San Diego Public Library - READ San Diego - Adult achievement, literally: Man, 54, learning to read and write

Adult achievement, literally: Man, 54, learning to read and writeSan Diego Union Tribune: July 31, 2006 by David E Graham

Library program pairs illiterate, literate adults

At age 52, John Berry had been a tile layer all his adult life when his company offered him a promotion, but it came with one requirement: He had to promise to learn to read and write.


He resisted, but his bosses at California Tile Co. in Clairemont insisted. So he set about to master those skills most Americans take for granted to assume the duties of an assistant supervisor, guiding crews in myriad indoor and outdoor tiling projects, filling out simple notes and even doing some billing.

“I was excited. . . . I didn't know what to expect,” Berry recalled of his first meeting in September 2004.

He soon realized, “I know this guy's going to help me.”

The two men of disparate backgrounds and means were matched as tutor and student through the San Diego Library's adult literacy program, which pairs hundreds of adults who read and write poorly with volunteer tutors, many working professionals.

As Berry sought a way to keep his word to his employer, someone gave him a pamphlet about the literacy program.

He makes the trip, usually from a work site, to the offices of Solomon, Ward, Seidenwurm & Smith, which occupy the 12th floor of the Wells Fargo Building and boast a commanding view of the bay, surrounded by skyscrapers and Balboa Park. Solomon, 74, is founding partner in the firm.

For one recent lesson, they met in a small, quiet room and for a time talked about spelling, going over a list of words Berry had written in pencil on a single sheet of yellow legal paper. He prefers a pencil, like one he held with a rounded lead tip and worn eraser, because mistakes are easier to correct.

“The eraser is my best friend,” Berry said.

Getting to work

The men open a workbook that has sentences to complete with the correct word, exercises in comparative and superlative adjectives, a page that broaches concepts of comparing and contrasting and another that deals with subject-verb agreement.
Berry struggles as he tries to pronounce a word he doesn't recognize.

“Take it slowly,” Solomon encourages.

Berry tries again, “Whu . . . Whu . . . ,” his mouth drawing rigid as he searches for the pronunciation, then says, “Oh God,” and in apparent frustration tilts his head back. The men work together a moment, and he pronounces the word: “What.”

He has difficulty, still, recognizing a few words starting with “wh”: what, when, where.
To not know why the men are here, one might imagine them thrown together by happenstance, like two people standing together on an airport escalator or catching the same elevator but for different errands on different floors.

Affable and earnest, Berry sits in blue jeans, scuffed, tan work boots and white shirt with his company's logo on the chest. Solomon wears gray dress slacks, a crisp white shirt, a dark tie and black dress shoes that would fit at the socials and fundraisers he attended when he was chairman of the board for the San Diego Symphony.

Solomon offers a succinct answer to why he tutors: “It gives me an opportunity, in a small way, to contribute to the solution of one our great social problems.”

Berry continues reading words from the workbook, haltingly, a few he recognizes then one he slows upon. He misses a word, but pronounces instead a word he knows that looks similar.

“You're guessing, aren't you?” Solomon interjects. “That's how he's gotten through his life. It looks like something.”

Getting by

Indeed, Berry has learned to recognize enough key words and symbols to get by, such as restroom signs. He took his DMV exam orally and memorized words to use in his work. Also, his work at grouting tile and setting up materials for a job involves numbers more than reading, he said, adding to its attraction. “There was very little reading in tile,” he said.

Berry, who has two adult daughters, communicates efficiently when he speaks and takes care of himself and his family. He just never mastered the mechanics of reading and writing: phonics – the sounding out of written words – as well as the rules of grammar and syntax and their nuances.

Guessing, and some pride, sometimes created difficult circumstances for him, such as a couple years ago when he leased a pickup truck without understanding the contract, with its extra fees for excessive mileage and for returning it early. He still is paying off a $13,000 debt the deal left him with. He wanted the truck so much he got it the same day, and when presented the contract, he couldn't understand it but just kept turning pages.

“I just skipped through it and pretended I was reading it,” Berry said. “I always did things myself. I hated to ask for help.”

Growing up in Chula Vista, he was thought to be a slow learner and was placed in some special eduction classes at Bonita Vista High School. He did not receive much encouragement at home.

He realized the way to move through school was to “keep my mouth shut.” He received a certificate of attendance.

In a situation in which it's apparent he can't read well, people often look disparagingly at him. “They think you're stupid,” he said.

It's clear he's not. He just has problems reading.

Berry and Solomon say he has progressed to about a fourth-or fifth-grade level on a journey that started, Berry notes, with his mastering the alphabet.

“I can read now for the first time in my life,” Berry said. “Now I'm reading.”

On the job, he reads short notes and road signs, whereas in the past he relied on landmarks for directions. But mostly his supervisory duties involve checking that work is done correctly and planning what will be needed for large projects, perhaps a condominium construction. More important, perhaps, he believes he can express himself better in meetings at work.

“When I walk into a job, I feel just a little bit different, a little more confident in myself,” Berry said.

Of Solomon, he says now, “He's like my dad.” Berry said the relationship has grown so that he even seeks advice during class on occasional personal problems. Solomon regards his efforts here as a way to help a single person.

And now that Berry's working his way up the reading ladder, he has some ambitions beyond reading a little at work.

“I want to sit and read a newspaper,” Berry said.

“Without knowledge, your world is black. You gotta have knowledge.”

After newspapers, some books.

“I want to sit in my chair and go around the world. You can travel around the world in books. I want to learn about the world.”

Photo: Herb Solomon (right) explained a rule of phonetics to John Berry, whom Solomon has been teaching to read and write for a year and a half. Since the offer two years ago, Berry, now 54, has driven twice a week to a downtown San Diego skyscraper, where he meets with attorney Herbert Solomon, who volunteers three hours a week to teach Berry to read.

Ventura Co Library - As easy as ABC?

As easy as ABC?VCReporter: July 20, 2006 by Stacey Wiebe

For one in four Americans, reading and writing is an almost insurmountable challenge. But, with the help of people like Neill Robinson, no one is without hope.

After Lucy Newman lost her baby, holding on to the maternity clothes she no longer needed was just another painful pinprick of constant, needling loss. When she went to the department store to return the clothes, she approached a woman she assumed was Mexican and, in Spanish, asked her for help.

“She goes ‘Excuse me? Where do we live?’ ” Lucy says from a chair in her Ventura home, where a pudgy Chihuahua named Princess is sealed to her lap like a barnacle. Though Lucy’s English is nearly perfect, her words are framed by a thick, Mexican accent. “She said, ‘We live in the United States. We have to speak English.’ She didn’t ask what I needed.”

Before Lucy, now 47, moved to the United States at 21, she didn’t know that the monolithic country to the north — the one that she now calls home — even existed. One of 12 children born and raised in Jalisco, Lucy was never enrolled in school and arrived on American soil unable to write Spanish and unable to speak and write English. “I didn’t know anything when I came to the United States,” she says. “It was like a dream. I never thought I was going to be here.”

Though Lucy eventually sought instruction and tutoring in English from the Ventura County Library Adult Literacy Program, her first decade in the United States was a struggle. When she needed a box of cereal, she would peruse the grocery store aisles in search of a box that matched the last one she bought. For her, it was all about color. The words on the boxes were mysterious, meaningless symbols.

“For the longest time in my life, I felt handicapped,” she says. Upon arriving in the United States, Lucy went to work in Oxnard for a friend for $40 a week and room and board, cooking, cleaning and caring for two little girls. Her mother remained in Mexico and her father, as he had done for many years, traveled back and forth between Mexico and the United States to work in the fields.

Lucy appealed to others to help her write letters to her mother. When she was about 23, she married Alfredo, a bilingual man who was born in Mexico but raised in the United States with his American-born mother. “I was begging Alfredo to please help me learn English,” Lucy says. “I told him, ‘I need you to stay with the kids so I can go to school.’ He said it was impossible for me. He didn’t even want me to learn how to drive. I had to learn myself.”

Lucy continued to beg Alfredo to let her attend school. “One day, I begged him to write a letter for me to my parents,” she says. “He said that the way you speak Spanish is the way that you write it — but I didn’t even know the alphabet.”

When Lucy’s eldest son was 5, she attempted to enroll him in kindergarten and struggled through an awkward conversation in which she was able to get her point across to the school’s secretary. “My surprise was like, ‘Oh, nobody speaks Spanish,’ ” she says. “All my friends spoke Spanish and it was just really hard.” It was then, at the age of 32 and after more than a decade in the United States, that Lucy decided she had to learn English.

Lucy eventually divorced Alfredo and married Jim Newman, a man she met while working as a janitor in Oxnard. It was he who encouraged her to take classes in English and, though he spoke no Spanish and she spoke no English, the recently divorced mother of two and the recently divorced electrician hit it off instantly.

“When I met Jim, a lot of times we would go to the dictionary,” Lucy says with a grin. “He was asking me questions and I didn’t know how to answer back … My father-in-law says, ‘When we first met you, you wouldn’t start talking. Now, you can’t stop talking.’” Before finally being able to speak English with confidence, Lucy went through various phases of understanding. For a time, she could understand but not speak English and still struggles with reading and writing in English — but is determined to keep learning.

“If I had the chance when I was growing up to go to school, I could be somebody,” she says. “It didn’t happen — but I’ll take advantage of what I can now.”

It is hard to imagine that Lucy — vibrant, excited and full of mile-a-minute words — was ever at a loss for them. She wed Jim 16 years ago and the pair have two children — a boy and a girl, ages 15 and 11. The two children from Lucy’s previous marriage, another son and daughter, are 21 and 19. In the 16 years since Lucy began studying English, she has been embraced by staff at the Ventura County Library Adult Literacy Program, where she was first tutored by a woman named Joyce Miller, who has since passed away, and Neill Robinson, who has been her tutor for the past few years.

Though she credits her husband with encouraging her to learn and become literate in English, it’s unlikely there is anyone who sings Lucy’s praises more loudly than Robinson, an AmeriCorps volunteer with the adult literacy program who is clearly inspired by his pupil’s progress.

As an AmeriCorps volunteer, Robinson, who retired four years ago after working for the Southern Bell Corp. for 34 years, is one of about 70,000 Americans in a network of service programs that help fulfill the nation’s needs in education, public safety, health and the environment. He meets with Lucy on Wednesday nights, after she attends Bible study.

“She’s one of our best advocates,” Robinson says of Lucy. “I feel fortunate to be able to work with her. That’s why I went into retirement early — to be able to help others with their challenges.”

Robinson’s eyes tear up as he speaks of Lucy’s success. He describes her as “assertive, smart and with it” and adds, “She has no problem with self esteem at all.” He considers her success in a statewide contest for those learning to read and write a phenomenal accomplishment. Lucy wrote a letter to Anne Frank, about whom she and Robinson had been reading, and placed in the contest over countless other entries. “She didn’t have a clue about anything,” Robinson says. “She wouldn’t even talk on the phone — but look at her now.”

Square one

Lucy isn’t unlike most people who make their way through the door of the Ventura County Library Adult Literacy Program.

Carol Chapman, manager of the program, notes that, while many might guess that the county’s illiterate population is comprised of mostly Spanish speakers from Mexico, the truth is that they hail from all over the globe.

Close to 25 percent are Spanish speakers, but only 14 percent are from Mexico; others are natives of Nicaragua, Argentina, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and various European countries. Still, one of the most common myths about illiteracy is that it isn’t as prevalent among people born in the United States. Last year, Chapman said, 54 percent of illiterate subjects who utilized the program were American-born.

“One in every four adults is illiterate,” Chapman says. “That’s the statistic. If you were at a concert and every fourth person stood up? That’s a lot of people.”

For the illiterate, finding the strength to ask for help can be a crippling challenge. While some simply aren’t aware of the resources that exist, some are too embarrassed, ashamed or afraid to reach out. Additionally, if those people are “getting by,” they might not feel there’s enough need to make the effort. “There are people who can’t do some of the things they want to do — like read to their grandchildren,” Robinson says, “but they own their own businesses because they get help from their spouses.”

Chapman and Robinson know many stories about how the seemingly inconsequential things in life can make or break an average day for someone who cannot read. Illiteracy can strain any relationship — be it marital, parent-child, sibling or friendship — in which one person must rely heavily on another and, Robinson says, “That’s a situation where, if you were married and got divorced, it would ruin your life.”

It can seem inexplicable that anyone born and raised in the United States is illiterate, but, Chapman says, it’s easier to fall through the educational cracks than one might guess. Many of the program’s students can read at a third- or fourth-grade level, but “the leap to multi-syllable words was never made.”

The Ventura County Library Adult Literacy Program, with sites in Ventura, Simi Valley, Camarillo, the California Youth Authority and both county jails, offers free one-on-one tutoring for English-speaking adults, which includes English-language learners who can communicate well enough in English to receive tutoring; the Families for Literacy program, which offers free tutoring for adults with children under 5 and who need help getting those children prepared for school; and the English Language Literacy program, for immigrant families with children enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade. It’s Chapman’s hope that the program will be awarded a grant to fund instruction for adults regardless of whether they have school-aged children.

The program, which is 21 years old, currently serves about 200 people in the one-on-one tutoring alone.

If you were to stroll into any of the program’s tutoring sites and take a glance around the room to guess who are the students and who are the teachers among the pairs of people huddled together, well, you’d have a hard time of it. Some of the students arrive straight from work, dressed smartly in business wear. Some look like soccer moms. Some drive to distant tutoring sites to make sure they won’t bump into anyone they know.

It can be hardest for the average American raised speaking and writing English to seek the help that is needed. “Your person learning English has a very good excuse to seek tutoring,” Chapman says. “They don’t have to be ashamed, and the shame that goes along with being illiterate is awful for people.”

Expectations and pressures can exacerbate the shame to the point that some must take action to achieve the freedom they crave, but others continue to avoid the subject altogether. “People get tired of hearing, ‘Read to your children, read to your children,’ ” Chapman says. “Well, they can’t read to their kids and it makes them feel terrible.”

Back to the drawing board

The bottom line is that literacy doesn’t have as much to do with intelligence as is commonly believed.

While Chapman and Robinson — and Lucy, for that matter — admit that learning to read and write as an adult can be much more challenging than it is for children, adults bring life experience and a broad range of knowledge to the table. “Parts of it are harder and parts of it are easier — but the nice thing about working with adults is, they have experience and they have vocabulary. When you’re tutoring a child, you have to create that knowledge.”

The first three years of a child’s development are critical, and the first seven are optimal for squeezing in the greatest amount of that critical knowledge, says Chapman, who explains that the building blocks for literacy begin younger than we might guess. Chapman recently observed that 13 students from a class of 30 kindergartners didn’t know colors or numbers and that many kindergartners the following year didn’t know colors, numbers or body parts — in Spanish or English. Standard interplay between adults and babies usually includes the teaching, at the very least, of body parts. Some of the first words babies learn are the names for their facial features and extremities. “If someone played with you as a baby, or if you watched someone else play with a baby, you know what to do.”

The increasing use of TV as a “babysitter,” paired with a lack of interaction with parents, could be precursors to a lack of general knowledge by the time a child reaches school age. “The television doesn’t teach language,” Chapman, a former teacher, says. “Language has to be reciprocal.”

With lack of stimulation on the home front, kids who are already behind often slide through the cracks in school because they don’t get any help at home. If such children also have one or more learning disabilities, they fall behind even more quickly. “So many kids are bright but have a visual perception problem or an auditory perception problem,” says Chapman.

Such was likely the case with the late, great golfer George Archer — who kept his illiteracy a secret from everyone but his wife and daughters over the course of his stellar career. Archer had a difficult childhood and what his wife describes as a “mental block” about reading, but she also told the San Francisco Chronicle that he’d likely be diagnosed today with “severe dyslexia and a nonverbal learning disability.” Still, he was gifted with a great spatial intelligence that made him a natural on the golf course. Archer is widely regarded as one of the best putters in PGA tour history.

“We’re all disabled in that none of us know anything perfectly,” says Robinson, who explains that differences in learning styles are largely responsible for the damaging stigma surrounding illiteracy.

Two children with the same intelligence quotient may receive identical scores on an I.Q. test, but one of the children may take twice as long to finish the test. It simply takes some people a little longer to grasp concepts because of their individual comprehension processes. Some people grasp concepts quickly by listening to a lecture, while others have to take notes or watch videos before the ideas fully sink in. It’s also widely believed that most people have stronger skills in either math or language arts. It’s true, Chapman says, that a lot of people have a knack for one set of skills or the other, but differences in learning styles can make all the difference in some cases.

Students with forms of delayed auditory perception are always at least a couple of minutes behind everyone else in class. Those minutes add up quickly and can lead to illiteracy. “Up to a point, it’s about strengths and weaknesses,” Chapman says. “If I was judged on baseball, I would be the most learning disabled person on the planet.”

Strengths and weaknesses are individual qualities that don’t interfere with life in the classroom, while learning disabilities make for constant struggle.

In one-on-one tutoring, tutors like Robinson can focus on learning disabilities and the weaknesses of students. “We can pick up on the pattern of the kind of mistake being made and focus on the one thing that would make the most difference,” Robinson says.

In addition to his work with Lucy, Robinson and his wife, Mary, a preschool teacher, entertain and educate little ones through the literacy program’s family-based programming. The pair act as minstrels and participate in sing alongs with the children. “It gets the kids involved in singing and storytelling,” he says, “but a lot of times the parents are with them. We also target the adults.”

“Low-literate parents, if they don’t have the skill of reading, don’t know what to do to get their kids ready for school,” Chapman says. “Our goal is teaching the parents.”

Stick-to-it-iveness

Lucy had to take a break from tutoring sessions when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 35. It’s hard to imagine her, so outspoken and crackling with health, knocked out by illness. But she came back — and she’s been in the literacy program, off and on, for about 12 years.

She became a citizen and took college courses in Spanish and computer literacy. “They’re pushing me for my GED [General Education Development],” she says with a wide grin. “I’m a little behind because I have to do math.” Despite whatever challenges may lie ahead, for Lucy — a woman who had never attended a day of school in her life — the race is already won. “Now I can read a recipe, cook with a recipe,” she says. “I feel so good. I don’t feel handicapped anymore. It’s like I was blind and now I can see. It’s like a new world. For me, it’s something wonderful.”

Lucy credits Miller and Robinson for their encouragement. “One of the things Joyce told me was, ‘Lucy, you are learning a lot. You may not think so, but you are.’ And that’s also what Neill tells me.”

Miller once brought Lucy an article about a 105-year-old man who learned to read late in life and eventually wrote a book about his experiences. Lucy may decide to do the same. “Learning makes you a better person,” she says. “I have had a very interesting life — and I have learned a lot of things.”

Photo: Robinson sings to a group of kids as part of the Ventura County Library Adult Literacy Program.

San Bernardino Public Library - Cartoonists coming to town to boost literacy

Cartoonists coming to town to boost literacySan Bernardino County Sun: July 13, 2006 by Michel Nolan

Cartoonist Phil Yeh hopes to draw a crowd this weekend at San Bernardino's Norman F. Feldheym Central Library. 

Yeh is creator of the befuddled Patrick Rabbit and a menagerie of witty dinosaurs and other wise and wonderful critters.

He is also a passionate children's literacy advocate.

The 51-year-old Santa Maria resident, president of Cartoonists Across America, channels his high energy into inspiring kids to read. Cartoonists Across America will promote literacy and the arts by painting colorful murals on the San Bernardino Public Library's truck and van Saturday and Sunday.

The weekend event calls for famous artists to work side by side with local kids. Everyone is invited to participate.

Library vehicles will be transformed into giant works of mobile art. It'll take several famous artists to make the Van Gogh.

Yeh (pronounced yeah) is the catalyst for the event, "Building a World of Readers, Artists and Dreamers," set for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Most artists will appear at Saturday's festivities.

"The whole idea is to use cartoons and humor to show kids that reading can be fun," says Yeh, who has penned 86 books.

Wearing his trademark battered cowboy hat, the artist has covered more than 1 million miles, crisscrossing the United States, Europe and Asia with his cartoonist cohorts, encouraging kids to love books.

It is Yeh's thought that cartoons can be used to actually inspire people of all ages to read. The artists that comprise the Cartoonists Across America and the World organization have toured the globe, painting more than 1,500 colorful murals, speaking at schools, libraries, museums and conferences.

"I've talked to presidents' wives, governors and mayors, and they've all told me they read comics when they first started reading. They would read Superman or Archie comics and then progress to books," Yeh says.

"I want us to make San Bernardino a city of readers and let other cities catch up to San Bernardino. I'm here to help that happen," says Yeh, adding that he'd like to issue a challenge.

"I'd like to challenge famous people to step up for the kids. If this event is successful, why can't writers, artists, actors, musicians, directors, cartoonists stop in San Bernardino on the way to Las Vegas or Palm Springs? They could stop at the library and talk to people about their craft. It could change a young person's life."

Lead artists Yeh and Klaus Leven will be joined by "The Simpsons" cartoonist, Phil Ortiz of Lake Arrowhead.

"Kids have different tastes but they need to find some sort of reading source to spark or jump-start their interest in reading," says Ortiz, who revealed he will be painting his favorite Simpsons character on the van.

"I've painted murals in the past," Ortiz says. "Cartooning animation is something I've chased all my life."

The weekend event also includes family fun with children's authors, live entertainment, food, local celebrities and a remote broadcast by KOLA-FM (99.9). Live entertainment includes an appearance by the Inland Empire 66ers dancers and mascot.

Local bands Live Unity, Deluge and Dionysos will play a musical mix from hip-hop to new age.

Other event artists include George Gladir, Archie comics writer and creator of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," and Matt Lorentz, artist for Tony Hawk and No Fear product line, as well as Jim Gilbert, host of "Cartoon Factory."

Authors and cartoonists will speak or participate in presentations in the library's Bing Wong Auditorium throughout the day. They also will be selling and autographing their books and comics in the lobby. Cartoonists Across America will give out free comics. The City of Readers will give out free books.

Yeh's book, "Theo the Dinosaur," is a story for all ages, a kid-friendly tale told in a series of colorful cartoon oil paintings that have been shown in galleries across the country. The book is filled with prehistoric and pithy admonitions pearls like "Read, Rock and Recycle. Avoid Extinction."

Yeh believes that taking comic books away from kids has contributed to illiteracy.

"With no comic books, you're not offering kids the natural progression before they start to read chapter books," he says. "The pictures help them if they don't understand the words."

Even beyond literacy, the young-adult coordinator for the library, Linda Adams, says the event is also aimed at stemming the tide of violence in the community.

Adams recalls former Police Chief Garrett Zimmon's quote about how difficult it is to hold a gun in your hand while holding a book.

"An event like this motivates and encourages kids to be creative and get out and do something they're interested in," Adams says.

"In reality, the library is not just about books, but the whole world of music, art and culture. It's positive and creative."

For more information about Cartoonists Across America, call 909-725-7337.

Monrovia Library - Authors Fair A Success Story for Monrovia

Authors Fair A Success Story for Monrovia
Arcadia Weekly: June 5, 2006 by Liset Marquez

Despite the heat Monrovians and book readers alike came out to enjoy the Author and Community Service Fair at Library Park that was presented by the Monrovia Library and Mystic Sisters Bookstore.

One of the real crowd pleasers was pro wrestling star and author, Diamond Dallas Page who was the keynote speaker.

Page who showed off his world heavy weight title during his speech emphasized the importance of reading. At the age of 30, Page told the crowd he had a third grade reading level and as a child he battled ADD and dyslexia.

Page told the crowd he was determined to read a book so he broke it down into goals was able to complete the book in a year. He is now the author of two books.

Melanie Goodyear, Literacy coordinator at Monrovia Library, said Page was a real inspiration to the entire audience.

"As a former pro wrestler he definitely put on a good show, he got everybody excited and he was really inspirational," she said. "A lot of our adult learners were here in the audience and they all walked up him and gave him a hug afterwards."

Goodyear said the adult learners shared their experiences with him.

"His theory is that 10 percent of what happens to you in life is other external stuff you can't control. The other 90 percent is what make of it," Goodyear

FAIR said. "It's about how he's overcome his adversity in life by controlling what he thinks, having positive relationships and being physically fit."

Goodyear said Page's message helps promote the adult literacy program the Monrovia library operates, which is the only one in the surrounding cities.

But Page's message was just one of many expressed by the more than 20 authors that spoke at the fair.

Abel Flores of Azusa sat in on an inspirational panel discussion and said it was nice that the authors were there to talk about their books.

"You actually figure out what they're thinking when they were writing the book," he said.

Tina Carey, owner of Mystic Sisters, said the fair is a fundraiser for the library with a percentage of sales of the books going towards the Monrovia Library.

She said that she started talking with the library about creating an author fair in February. The bookstore also hosts two other fairs, one in Duarte, and Diamond Bar.

"When you're doing it for the first time you always want more people but it takes time to build roots," Carey said.

Both Goodyear and Carey said there is discussion to make the fair an annual event. Carey said one thing she would love to see is more children engaged in the event.

"We partnered with the library to get out the message- to the community- what resources it has to offer," she said.

Carey said that she opened her bookstore, which is located down the street from the library, with intentions for the authors to connect with the readers.

"Part of the purpose of the bookstore is to create a community," she said.

Carey said it is obvious that the library needs funding.

"It's such an interesting time, Monrovia Library needs funds to be expanded," she said.

Carey said she hopes events like the fair could help strengthen support for the friends of the library club.

San Diego Public Library - READ/San Diego Receives National Award from American Library Association

San Diego Public Library
Monday, June 19, 2006

Library’s Adult Literacy Program Receives National Award
from American Library Association

SAN DIEGO – READ/San Diego, the City of San Diego Public Library’s adult literacy program, has been chosen by the American Library Association to receive the prestigious Advancement of Literacy Award. READ/San Diego is a free adult and family literacy for adults 18 years of age and older.

“I am extremely pleased that the American Library Association has recognized READ/San Diego for its accomplishments in improving literacy,” said City Library Director Anna Tatár. “Library staff and volunteers have helped make this program a national model.”

Established in 1984, the Advancement of Literacy Award honors a publisher, bookseller, hardware and/or software dealer, foundation or similar group that has made a significant contribution to the advancement of adult literacy. Criteria used for judging nominations include amount of support given to libraries for literacy projects, evidence of long-term commitment to literacy, and encouragement provided to other groups to undertake similar activity. A plaque will be awarded at the American Library Association’s annual conference, held this year from June 22-28 in New Orleans. The awards event is sponsored by The Library Journal.

Recent past recipients of the Advancement of Literacy Award include Verizon Foundation (2005); Elizabeth Fischer, Subrata De and Tom Brokaw of “Dateline NBC,” NBC News (2004); Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (2003); Center for Literacy, Philadelphia (2002); The Providence Journal (2001); Starbucks Foundation (2000); Lila Wallace, Reader’s Digest Fund and Mount Clemens Rotary Club (co-winners) (1999).

READ/San Diego began in 1988 with seed funding by the California State Library. Staffed by literacy professionals, the adult literacy program coordinates the efforts of volunteer reading tutors and cooperates with local adult schools, community colleges and other literacy education providers in making and receiving student referrals. Each year, the program assists more than 1,000 adult learners from various backgrounds and learning levels.

In 2004, READ/San Diego was named one of the top community partnerships in the nation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education.

Monrovia Library - Literacy Program Aimed At All Ages Holds Fiesta Fundraiser

Literacy Program Aimed At All Ages Holds Fiesta Fundraiser
Arcadia Weekly: May 8, 2006 by Jennifer MacDonald

Monrovia Reads hosted the second annual "Cinco de Mayo" themed fundraiser at the Krikorian Movie Theatre on Monday, May 1.

About 150 residents, city leaders and school staff attended the event, which raised about $7,000 through entrance, alcohol and raffle ticket sales. This is one of two major fundraisers that helps to fund the organization. The other is the Spaghetti Western themed event held in the October.

The "low-key" affair took place in the upstairs of the movie theatre where guests socialized over margaritas, "taquitos" and guacamole, all the while raising money for the grassroots organization aimed at increasing literacy among children, teens and adults.

"Monrovia is responsive to literacy programs and anything that involves supporting our youth," said Joanne Spring, president of Monrovia Reads.

The group funds and organizes a variety of literacy programs.

One program is the literacy van, which is like a mobile library. It goes to places in the community and hosts a story time with themes and activities that targets children of all ages. The van will soon hold books for adults who can't get to the library.

For newborns to high school students, book giveaways are performed many times a year to encourage reading.

"One goal is to make sure every child entering school has a personal library of five books," said Monrovia Mayor Rob Hammond, who helped come up with the idea for the organization. "When you read you can learn and when you can learn you can succeed."

There is also a minigrant program that provides teachers a set of books for their students to keep and use for class.

"Read Across Monrovia" is another program aimed at elementary school students, which brings in adults who are residents, city leaders or from businesses in the community to read to classes.

Another prog ram helps cover the costs for the 40 tutors in the school district.

One-on-one sessions are held at the library to teach adults to read.

There is also a large adult education program held at the Monrovia Adult School that teaches English as second as language and adult literacy programs.

The idea for Monrovia Reads was originally hatched by representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, city council and Monrovia Unified School District six years ago during brainstorming sessions to discuss how the community could address literacy.

"It was done so we have an entity that focuses on our community being 100 percent literate," said Hammond.

The organization received a $500,000 state funded grant when it was started which ended last August. Now, the group relies on its two fundraisers and individual donations to continue to operate.

Linda Proctor, city clerk for the city, described how she has seen the difference these programs make in the city.

"I see adults looking for help that were too embarrassed to look for help before," she said while munching on a chips and salsa. "I see kids that are ready for school."

Orange Co Library - Literacy groups teach with dignity

Literacy groups teach with dignityOrange County Register: April 26, 2006

Dear Abby: I have been dating a nice guy for two years. We started out as good friends and the relationship progressed from there. He's truly all that you could ask for. My dilemma is, he doesn't know how to read and write.

This is a very sensitive subject for him. He is 33 years old and works as a custodian for the school district. He earns a fraction over minimum wage and is making child-support payments.

I have been very patient with him, but any time I raise the subject of his going back to school, we end up arguing. Now he has decided to take a part-time job in the evenings - so there will definitely be no time for school. What am I to do? He thinks my pushing him to learn to read and write is about the money. It's not! He keeps saying he's leaving his reading and writing "in God's hands." How can I help him? - Wits' End in Miami

Dear Wits' End: Your boyfriend's unwillingness to reach out for help may stem from embarrassment. Please explain to him that there are programs especially for people like him, and that they are easy to access. All you have to do is call your county library and tell the librarian you are looking for a referral to a literacy coalition so your friend can learn to read. Your friend will be treated with dignity, I promise.