Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Literacy Tribune Newsletter: May 2011

Literacy Tribune: May 2011
The Adult Learner Network Newsletter

United Literacy, a non-profit organization, provides resources and support to adult literacy learners in the United States. Its aim is to make literacy education accessible and worthwhile for adult learners.

Main Story: Rising Gas Prices – Where Will They Stop?

History Lesson: Memorial Day: was first celebrated on May 30, 1868

Financial Literacy: Got a Budget?
Been thinking about money?


Member Spotlight: Jefferson Vidal
Age 43, just got his driver’s license. He found the Literacy Volunteers of Monmouth County in Long Branch NJ

Technology Watch: Mozilla Firefox 4: a web browser.
By Daniel Pedroza, Writer and Learner


The Literacy Tribune is looking for adult learner writers.

Are you an adult learner ?
Do you want to write ?
Do you want to publish your writing ?

You can write about:
Your road to literacy
Your literacy organization
Literacy resources you like

You can write book reviews, poetry, short stories
You can write articles about health, finance, or technology
You can write just about anything !

Monday, May 2, 2011

Imperial County Library - Reading is a family affair

Reading is a family affair
Imperial Valley Press: 4.03.11 by Roman Flores


Two-year-old Safera Ayala of Imperial was all smiles as she scanned the table to pick out the free book she was going to take home.

“Dora!” she exclaimed as her mother, Julissa Ayala, showed her a colorful Dora the Explorer book.

This was one of the many sights Saturday during the LEARN Family Literacy Picnic at Eager Park here.

The Literacy Picnic was an event set to raise literacy awareness while acknowledging the many volunteer tutors, book learners and their families of the LEARN adult literacy program, said event coordinator Monica Reyes.

“We’re trying to send out the message that the library is the lifelong place to learn year-round,” said Imperial County Librarian Connie Barrington. “I think people automatically think ‘books,’ but libraries are so much more nowadays.”

For more information on the LEARN program visit your local library or call 760-355-1332. READ MORE !

Friday, April 29, 2011

CA & National Literacy Calendar: May 2011


California Literacy Calendar: May 2011



SCLLN Literacy & Library Events & Conferences: local, California and National.

Southern California Library Literacy Network
for more information

Info about local Tutor Training Workshops is always Scrolling in the Right Frame

Local Literacy Events: May 2011

May 5+ Village of Tales Storytelling Festival Ojai CA
May 7 Spring Workshop: Children's Literature Council Los Angeles Public Library
May.14 Women's Literary Festival - Santa Barbara
May 17 7:30pm Special Education:Challenges-Triumphs Providence Tarzana Med Ctr
May 18 5:30pm Eat Drink Read = San Diego Council Literacy


California Literacy Events: May 2011


May. 5+ Health Literacy Conference Irvine CA
May 13 9am Tulare County Learner-Tutor Conference Three Rivers CA
May 18 Library Legislative Day - California Library Assn. Sacramento CA


National & International Literacy Events: May 2011


May 2+ Children's Book Week

May. 4+ Plain Talk About Reading Institute New Orleans
May. 4+ Solutions for Assistive Technology Conference Baton Rouge LA
May. 5+ Health Literacy Conference Irvine CA
May 7 Toy Library Association Conference Paramus NJ
May 8+ IRA Annual Conference Orlando FL
May 9+ National Library Legislative Day Upper Senate Park
May 17+ Computer Assisted Lang Instruction Cons - Univ of Victoria, BC
May 23+ BookExpo America NY NY
May 25+ Canadian Library Association Conference Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 27+ Storytellers of Canada Conference Yellowknife Northwest Territories

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Oceanside Library - A Pair of Honorees

A Pair of Honorees
Oceanside Reads: Spring 2011

Two women who have joined the READS tutoring team within the last two years were honored at this year’s library volunteers luncheon in late February. They are Alma Sisco-Smith and Andrea Spolidoro.

Both of these high-energy women have been busy in recent months laying the groundwork for a larger and stronger READS program—in addition to keeping up with their regular tutoring assignments. They have mapped the program’s strengths and weaknesses, based on tutor and learner input, and have begun the search for additional financial support.

In addition, along with Coordinator Corrie Miles, they have been in close touch with Library Director Deborah Polich about strategies to keep the library’s literacy arm as strong as possible amid difficult financial times.

Andrea comes to READS from a background of working with low-income and minority populations as an administrator, trainer, and community organizer. Her last position was that of associate director of the Asian and Pacific Islander Older Adults Task Force in Los Angeles County. At READS, Andrea is currently working with learner Xinzhi.

Alma has had a long career at UC San Francisco, where she held a number of key positions, including that of director for the Worklife Resource Center. The center is responsible for overseeing campus initiatives to improve diversity, equity, conflict resolution, and mediation. She has also been a successful grant writer and brings that skill to the table at READS. Her current learner at READS is Toan, formerly of Vietnam.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

SCLLN Member Page

SCLLN Member Page

We have a page of our SCLLN member libraries.
The page has links and phone numbers for each library.

Look for it across the top of the blog.

More Pages - Coming Soon !

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Corona Library :: John Zickefoose Learned To Read At 35, Now Shares His Literacy Struggle With Kids

From illiterate to role model
Once, John Zickefoose couldn't read to his children or order from a menu. Today, he's a school board member and Corona library advocate.
LA Times: January 5, 2011 by Carla Rivera


The metamorphosis is as quick as the turn of a page: John Zickefoose is a hyperactive goose, a laid-back bear, a monkey, a tiger. The children at the Corona Public Library squeal with laughter as the man whose name rhymes with Seuss becomes louder and more animated.

There was a time when reading the simple words of a picture book would have proved impossible for Zickefoose. He spent years in school overwhelmed with sadness that nothing came as easily to him as it did for others. He would become rowdy, preferring to be kicked out of class than to be called on by the teacher.

Zickefoose was functionally illiterate, unable to read a prescription label, his children's report cards or a menu. He was diagnosed as a young boy with dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and didn't learn to read and write until he was 35.

That's when everything changed. He became a poster boy for the Corona library's adult reading program, began to speak publicly about his own struggles and was named the library's literacy director. He founded a nonprofit youth organization.

And on Dec. 7, Zickefoose, 52, was sworn in as a member of the Corona-Norco Unified School District Board of Education.

For the boy who couldn't understand the words on his high school diploma, the journey to the school board was the culmination of a vow to do something meaningful in life and help prevent others from starting out as he did.

"I'll be able to bring, quite frankly, an unusual perspective of what it feels like to be in the classroom and be a failure," Zickefoose said. "I don't want any child to go through what I went through."



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An estimated 30 million American adults can't read a newspaper or fill out a job application. Many have learning disabilities. Others are dropouts, victims of failing school systems. Some are immigrants with deficient English language skills who may also be illiterate in their native tongues.



But Zickefoose is also an anomaly. Only about 5% of adults who need services receive them, mainly because there is still so much shame attached to the condition, said David C. Harvey, president and chief executive of ProLiteracy, an international advocacy group. Zickefoose serves on the board of directors.



"John is a national role model because one of the most effective ways to break down that stigma is to have people who have had this problem talk about it," Harvey said. "He's a shining example of what can happen when someone gets services and puts those new skills to work."



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Now outreach coordinator at the library, Zickefoose appears to be straight-arrow, business-minded, even professorial. But his tie, with an imprint of the Looney Tunes' Tasmanian Devil, hints at a whimsical nature.



He formed UNITY (United Neighbors Involving Today's Youth) in 1996, and it has evolved into a coalition of 80 public and private agencies that have secured more than $17 million for the Corona-Norco school district. A generation of students know him as Mr. Z from his appearances at school assemblies where he preaches perseverance, using his own life as an example.



As a school board member, Zickefoose wants to prepare students earlier for college and a career and to pursue more outside funds for such school programs as arts and music. READ MORE !

Friday, March 25, 2011

Santa Barbara Library - Program Wins Community Service Award !

Program Wins Community Service Award !
Santa Barbara Literacy Newsletter: March 2011

We are delighted to share the news that the Dyslexia Awareness and Resource Center (DARC) and its Board of Directors have chosen the Santa Barbara Public Library’s Adult Literacy Program to receive their annual “Vision and Task” Service Award, honoring the organization’s consistent endeavors and commitment to the adults of our community with learning disabilities.

“Words cannot express how appreciative we are of your organization’s dedication and commitment over the years to the adults of our community whom it is the Center’s mission to help. We cannot think of a more worthy recipient of this year’s award,” states DARC Founder and Program Director Joan Esposito and Executive Director Leslie Esposito.

The Santa Barbara Public Library’s Adult Literacy Program will be honored during an award luncheon at the 15th Annual “Vision and Task” Conference, Saturday, March 19, at the Marjorie Luke Theater. The conference’s main speaker is Rick Lavoie, a nationally known expert on working with children with learning disabilities. Many of you will recognize Lavoie as the teacher in the “How Difficult Can This Be” videos about learning disabilities that we have often shown in training programs.

The Santa Barbara Public Library System has been matching adult learners with trained volunteers since 1987 for free, confidential tutoring in reading, writing and basic math skills. The program has enabled over 2700 adult learners to improve basic skills necessary for employment, daily living, and reading for enjoyment. Over a thousand local adults have volunteered as one-to-one tutors to help other adults read to children, prepare to enroll in college, become citizens, and earn a GED, among other goals. READ MORE !