The values of reading, writingSanta Maria Times: February 13, 2007
Santa Maria officials have announced a collaborative effort to promote adult literacy. Why is this important?
A good question, with a vast array of good answers. For example:
Fifty million Americans cannot read or comprehend above the eighth-grade level. Existing literacy programs involve fewer than 10 percent of those adults.
U.S. schools have a dropout rate approaching 30 percent, compared to 5 percent in Japan and 2 percent in Russia. Many kids leave school early because they can't read or write as well as their peers. They're embarrassed and retreat into a shell of illiteracy.
The inability to read and write costs U.S. businesses more than $225 billion a year. Nearly two-thirds of prison inmates are illiterate. Almost 90 percent of juvenile offenders are illiterate. Almost half of adults who receive welfare are illiterate. Nearly three-quarters of those who can't or won't hold a job are illiterate.
And here is a compelling reason why literacy is important, at least in this country - as an individual's literacy rate doubles, so does that person's income.
So, in a very real way, literacy has a big payoff and is a worthwhile investment.
The Santa Maria program is a joint effort by the city and the Central Coast Literacy Council, but judging from the data on illiteracy, this should be everyone's concern.
The hope is to create a literacy center at the new library, with a focus on native-born, English-speaking American citizens who, for whatever reason, cannot read and write at even junior high school levels. The Literacy Council is conducting remedial classes, but only eight people are currently enrolled.
This is a project in which you can play a direct role. The council needs volunteers, and two training workshops are being held next month for anyone who is interested. Training is slated for March 17 and 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the United Way, 1660 S. Broadway. For more information, call 922-9200.
If you can help, please do so. A more literate community will be a better community.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Santa Maria Library - City, Literacy Council team up for program
City, Literacy Council team up for programSanta Maria Times: Feb 11, 2007 by Malia Spencer
The city of Santa Maria and the Central Coast Literacy Council are partnering to create an adult literacy program.Officials hope to target English-speaking adults who are unable to read and write at proficient levels with a literacy center that will be part of the new Santa Maria Library.Currently, the literacy council offers one-on-one tutoring for about eight adults, said Isa Ponce executive director for the Central Coast Literacy Council
The organization's main focus has been teaching English as a second language, Ponce said. For that program, the agency has about 150 students at various locations throughout Santa Barbara County.To establish an adult literacy center at the new library, the city applied for funds from the California Library Literacy Service. Santa Maria was one of three facilities statewide to receive such funds, according to city staff.For each of the next three years, Santa Maria will receive $34,500, and in subsequent years the funding will be based on a formula.As long as the program is viable, the funding will be ongoing, said Santa Maria Librarian Francisco Pinneli.
“What this grant will do ... is target adults, native-born English speakers, who fall between the cracks and are not reading at a sixth-grade level,” he said. “It makes it difficult for them to function fully within society.”By offering literacy training to those who need it, lives can be dramatically changed, Pinneli added.
Since funds for the program are available now and library construction completion is more than a year away, the service will be offered at the Central Coast Literacy Council offices, 521 E. Chapel St., Suite B.Eventually, the Chapel Street location will be closed and the literacy council will move into a 449-square-foot center within the library.
The literacy council has been providing services to Santa Maria since 1983. It has 42 volunteers working out of six centers in Santa Maria, one in Guadalupe and one in Solvang.
Ponce noted that the organization needs volunteers, and two training workshops are being held in March for anyone who is interested.
Training is slated for March 17 and 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the United Way, 1660 S. Broadway.For more information about the Central Coast Literacy Council, call 922-9200.
The city of Santa Maria and the Central Coast Literacy Council are partnering to create an adult literacy program.Officials hope to target English-speaking adults who are unable to read and write at proficient levels with a literacy center that will be part of the new Santa Maria Library.Currently, the literacy council offers one-on-one tutoring for about eight adults, said Isa Ponce executive director for the Central Coast Literacy Council
The organization's main focus has been teaching English as a second language, Ponce said. For that program, the agency has about 150 students at various locations throughout Santa Barbara County.To establish an adult literacy center at the new library, the city applied for funds from the California Library Literacy Service. Santa Maria was one of three facilities statewide to receive such funds, according to city staff.For each of the next three years, Santa Maria will receive $34,500, and in subsequent years the funding will be based on a formula.As long as the program is viable, the funding will be ongoing, said Santa Maria Librarian Francisco Pinneli.
“What this grant will do ... is target adults, native-born English speakers, who fall between the cracks and are not reading at a sixth-grade level,” he said. “It makes it difficult for them to function fully within society.”By offering literacy training to those who need it, lives can be dramatically changed, Pinneli added.
Since funds for the program are available now and library construction completion is more than a year away, the service will be offered at the Central Coast Literacy Council offices, 521 E. Chapel St., Suite B.Eventually, the Chapel Street location will be closed and the literacy council will move into a 449-square-foot center within the library.
The literacy council has been providing services to Santa Maria since 1983. It has 42 volunteers working out of six centers in Santa Maria, one in Guadalupe and one in Solvang.
Ponce noted that the organization needs volunteers, and two training workshops are being held in March for anyone who is interested.
Training is slated for March 17 and 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the United Way, 1660 S. Broadway.For more information about the Central Coast Literacy Council, call 922-9200.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Orange Co Library - Literacy and the Pursuit of Happiness
Literacy and the Pursuit of HappinessOC Register: Jan 24, 2007 by Jenny Sokol
Antonio (Tone) Correa will be 98 next month and the man shows no sign of slowing down. Why should he? "I'm busy," the Orange resident explains. "It's what keeps me young."
Busy indeed. Correa drives himself to the senior center where he loves to dance. He's writing three books. In his spare time, Correa volunteers with READ Orange County, the adult literacy program of the Orange County Public Library.
Bob West, outreach volunteer coordinator for READ/OC, estimates that Correa has spent well over 2,000 hours teaching 40 adults to read and write in the past decade.
An estimated 350,000 to 450,000 people in Orange County, and one in every five adults nationwide, are considered functionally illiterate. READ/OC works to reduce those numbers with its confidential, no-cost tutoring program.
Programs offered include Families for Literacy, where parents learn alongside their preschool-age children; Working for Inmate Literacy Now, where prisoners in O.C. jails hone their literacy skills; and English Language and Civics Education, where nonnative English speakers cover subjects ranging from nutrition to employment skills.
As for Correa's students, a few are learning English as a second language. "I tutor a Korean student who wants help with pronunciation," Correa says. At one time, Correa worked with a 72-year-old man who couldn't read or write but was finally ready to learn.
Currently, Correa tutors four learners twice a week, for a total of 16 weekly volunteer hours. "I'm just interested in helping," says Correa.
"See, I'm retired," he explains. "I take it easy. I don't worry about a thing. But as long as there are people who need help, I'll help." READ MORE
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Hemet Library - Two residents serve as recruiters and tutors.
Two residents serve as recruiters and tutors.Press Enterprise: Jan 29, 2007 by Jamie Ayala
Illiteracy can cause some people to risk accidentally killing their loved ones, miss out on job opportunities or forgo time with children.
If reading prescription drug bottles, applications and bedtime stories can make a difference in someone's life, Dorothy Rojas, a homemaker, and Phyllis Perea, a retiree, are determined to help.
The two AmeriCorps members work in the Hemet Public Library's adult literacy program through the statewide Library Literacy Services AmeriCorps Initiative. The library is one of 32 in California selected for the program, through which Rojas and Perea provide their help for two years.
"I feel so blessed," said Lori Eastman, literacy coordinator of the library's program, which offers basic reading and writing lessons to English-speaking adults.
Photo: Phyllis Perea, left, and Dorothy Rojas show some of the materials they use to tutor adults through the statewide Library Literacy Services AmeriCorps Initiative
Friday, January 26, 2007
Orange Co Library - Literacy and the pursuit of happiness - Antonio (Tone) Correa will be 98
Literacy and the pursuit of happiness.
Orange County Register: Jan 24, 2007 by Jenny Sokol
Antonio (Tone) Correa will be 98 next month and the man shows no sign of slowing down. Why should he? "I'm busy," the Orange resident explains. "It's what keeps me young."
Busy indeed. Correa drives himself to the senior center where he loves to dance. He's writing three books. In his spare time, Correa volunteers with READ Orange County, the adult literacy program of the Orange County Public Library.
Bob West, outreach volunteer coordinator for READ/OC, estimates that Correa has spent well over 2,000 hours teaching 40 adults to read and write in the past decade. An estimated 350,000 to 450,000 people in Orange County, and one in every five adults nationwide, are considered functionally illiterate. READ/OC works to reduce those numbers with its confidential, no-cost tutoring program.
Orange County Register: Jan 24, 2007 by Jenny Sokol
Antonio (Tone) Correa will be 98 next month and the man shows no sign of slowing down. Why should he? "I'm busy," the Orange resident explains. "It's what keeps me young."
Busy indeed. Correa drives himself to the senior center where he loves to dance. He's writing three books. In his spare time, Correa volunteers with READ Orange County, the adult literacy program of the Orange County Public Library.
Bob West, outreach volunteer coordinator for READ/OC, estimates that Correa has spent well over 2,000 hours teaching 40 adults to read and write in the past decade. An estimated 350,000 to 450,000 people in Orange County, and one in every five adults nationwide, are considered functionally illiterate. READ/OC works to reduce those numbers with its confidential, no-cost tutoring program.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
1 . 888 . SOS . READ - Statewide Public Awareness Campaign for Library Literacy Programs
Statewide Public Awareness Campaign for Library Literacy Programs: 1 . 888 . SOS . READDuring 2005 and 2006, the California State Library
One of the results of this research: Billboard ads and Bus Stop ads are now visible on California streets and highways. The Billboard Campaign was designed and placed by Clear Channel where they actually own billboards and bus they have committed to 28 billboards and 70 bus shelters. To date s with many more to be donated. This is a huge ad space donation -- hundreds of thousands of dollars in donated space to California Library Literacy Services
So keep an eye open for these billboards and bus stop ads in Southern California !
Photo: Bus ad - Victory & Olive, Burbank CA
Friday, January 19, 2007
San Bernardino County Library - Light the lamp of literacy
Light the lamp of literacy
Redlands Daily Facts: Jan 16, 2007 by C. L. Lopez
Cesar Lara, a literacy specialist at the Highland Branch Library, pairs up tutors with students in the adult literacy program. Cesar Lara makes literacy a reality one person at a time. Lara is one of 11 literacy specialists in the county. At the Highland Branch Library, Lara pairs up tutors with students in the adult literacy program.
"I just want to help people with their goals of reading, writing and learning English," Lara said. "Even though I do not do the teaching, I still feel like I am helping them."
The volunteer tutors then help their students learn to read and write.
The program currently has seven students and five tutors, but Lara is optimistic those numbers will go up when the library moves to its new location in the
Sam Racadio Learning Center in a few months.
"Hopefully the new library will encourage a lot more people to come in," he said.
Lara was a tutor at the library for a few months before he became a page and then a literacy specialist.
He also is a tutor with the Yuciapa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District.
Once in the new library, there are plans to add English language improvement classes.
The library's literacy lab will have five computers for the students and their tutors to use. Once paired up students and tutors make their own schedules to meet in the library. Tutors must be at least 18 years old. Most of the tutors are former teachers.
"You just have to have the motivation to help somebody," Lara said.
Susan Ponce, a former elementary school teacher's assistant, has tutored at the library for four months.
"It is very rewarding," Ponce said. "The reward for me is when you see a light in someone's eyes because something is understood."
Three nights a week, Ponce meets with her student, Martha Villar.
"We started out with English comprehension and word knowledge," Ponce recalled. "There has been a change for the better with her vocabulary."
Ponce says Villar "wants to better herself so that she might acquire a better job or career than what she is doing at the present time."
"I want to advance myself," said Villar, an elementary school recreational aide. "I will keep going to tutoring until I am confident in myself."
Villar admits she struggled in college because of her English skills. Now, she says she wants to be able to help elementary school students.
"The work they have now is a lot harder than when I was in school," she said.
Villar encourages other adults to go to the library for tutoring.
"Don't be embarrassed to go to the library for help," she said. "It is better to learn than not know."
Redlands Daily Facts: Jan 16, 2007 by C. L. Lopez
Cesar Lara, a literacy specialist at the Highland Branch Library, pairs up tutors with students in the adult literacy program. Cesar Lara makes literacy a reality one person at a time. Lara is one of 11 literacy specialists in the county. At the Highland Branch Library, Lara pairs up tutors with students in the adult literacy program.
"I just want to help people with their goals of reading, writing and learning English," Lara said. "Even though I do not do the teaching, I still feel like I am helping them."
The volunteer tutors then help their students learn to read and write.
The program currently has seven students and five tutors, but Lara is optimistic those numbers will go up when the library moves to its new location in the
Sam Racadio Learning Center in a few months.
"Hopefully the new library will encourage a lot more people to come in," he said.
Lara was a tutor at the library for a few months before he became a page and then a literacy specialist.
He also is a tutor with the Yuciapa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District.
Once in the new library, there are plans to add English language improvement classes.
The library's literacy lab will have five computers for the students and their tutors to use. Once paired up students and tutors make their own schedules to meet in the library. Tutors must be at least 18 years old. Most of the tutors are former teachers.
"You just have to have the motivation to help somebody," Lara said.
Susan Ponce, a former elementary school teacher's assistant, has tutored at the library for four months.
"It is very rewarding," Ponce said. "The reward for me is when you see a light in someone's eyes because something is understood."
Three nights a week, Ponce meets with her student, Martha Villar.
"We started out with English comprehension and word knowledge," Ponce recalled. "There has been a change for the better with her vocabulary."
Ponce says Villar "wants to better herself so that she might acquire a better job or career than what she is doing at the present time."
"I want to advance myself," said Villar, an elementary school recreational aide. "I will keep going to tutoring until I am confident in myself."
Villar admits she struggled in college because of her English skills. Now, she says she wants to be able to help elementary school students.
"The work they have now is a lot harder than when I was in school," she said.
Villar encourages other adults to go to the library for tutoring.
"Don't be embarrassed to go to the library for help," she said. "It is better to learn than not know."
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