San Diego Co Library - Adult Literacy Program 2008 Acts of Caring Award Winner

The Adult Literacy Program
of the San Diego County Library

2008 Acts of Caring Award Winner

National Association of Counties
2008 Acts of Caring Award Winners: Libraries

San Diego County:

LEARN/Laubach ESL Program
Cumberland County: Service to Adult Readers (STAR)

April 2008 -- With its high immigrant population, San Diego County officials recognized the high cost of illiteracy, including unemployment, decreased tax revenues and increased social services costs. Seeing a need to teach English as a second language (ESL) to the county’s growing adult immigrant population, representatives of Libraries Empower All to Read Now (L.E.A.R.N.) and the Laubach Literacy Council met to discuss the benefits of creating a literacy collaboration to share the costs of tutor training and working together on publicity for an ESL tutoring program in county library branches.

This partnership brings together volunteer tutors with adult immigrants whose first language is not English. There is no cost to the students. Results of the program show that immigrants who are proficient in English are more able to communicate ideas, find meaningful employment, become more effective parents, contribute to the community and become life-long learners.

In 2006, 25 tutors were trained and paired with 76 students and met an average of 3.5 hours a week over the course of a year for a value of $164,696 in volunteer time. Six library branches participated and two more have agreed to add the program this year. Libraries and L.E.A.R.N. referred 150 new students to Laubach in 2007 for matching with tutors. The program’s budget for 2007 was $5,265.

The partnership has enhanced the services of both organizations, and the program is changing and improving lives daily.

Contact: Nancy Saint John, Adult Services Coordinator, San Diego County Library
Phone: (858) 694-3833

Pomona Library - Pomona trivia bee has a vital purpose

Pomona trivia bee has a vital purpose
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin: 10.10.08 by Suzanne Sproul

For the past 18 years, the Pomona Public Library has hosted a trivia bee to raise money to help people learn to read.

Supporters are putting together teams to do battle in the annual upcoming event. The fundraiser is the brainchild of Muriel Spill, the library services manager, who said she borrowed the idea from a Redwood City library. It has been a fun and successful way to raise money to support the library's adult literacy program and to keep literacy in the public eye.

The fun is set for Nov. 6, at Hinds Pavilion at Fairplex in Pomona. It will begin at 5 p.m. with dinner followed by the high school competition at 6 p.m. Two adult contest rounds will follow, culminating in a championship round finishing off the evening.

Sponsorships are $300 for each three-member team. Teams are being formed now. A $10 donation is asked for those who simply want to enjoy dinner and root on their favorites without having to tackle the trivia.

"It's become very successful for us and very competitive. Teams know which ones are tough and plan accordingly, and they really want to win," Spill said.

This year the trivia bee is loosely tied to the library's and city's participation in the Big Read program, encouraging residents to read the same book. This year the book is Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird." Spill isn't giving any hints out, but she did say if you've read the book you might have a bit of an advantage in the contest.

For information about the trivia bee or volunteering for the literacy program, call (909) 620-2047 or (909) 620-2473. READ MORE

Palmdale Library - Literacy Tutors Sought

Literacy Tutors Sought
Volunteer training set for Saturday
Antelope Valley Press: 9.09.08 By Kim Rawley

Larry Evans was 49 years old and functionally illiterate when he arrived at the Palmdale Literacy Program with a yearning to read books. Today, at 52, he is a tutor with the same program and a college student. Oh, and an avid book reader. When asked his favorites, Evans says, "I like all books. I haven't read a bad book.

"But then, I haven't been reading long enough to distinguish a good book from a bad book," he said with a laugh.

The retired carpenter and Palmdale resident may be a stellar example of the literacy program's success, but he is not the only one. There are about 95 learners in the program right now, and new tutors are always needed. A new class begins Saturday.

According to the program's coordinator, Rod Williams, even with roughly 60 tutors it still takes learners between two to six weeks to get started with one-on-one tutoring, although they can begin the process with an assessment and participate in small-group workshops.

Evans arrived at the Palmdale Literacy Program reading at a roughly third-grade level, even though he had graduated from high school. "I played football, so they just scooted me right on through."

"The literacy program broke the language down to be so understandable," Evans said.

According to Evans, you don't have to have teaching experience to be a tutor, just empathy.

"A good tutor is someone who will listen to students to get an understanding of their level."

It takes a lot of talking and listening for tutors to get a sense of what learners already know.


As well as becoming a literacy advocate, Williams said Evans "has been working with New Beginning Outreach and the city of Palmdale's Neighborhood House, creating and facilitating a vocational training program aimed at helping to teach prevocational skills (such as how to dress for an interview, interview tips and general expectations of the workplace) and providing job leads to those who successfully complete the course."

"The class is structured to remind the students that in order for people to want to write a check to you, you have to be productive every day," Evans said.

He sees his community work as a way to honor the volunteers who helped him achieve literacy.

Literacy training is a free service for English-speaking adults. All tutoring is done by volunteers, who need to be able to commit to a six-hour training session and two to three hours a week.
For details, call (661) 267-5682. READ MORE