Monday, August 29, 2016

Riverside County Library :: To Increase Literacy Among Nonliterate Latino Adults

Riverside County Library System to Increase Literacy Among Nonliterate Latino Adults

The Literacy Headquarters, located at the Louis Robidoux Library, has been selected as one of five libraries across California to pilot LeamosTM (Let’s Read) @ the Library.  Centro Latino for Literacy (Centro Latino), a nonprofit organization headquartered in Los Angeles, launched the project to bring its online literacy course to the state’s non-literate Spanish speakers, which number 573,866 (2009-2011 ACS, PERE pooled file).  The two-year pilot project is supported by a grant awarded by the James Irvine Foundation to Centro Latino to explore partnerships with public libraries. Greg Lucas, California State Librarian said, “In a state which in 2014 gained a Latino plurality, it seems at a minimum good common sense to encourage programs like Leamos™.  Without literacy skills in their native language, proficiency in English becomes significantly harder, if not impossible to attain.”

Public libraries will incorporate the use of Leamos™ as an effective strategy to both promote reading at its most basic level and to effectively outreach to Spanish-speakers in their communities. “Public libraries are a natural ally in fulfilling our mission of creating innovative solutions that transform lives through literacy.  Leamos™ @ the Library is the portal for nonliterate Spanish speakers to close both the basic and digital literacy gaps and to increase civic engagement,” stated Mari Riddle, Centro Latino President and CEO.  “Learning to read and write is ground zero. Many students have described learning to read and write as being able to see after a lifetime of being blind – ‘Ya tengo ojos (Now I have eyes)’”.  READ MORE @

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