Santa Monica Library :: Literacy at the Library

Literacy at the Library

Santa Monica Daily Press: 3.18.2017 by Nancy Bender

310-458-8646

If you only visit the Library to check-out books or DVDs, you’re missing a huge part of what Santa Monica Public Library has to offer. Did you know that there is a Library program going on, at one or more of our locations, pretty much every day of the year? In 2016 the Library presented over 1,900 programs that drew over 65,800 participants. We have programs of all types – book discussions, crafts, computer classes, author talks, film screenings, concerts – and for all ages.

While some of these programs are totally, completely, unabashedly for fun – how about a screening of The Secret Life of Pets, anyone? – many are educational in nature and, of those, some speak specifically to learning skills that advance one’s literacy, or “competence or knowledge in a specified area.” Our programs include everything from Story Times for babies and children to computer classes for adults; all with the goal of boosting literacy.

This year, the Santa Monica Public Library (SMPL) expands its educational offerings by launching a new Adult Literacy Program, made possible by a California Library Literacy Grant. The program features volunteer adult literacy tutors working one-on-one with adult learners, helping them learn or improve their reading and writing skills. This new program is part of a larger umbrella of learning programming at the Library.

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Santa Monica Public Library’s Pico Branch offers LEAMOS, a pre-ESL online literacy course for Spanish speakers looking to learn or improve reading and writing skills. The Library has teamed up with the Adult Education Center to host ESL classes, with community and SMMUSD parents receiving priority registration. The first series of classes runs from January through June of this year, with the plan to continue with additional sessions after that.  READ MORE @