Ventura Co Library ▬ New Year, New Team !

New Year, New Team ! 

Ventura County Library
READ Program

Ventura County READER: Winter 2022

VCL’s READ Adult Literacy program is welcoming 2022 with a team of new tutors who are ready to partner with adults wanting to improve reading and writing skills. READ’s dedicated staff will work to connect you to the right resource that’s perfect for your needs. If you, or someone in your community, wants to practice reading and writing, call (805) 677-7160 and share your literacy goals. Tutoring is free, fun, and totally online.

Did you know that you can finish high school for free though VCL’s Career Online High School (COHS)? COHS offers adults the opportunity to earn an accredited high school diploma and career certificate online. A limited number of scholarships are available to qualified adults looking to advance their careers, prepare for workforce entry, or continue their education — apply online today: vencolibrary.org /adults/career-online-high-school.

READ is welcoming a new manager in 2022. Antonio Apodaca is now heading the program as Education, Outreach, and Literacy Manager. He is taking over for Carol Chapman, who retired after 17 years of providing excellent educational services to the community. Antonio looks forward to continuing to share the love of reading—contact him anytime by email Antonio.Apodaca@ventura.org or phone (805) 218-3821. READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

 

 

Literacy Library Jobs ▬ California: Huntington Beach :: Ventura Co

Literacy Library Jobs ▬ California

Literacy Services Aide – PT

Huntington Beach Library

assists with literacy-related tasks: answering phones; contact with tutors and adults learners via phone and/or email

Salary: $18.30 - $24.53 Hourly

DEADLINE: OPEN

Adult Literacy Site Supervisor, Juvenile Justice Center - PT

READ Ventura Library

supervises volunteer tutors and adult learners at the Juvenile Justice Center correctional facility. 

Salary: $31.15 - $44.64

DEADLINE: OPEN

BayNet Library and Information Network

CLA Career Center

CalOpps

Library Jobs in California

Southern California Library Cooperative

ILA Career Center

 

Ventura Co Library ▬ Career Online High School Guido’s Success Story

Career Online High School  Guido’s Success Story

Ventura County Library
READ Program

VC READER: Spring 2021

As a young boy growing up in El Salvador, Guido Argueta dreamed of flying. He hoped to be a pilot one day, flying all around the world. He was insatiably curious and liked mathematics.

At the time, however, El Salvador was torn by civil war. When he was 5 years old, his mother sought safety for herself and her two sons by moving in with their grandmother while hoping to eventually make their way to the United States. After many years and much effort, their visas were approved and Guido took flight with his mother and brother from El Salvador to Thousand Oaks, California.

A new arrival to the area at the age of 16, Guido enrolled in a local high school. The first few months were “okay”, but homesickness and culture shock soon set in. The most difficult part of the transition was learning a new language. “I didn’t even know how to say ‘hi’ in English!” Besides going to school and all the adjustments there, Guido also had to learn to get a job, buy a car, and become more independent. He worked hard and learned quickly.

🔽
Guido’s life moved ahead. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen, married, and had children. He was successful in his job. All the time, however, he knew that he needed a high school diploma for career advancement opportunities and to be a better help and example for his children.

🔽
Then one day he heard an advertisement on television about online education programs and decided to do some research. That led him to the Ventura County Library’s Career Online High School (COHS). He completed the application process and enrolled at the age of 40.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 7

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 11-13 yrs. old

(Sixth and Seventh graders)

Ventura Co Library ▬ READ Literacy Remote Learning

READ Literacy ▬ Remote Learning

@vencolibrary

VC READER:  Winter 2021 by Carol Chapman, Program Coordinator

READ tutors will continue to meet remotely with their learners for the duration of this pandemic. Some tutors are tutoring via telephone, others are having text-materials mailed directly to their homes. Internet conferencing sites like Zoom, Skype, and Google Classroom are favored by many tutoring partners.

Special materials, designed to use on these computer platforms, have been purchased and will be available from site supervisors in 2021.

VOLUNTEER

We are also pleased to announce that many READ learners, including several who earned citizenship through our program, voted for the first time in November’s election. New tutor training sessions will begin online in February.

If you are interested in becoming a tutor (or want to find a tutor to help you with your reading), call our office at 805-677-7160 or 805-677-7159.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

Ventura County Library ▬ READ Adult Literacy Program

READ Adult Literacy Program

Newsletters

VC Reader: Fall 2020

The READ program is still active, we are regrouping and adapting.

Tutoring partners are not meeting in person at this time.  Many tutors are meeting with their adult students via telephone and conferencing programs.  Tutors still have access to all the familiar materials and they are delivered to your local library to be picked up with your ‘hold’ books during walk-up pick-up.

In addition, office staff are working remotely assembling a selection of new digital materials for learners at every level.

A new series of Tutor Training classes will be scheduled on ZOOM later this fall.

Interested volunteers are encouraged to call the READ office at 805-677-7159 and leave a message.

READ Adult Literacy

@vencolibrary

Our mission is to help adults improve reading and writing skills so that they perceive positive impact on their lives in such areas as self-esteem, employment, family life, and community involvement.

➤ The READ Program trains volunteers to provide free one-to-one reading and writing instruction.

➤ The Ventura County Library has been offering this program since 1984.

➤ Our administrative costs are included in the Ventura County Library's budget.

➤ Additional funding comes from partnerships with other agencies, state grants and donations from businesses and service organizations.

Tutoring Sites

Instruction takes place in library, school, community and jail facilities throughout Ventura County.

These sites are managed by part-time professional educators, referred to as site supervisors.

Site supervisors are available during specified times to assess learner's reading levels, interview tutors, match students with tutors, recommend teaching materials and provide support for learning partners.

Ways to Support Literacy

➤ Become a volunteer
➤ Display a READ Program poster at work
➤ Include READ Program information in your office or church newsletter.
➤ Invite READ Program staff to speak at your meetings.
➤ Make a donation. Gifts are gratefully accepted and promptly acknowledged.

Tutor Training Information

Student Information

Career Online HS

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old

(Twelfth graders)

 

 

Ventura Co Library :: Trivia - Battle of the Brains :: Nov 6

Trivia Night

Battle of the Brains

November 6, 6:00 pm

The Tower Club

Get ready to test your smarts!

Opportunity Drawing, fun prizes!

Audience tickets $10

Includes hors d'oeuvres

To participate, sponsor a team, or for more information (805) 677-7160

Adult Literacy - READ Program

Our mission is to help adults improve reading and writing skills so that they perceive positive impact on their lives in such areas as self-esteem, employment, family life, and community involvement.

Become a volunteer

Display a READ Program poster at work

Include READ Program information in your office or church newsletter.

Invite READ Program staff to speak at your meetings.

Make a donation. Gifts are gratefully accepted and promptly acknowledged.

For more information about how you can support literacy and make a difference in someone's life, call (805) 677-7160.

Ventura Co Library :: Students Earn Diplomas Through Career Online High School

Students Earn Diplomas Through Career Online High School at Ventura County Library

Ventura Breeze: 7.03.2019

Family, friends, and the community attended as graduates from Ventura County Library’s Career Online High School received their diplomas. During the graduation ceremony, held on Wednesday, June 26, in the Topping Room of the E.P. Foster Library, graduates in cap and gown shared their stories and their plans for the future.

Career Online High School (COHS) is offered by the Ventura County Library’s READ Adult Literacy Program in partnership with Gale, a Cengage company. COHS provides adults the opportunity to earn an accredited high school diploma and career certificate by utilizing the flexibility of the Internet to accommodate busy adult schedules, at no cost to students.

Tutor Training Orientation

Oct 21, 2019

5 - 8:30 pm

Please call and make a reservation:

(805) 677-7160

Ventura Co Library :: Ventura COHS Success Story

Ventura COHS Success Story

With Library’s Support, 52-year-old Mom of Four Overcomes Obstacles to Finally Earn Her High School Diploma

Venco Library News: 9.13.2018 by Scribbles

Ventura County Library’s Career Online High School program helps adult student improve her family’s life.

Tammy Marquez always wanted to earn her high school diploma, but she was worried that reaching her fifties meant it was too late to achieve this educational milestone. Early motherhood caused her to drop out of high school in her teens, but Tammy knew that was no excuse to stop her education, especially since her family had grown by three more boys since then. Once her eldest son reached the age of 20, Tammy was motivated to consider non-traditional options so she could be a role model for her children.

Several years later when she learned that Ventura County Library offered Career Online High School to residents 19-years-old and older, Tammy knew this was the way to pick up where she left off. The accredited program enables students to earn their high school diploma — not a GED — while gaining real-world career skills along with a career certificate, all in 18 months or less. The only requirement for residents to enter the program is complete a 15-question online self-assessment, participate via an in-person interview and then pass a 2-week pre-requisite course with a grade of 70% of higher.  READ MORE >>

To be considered for the COHS program, applicants must:

  * Be an adult aged 19 or older

  * Be a resident of Ventura County Library service area

  * Have a library account in good standing

       (or be willing to get a Ventura County Library card)

  * Have successfully completed an online self-assessment and a two-week

       prerequisite course, followed by an in-person interview

Ventura Co Library :: County Libraries Seek to Help Adults, Kids Struggling with Reading, Writing

County libraries seek to help adults, kids struggling with reading, writing

VC Reporter: 6.20.2018 by Alicia Doyle

Letters and words hold the code for almost everything in life — road signs for driving, aisle signs at the grocery store, price boards at the coffee house, pharmacy instructions for prescriptions, and emails and letters from loved ones.

“Almost every aspect of life is impacted by the need to decode and interpret print,” said Kelly Behle, director of the Simi Valley Public Library.

In its efforts to promote literacy, the Simi Valley Public Library is among others countywide that offer programs to help individuals, including those with dyslexia, a learning challenge that makes it difficult for a person to read quickly and automatically.

“Dyslexia does not impact intelligence or creativity,” said Behle of Camarillo.

Perhaps the biggest myth surrounding people with dyslexia is that they are less intelligent than someone who isn’t dealing with that challenge, Behle said.

“We don’t tend to think of hurdles such as poor eyesight or hearing loss as impacting intelligence, so it really is an additional burden for kids and adults who have to deal with dyslexia,” she noted.

And because reading is foundational for other learning, “the inability to read fluently, unfortunately, can have a devastatingly negative impact on school success.”

═════════►

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a general term for neurological disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read, spell and pronounce words, letters and other symbols, said Carol Chapman, Program Manager for the Ventura County Library’s READ Adult Literacy Program.

These disorders do not affect general intelligence, emphasized Chapman, of Ventura.

“In fact, most people with dyslexia are very intelligent and talented,” she said. “Many successful and well-known actors, scientists, inventors and artists have dyslexia.  READ MORE >>

Simi Valley Library Literacy

Teri Smyres, Site Supervisor

Tues & Wed 4:30 - 7pm

(805) 256-5122

Ventura Co Library :: Hill Road Library :: READ Site

Hill Road Library – READ Tutoring Site

The Ventura County Library Adult Literacy READ tutoring site at the Hill Road Library in Ventura is now open and accepting new students!

New students are always welcome.

The READ program is also looking for adult volunteers.

Training is free.

For more information about how you can support literacy and make a difference in someone's life, call (805) 677-7160.

Ventura Co Library :: NEVER TOO LATE TO GRADUATE New program available via the county library boosts the high school completion rate

NEVER TOO LATE TO GRADUATE

New program available via the county library boosts the high school completion rate

VC Reporter: 3.21.2018 by Michael Sullivan

Tammy Marquez, 52, of Oxnard, a single mother of four, has seemed to have a bit of good luck most of her life, at least when it came to working without a high school diploma. Though she dropped out of high school her junior year at Chatsworth High School after getting pregnant, she was able to manage pretty well the next 30-plus years of her life. It wasn’t until her position doing wine club sales, where she worked for six years, was no longer available and she didn’t get one particular job because she lacked a high school diploma, that she decided it was time to tie up that loose end. She did so by enrolling in Ventura County Library’s Career Online High School.

“I signed up to get a GED but it was difficult to get to class,” Marquez said. “I heard about this online and jumped on it.”

Marquez, along with five others from around the county in caps and gowns, accepted her high school diploma in the Topping Room of the E.P. Foster Library on Tuesday, March 20, the first graduates of the program. The online high school, offered by Ventura County Library’s READ Adult Literacy Program in partnership with Gale, a Cengage Learning company, has been around for about two years and the program takes about 18 months to complete. Marquez plans to pursue an associate’s degree and work toward providing child care for people with special needs, drawing from personal experience of caring for her 20-year-old son who has Down’s syndrome.

For 15 years, Carol Chapman has been the coordinator of the READ Adult Literacy Program/ Community Engagement. When the California State Library offered an initiative to implement the online high school program, whereby the county library was able to buy and receive matching scholarships for students wanting to enroll, Chapman jumped on it. The library accumulated 35 scholarships, valued at $1,100 each; and currently there 29 students enrolled, six of whom just gradated.  READ MORE >>

Ventura Co Library :: New Library Director Named for Ventura County System

New library director named for Ventura County system

VC Star: 11.15.2017 by Kathleen Wilson

A new director for the Ventura County library system has been appointed.

Nancy Schram, 48, succeeds Jackie Griffin, who has decided to retire in mid-December. Schram, who is Griffin’s top deputy, was selected after a nationwide search.

She was approved Tuesday in a unanimous vote by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

Schram joined the library system as deputy director last year after nine years as the Thousand Oaks library deputy director. She previously worked for the Los Angeles County library system and holds a master’s degree in library and information science.

═════════►

In her new job, Schram plans to stress services tied directly to the library system’s mission of education, literacy and lifelong learning. She wants to find innovative ways to deliver those services, expand them and ensure equal access to libraries.

Also on her list is streamlining operations to ensure the best use of funds and resources.

Schram is credited with implementing the advanced technology for the Hill Road library, initiating a training academy for library staff and starting a program to work with homeless patrons at the E.P. Foster Library in Ventura.  READ MORE >>

The READ Program trains volunteers to provide free one-to-one reading and writing instruction.

The Ventura County Library has been offering this program since 1984.

Become a volunteer

Display a READ Program poster at work

Include READ Program information in your office or church newsletter.

Invite READ Program staff to speak at your meetings.

For more information about how you can support literacy and make a difference in someone's life, call (805) 677-7160.

Ventura Co Library :: Trivia Challenge Literacy FUNdraiser :: Nov 15

29th Annual Trivia Challenge

READ Ventura County Library

Adult Literacy Program

November 15, 6 pm 

Wedgewood Banquet Center

5880 Olivas Park Drive, Ventura

Are you a trivia whiz?

How smart are you?

Find out at the annual Trivia Challenge

Sponsored by Rotary Club of Ventura-South

Tickets may be purchased at the door for $10.00

There will be appetizers, a no-host bar and an opportunity drawing

Entry form and team information

Proceeds benefit READ Ventura County Library - Adult Literacy Program

Sign up, sponsor a team or just come to watch

Donations for our youth teams are very welcome

The READ Program trains volunteers to provide free one-to-one reading and writing instruction.

The Ventura County Library has been offering this program since 1984.

Our administrative costs are included in the Ventura County Library's budget.

Additional funding comes from partnerships with other agencies, state grants and donations from businesses and service organizations.

Tutoring Sites

Instruction takes place in library, school, community and jail facilities throughout Ventura County.

These sites are managed by part-time professional educators, referred to as site supervisors.

Site supervisors are available during specified times to assess learner's reading levels, interview tutors, match students with tutors, recommend teaching materials and provide support for learning partners.

For more information about how you can support literacy and make a difference in someone's life, call (805) 677-7160.

Ventura Co Library :: Adult literacy Program Expands to Ojai

Adult literacy Program Expands to Ojai

Ventura Co Star: 2.23.2017

The Ventura County library system’s READ Adult Literacy Program will open a new location Wednesday at the Ojai Library, 111 E. Ojai Ave.

The READ program provides free help with reading and writing for English-speaking adults. Tutors will be available for free on-to-one tutoring from 5-7:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays. New students are welcome.  WATCH VIDEO

Ventura Co Library :: Carol Chapman Honored by International Literacy Association

Celebrate Literacy Award – International Literacy Association

Celebrate Literacy Award: June 2017

Carol Chapman, READ Ventura, honored by the International Literacy Association.

The Celebrate Literacy Award recognizes organizations, institutions, and individuals that have made significant literacy contributions at the local, state, or provincial level. The hope is that the celebration will familiarize the public with literacy activities in the community and call attention to the work that is being done by the schools and the International Literacy Association to promote literacy worldwide.

Ventura Co Library :: Read to a Child and Support Adult Literacy

Editorial: Read to a child and support adult literacy

Ventura County Star: 3.01.2017

Thursday is our national day to promote and celebrate reading. In classrooms across our county and nation, teachers, parents and other guests will be reading to children as part of Read Across America Day.

This annual event created by the National Education Association in 1998 and held on and around the birthday of the late Theodor Seuss Geisel — Dr. Seuss — offers everyone a wonderful chance to get involved in their local schools and support education and literacy.

Literacy, however, is not just an issue for children. About 18 percent of adults 16 to 65 years old in the United States struggle with basic reading and comprehension, according to the U.S. Department of Education. So today is also a good day to applaud a local program that has been working to improve adult literacy in Ventura County for more than three decades.

The Ventura County library system’s READ Adult Literacy Program — featured in a Star story last week — has been offering free help with reading and writing for English-speaking adults since 1984. It trains volunteers to provide weekly, one-on-one reading and writing tutoring for adults, with sessions held at libraries, schools, jails and other facilities throughout the county.  READ MORE @