Glendale Library :: Expansion of Literacy Aid Sought

EXPANSION OF LITERACY AID SOUGHT -
GLENDALE PROGRAM WOULD SERVE PARENTS
Daily News: May 25, 1990 by Laurence Darmiento

In an effort to break what experts say can be a cycle of illiteracy, Glendale officials said Thursday they will try to expand Glendale's adult literacy program to target students who have young children.

City library officials are seeking an $18,500 grant from the California State Library so they can teach parents in the program how to encourage their children to read, said Georganna Ahlfors, coordinator of the adult reading program.

"Studies have found most people who have a reading problem . . . don't have a reading ethic, because their families don't value that," Ahlfors said. ''We are trying to intervene in childhood, so that their children don't have the same problem."

The program would target parents with children five years or younger, she said. It would try to teach the parents how to read to their children, how to pick out books for them and, more generally, how reading can be pleasurable.

"We're doing a little of everything," she said.

At its Tuesday meeting, the City Council unanimously approved a request by Library Director Susan Curzon to apply for the grant.

Ahlfors said the program would include classes to teach them how to read to their children and workshops aimed at both parents and children. In addition, professional storytellers would be hired to ply their craft, demonstrating to parents how to tell an entertaining story while showing children the value of storytelling.

Ahlfors said the $18,500 would pay for the salary of a part-time program coordinator for one year, along with the fees charged by the storytellers and other incidental expenses. She said it also includes the cost of buying up to six children's books for each family.

"We want them to start their own libraries," she said.

The three-year-old literacy program currently serves 110 adults, 31 of whom have children five years old or younger, according to a report prepared by Curzon for Tuesday's council meeting. Volunteer tutors serve each of the adults.

Ahlfors said the decision to apply for the state funds was not made earlier than this year because library officials have been concentrating their efforts on expanding the original program, which served 35 adults last January.

"Our program has reached enough maturity that we can branch off," she said.

If the state library approves the grant, the program would start sometime later this year, according to Curzon..

Ahlfors said she hopes that even when the grant runs out the program will continue through volunteer efforts. But she said it would be difficult to start such a program without a paid coordinator.