood's diversity, the practice session was part of a unique Denver Public Library program that seeks to integrate the city's growing immigrant and refugee population into its 75 neighborhoods—and the country as a whole.

About 16 percent of the Mile High City's 700,000 or so residents hail from outside the U.S., and speak more than 140 languages or dialects. This is the target audience for the library's Plaza program, offered at 10 of the library's 26 branches. The 12-year-old initiative offers free citizenship, English, and art classes—as well as child care, homework help, and job search and legal resources—to largely Latino and Asian populations on the city's north and west sides and African and Middle Eastern communities to the south and east. Forty-four hours of programming in 15 languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese, Somali, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Persian, and Kurdish, are offered weekly, on alternating days, at participating facilities.

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From Los Angeles to Houston to New York City, librarians are looking to Denver's Plaza program for inspiration as they seek to provide a safe, non-political space to help immigrants and refugees figure out how best to integrate into the U.S.  READ MORE >>

@KenoshaLiteracy

Literacy Students Express Themselves At Event

Kenosha News: 12.08.2018 by Christine A Verstraete

Adult learners celebrated their reading progress and shared their written personal stories with the release Saturday of the 17th annual Kenosha Literacy Council Student Anthology.

The celebratory event, held at the Woman’s Club of Kenosha, featured guests, family and friends cheering on the students who read their written stories aloud.

This year’s anthology, centering on the themes “Happiness,” “Traditions and Celebrations” and “Beauty All Around,” features stories and essays from 57 authors representing 16 countries.

“This year we had the most participation we’ve ever had,” said KLC Executive Director Cheryl Hernandez. “That makes it kind of fun and exciting this year.”

For the students and the dozens of volunteers who help them, the event and the publication are even more exciting.

Take 60-year-old Nigerian student Bernardine Nwogu, who came to the United States a year ago. She enrolled in the literacy class not long after her arrival — her first time ever attending school in her life.

“My mother learned me,” she said. “She didn’t write in (her) language. My story, I wanted to write it. When I came here, I was very scared. Now, I’m happy.”

It is this kind of determination that makes adult learners like Nwogu and others such a joy to teach, volunteers said.  READ MORE >>

@TulareCountyLib

London Library Marks Two Years of Literacy

Hanford Sentinel: 12.12.2018 by Laura Brown

For Robert Isquierdo, Jr., another dream came true on Dec. 8. It was the second anniversary of the opening of the small Tulare County Library Branch in London he helped come to fruition.

“This is my dream to come read to you,” he told the children, parents and special visitors to the one-room library in the heart of the rural community.

It took years of fundraising and coordinating with the property owners, volunteers, local politicians, community members and the county’s library system to make the facility a reality. Documentaries have been made, interviews were written and the grand opening finally took place October 2016. During all that hubbub, Isquierdo, who happens to be an English teacher at Hanford’s Sierra Pacific High School, never got a chance to do one of the things that he does best: read.

For the second anniversary celebration, a documentary filmed by Johnny Soto for The Big Tell Film Contest was shown, Tulare County librarian Darla Wegener spoke about other plans for the small town and Isquierdo finally had a chance to read a favorite book with library-goers that day.

As he read “What I Do Best” by Allia Zobel Nolan, Isquierdo said he hopes the children take the message of the book to heart and make something positive happen in their own lives.  READ MORE >>