Monrovia Library - Monrovia Volunteer Dedicated to Literacy

Monrovia Volunteer Dedicated to Literacy
Joan Sinsheimer has been a longtime volunteer for literacy in Monrovia.
Monrovia.Patch.com: 10.21.2011 by Alison Roeske

Artist, tutor, and fitness buff Joan Sinsheimer has traveled the world, but nowadays, she spends much of her free time at the library teaching people how to read.

She has dedicated many hours over the years to tutoring adults enrolled in Monrovia Public Library’s Literacy Services program and children in the Monrovia school district. Sinsheimer first began volunteering at Monroe Elementary because of a friend she met at her gym, Movement Unlimited.

“One of the reading specialists asked me if I wanted to be a volunteer,” said Sinsheimer. “I just wanted to contribute to the community.”

At first, Sinsheimer volunteered with Monroe Elementary’s Language Arts program, where she helped students focus on reading texts, improving their reading comprehension, and increasing their vocabulary.

Sinsheimer began working with Literacy Services when the old Monrovia Public Library building was still standing. She appreciates the new library, which she said is larger and has more access to technology. She has tutored numerous adults through Literacy Service’s program over the years.

“I like the flexibility of it. I can meet whenever it’s convenient with my student,” she said. “My student reads to me a lot. I pick words that are unfamiliar to her and she writes sentences from the new words.”

Currently, Sinsheimer works with a cosmetology student who emigrated from Mexico.

“I’ve always liked libraries, I’ve always liked schools, and I’ve always liked fitness. Those are things I seek wherever I go,” she said. READ MORE !