Adult Literacy Awareness Month
September Spotlight
on SCLLN Literacy Programs
Palmdale City Library - Literacy Program
Did you know that one out of five American adults cannot read well enough to fill out a job application, understand the instructions on a prescription bottle, or read a bedtime story to their child? That means in the City of Palmdale, there could easily be over 17,500 adults who have problems reading and writing English.
In 1991, Congress defined literacy as "an individual's ability to read, write, and speak in English," but added to this traditional definition the abilities to compute and solve problems in order for an individual to "function on the job and in society, to achieve one's goals, and develop one's knowledge and potential." The new focus, in other words, is on functional literacy.
The Palmdale City Library's Literacy Program is designed for English-speaking adults who want to improve their reading and writing skills. The Literacy Coordinator provides regularly scheduled training sessions for volunteer tutors. Once trained, each tutor then works one-on-one with an assigned learner.
Someone you know could have difficulty reading or writing and you might never be aware of the problem. Functionally illiterate adults mask their deficiencies well. They listen to and observe the world very carefully. They memorize. They ask their trusted family members and friends to read and write for them. It is embarrassing for them to admit that they cannot read or write "like everybody else." However, given encouragement and guidance in a safe and comfortable setting, most of them can and will improve their literacy skills. The Palmdale Library Literacy Program provides that environment and level of support.
Pasadena Public Library - Pasadena READS
English-speaking adults in the Pasadena area can get basic literacy tutoring in reading, writing, and math. Tutoring is free of charge to anyone over the age of 17 and out of high school. Pasadena READS tutors are volunteers who have completed our 14-hour training course. Estimates show that between one fifth and one third of Americans are at the lowest levels of literacy.
In Pasadena, between 20,000 and 41,000 adults cannot read a newspaper, follow the directions on a bottle of medicine, or fill out a job application.
Illiteracy affects people from all social, ethnic, and economic backgrounds.
READ some of the stories that learners have written.
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