Riverside County Library - Libraries stress literacy's importance:

Libraries stress literacy's importance:They offer an array of programs for children and adults.
Press-EnterpriseL September 25, 2001 by Marilee Reyes

Without the ability to read adequately, daily living is full of obstacles.

For children, schoolwork is next to impossible. For adults, applying for a job, taking a test for a driver's license or reading the instructions on a bottle of cough medicine can be a nerve-wracking challenge.

According to Paula Owen, former branch manager at the Valle Vista Library, there are many reasons people can't read or have difficulty doing so. Sometimes the problem is physical, such as optical or neurological conditions that hamper learning. In these cases, special steps need to be taken by the person affected to try to correct the problem, Owen said.

Libraries offer numerous programs to help children and adults learn to read, she said.

Usually with adults, their inability to read or to read adequately was never addressed when they were in school, Owen said. An adult who can't read also has to deal with the embarrassment of not reading and often is too uncomfortable to ask for help to learn.

Help is confidential

One of the reasons the library tutoring programs are confidentiality-based is to encourage more adults to take advantage of the free tutoring programs, according to area literacy workers.

The Riverside County Library System branches in Valle Vista and San Jacinto and the city-run Hemet Public Library offer programs such as Families For Literacy and Adult Literacy.

At the Valle Vista branch, a phonics-based program for school-age children, Read at Last, began earlier this month. Offered Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3 to 5 p.m., it includes tutors.

Dawn Wasley, acting branch manager, said that after an initial interview to determine a child's needs, the student meets with the tutor three times a week for at least 20 minutes for four to eight weeks. There is no charge, but an appointment schedule is required. In addition, homework help is also available.

Sharon Aguagenti, branch manager at the San Jacinto Library, said the branch is putting together a program called Project Dream in conjunction with the San Jacinto Unified School District. It is expected to begin in November.

Aguagenti said students will be referred to the library after an evaluation using school district testing. The library will train the volunteer tutors and coordinate the program.

Nancy Johnson supervises the Families for Literacy and the Please Read To Me programs at the Hemet library. Please Read To Me is designed to encourage new parents to read to their babies.

"We want parents to know how important it is to read to their children from this very early age," Johnson said.

Please Read To Me is open to parents and infants born since May. The parent enrolls at the library and receives a tote bag, book and information on how to read to a child. Every six months they get an incentive gift. When the child turns 3, he or she receives a special invitation to attend the preschool story hour.

"Of course, preschool story time is a long-standing tradition," Johnson said. The program, which begins Oct. 4 at 10:30 a.m., will be conducted in eight-week segments.

Breaking non-reading cycles

Laurie Eastman, Riverside County coordinator of Families for Literacy for the county, said that ordinarily the parent is a child's first teacher.

"If they can't read, they're not modeling to their children," Eastman said. That continues the cycle of generations of non-readers, she said.

Families for Literacy is available at each library to families with preschool-age children. The parents are helped with their reading and they are given books to take home and read with their child.
"The whole point is to have the child to sit on your lap while you read," Eastman said. "And if you start with this from birth, holding your child on your lap when you read, you create a special bond, a closeness. You're teaching them a love of reading."