Redlands Library - Celebrate International Literacy Day

Celebrate International Literacy Day
Redlands Daily Facts: 9.02.2011

The Friends of the A.K. Smiley Public Library will hold an open house celebrating International Literacy Day from 5-7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Assembly Room of the A.K. Smiley Public Library, 125 W. Vine St., Redlands.

The Friends of the Library are sponsoring the event to highlight the importance of reading and writing in the United States and throughout the world as a pathway to promote employment, ensure good health and reduce crime.
The theme of the event is "Books are our passport to the world." International desserts and coffee will be served.

Carey Curtis Smith, who is a new volunteer with the Redlands Adult Literacy Program, will be a featured speaker. Smith was selected in 2005 as one of Inland Empire Magazine's top 12 artists.

Smith plans to speak about "the connectivity of books, language and the degrees of separation that can thread them, often unawares, into one's life."
The literacy open house will begin with speakers who will focus on the literature and customs of other countries. READ MORE !

CA & National Literacy Calendar: September 2011

California Literacy Calendar: September 2011

September - Library Card Sign-Up Month

SCLLN

Literacy & Library Events & Conferences
- local, California and National -

visit the

Southern California Library Literacy Network

for more information

Info about local Tutor Training Workshops is always Scrolling in the Right Frame.

Local & California Literacy Events: September 2011
September – Festival of Children @ South Coast Plaza – Costa Mesa
Sep 8: International Literacy Day 
Sep 17: Word AV Festival – Lancaster
Sep 17: High Desert Ride for Literacy – Lancaster
Sep 18: Central Coast Book Festival – San Luis Obispo
Sep 23+: Southern California Writer’s Conf - LA

National & International Literacy Events: September 2011
Sep 8: International Literacy Day
Sep 12+: Natl Adult Education & Family Literacy Week
Sep 14: Literacy Leadership Awards – Washington DC
Sep 16+: KidLitCon - Seattle
Sep 20: National Day of Writing 
Sep 22+: Center for Health Literacy Conf – Arlington VA
Sep 23+: WCD Expo – Atlantic City NJ
Sep 24+: Banned Book Week
Sep 24: National Punctuation Day
Sep 24+: National Book Festival – Washington DC
Sep 30: Boston Globe – Horn Book Awards – Simmons College MA

Oceanside Library - Progress Is Their Password

Progress Is Their Password
Oceanside Reads: Fall 2011

When lives intersect at READS the probability of positive results is pretty good. That seems to be the case with tutor Gay Hartman and student Elena Rodriguez, whose lives were guided onto a common path more than five years ago by READS Coordinator Corrie Miles. Since then Gay and Elena have spent many hours traveling that trail—a trail lined with the rewards of a richer understanding of the language.

Elena, who was born at Camp Pendleton and lived in Encinitas as a child, has already reaped some of those rewards and continues to gather more. Her learning journey with Gay has improved her word recognition and reading comprehension significantly, she says, along with strengthening her self esteem.
Gay, one of five children, was born in southwest Louisiana but has been a Californian for more than 50 years. She arrived at READS with a background as an elementary school teacher in the Orange Unified School District. She has lived in Oceanside for about eight years, and her work with Elena fits her lifestyle to perfection because she finds joy in volunteer work on several fronts.

In addition to her service at READS, Gay tutors math at Lincoln Middle School in Oceanside and helps with fund-raising for the City of Hope. She also presides over the local chapter of the Organization for Rehabilitation and Training “which supports education and training for students at risk all over the world.” And she counts herself among the volunteers at the library in Ocean Hills, the community where she lives.

Elena is the second of seven children. Her mother hails from Texas and her father from Mexico. So when she was young, “I spoke both English and Spanish at home,” she says. Her Grandfather Joseph served in the Marines, which led to her mother giving birth at Camp Pendleton.

Improving her English reading and writing skills has long been a struggle for Elena, but her work with Gay has boosted her confidence, and she remains committed to continuing her progress. READ MORE !

Orange Co Library - Celebrating Success and Literacy at the READ/OC: Annual Family Picnic

Celebrating Success and Literacy at the READ/OC: Annual Family Picnic and Appreciation Celebration
READ WRITES: July 2011

The true measure of this program’s success is our learners’ progress toward their individual goals. Working tirelessly in their local libraries, community locations, and on their own time, our tutors and learners take innumerable small steps toward those goals. Together, those small individual steps add up to a huge impact in our community. We would like to share some numbers with you to show how much you are achieving collectively.

This year, READ/OC worked with 436 tutors to help 640 individual learners improve their basic reading, writing, and English skills. This year alone, we trained 108 new tutors and assessed 299 new learners. Our tutors and learners recorded 29,885 hours of tutoring tailored to each learner’s individual goals and needs. There are more small groups than ever working together this year to address specific areas of concern, including job skills, financial literacy, computer skills, parent-to-school relationships, citizenship, and English language. Eighty learners worked with 13 tutors in small group settings this past year.

In family literacy efforts, we reached 1,528 families through 93 Family Reading Times, 25 Parent Workshops, and 10 Special Family Literacy Events, to help encourage adults and children to read together and become partners in lifelong learning. We have given away over 1,425 books to children and adults to help our learners build their personal libraries.

Our READ Jr. program continues to grow, with 16 tutors and 18 learner families helping to foster a new generation of academic success and volunteer spirit.
Many people contributed to these accomplishments, including members of Friends of READ/Orange County (FROC), volunteer tutors, our adult learners and their families, OC Public Libraries and OC Community Resources staff, and community partners. We thank the many dedicated individuals who supported these efforts. Congratulations to all of you for those thousands of small steps toward a more literate Orange County! Together, we have made significant accomplishments this past year.

Outstanding Tutor Award: Richard Scott; Bil and Anne Aulenbach
Outstanding Learner Award: Ivan Velev; Hun Lien Lau Ambassadors of Family Literacy Award: Sang Do Xuan; Ellen Ly
Spirit of Volunteerism Award: Tutor Richard Scott
READ MORE !

Literacy Library Jobs - California - Oxnard

California Literacy Jobs

Oxnard Public Library
Adult Literacy Coordinator

Responsible for continuing the successful Oxnard Public Library Literacy Outreach Program. Under direction, performs routine and complex technical and professional work in coordinating the literacy program for the library. This is a key position in the library, and the person selected will assume a leadership role in developing an adult literacy program.
Close Date: Sep 8

Jewish Coalition for Literacy – SF
Bay Area Director The Jewish Coalition for Literacy recruits, trains, places, and supports volunteer reading tutors in the most under-served, under-resourced public elementary schools throughout the Bay Area. JCL seeks an accomplished, strategic, goal-oriented individual to advance the JCL through fundraising, communications, program management, and evaluation.

Mission YMCA – SF
Program Director – Literacy
Mission YMCA collaborates with San Francisco public schools to provide After School Enrichment programs supported by the San Francisco Unified School District’s School Health Programs Department. The purpose of the program is to provide a safe after-school environment where students who struggle during the school day feel at ease, are accepted and belong. The programs include three primary components: Academics, Academic Enrichment and Recreation. The goals of the program are to improve literacy skill levels and academic performance, and to strengthen social skills in youth. The programs are open Monday - Friday from the time school ends to 6:00 pm.

Beaumont Library: Happy 100th Birthday

BEAUMONT: Library district to celebrate 100th anniversary
Press Enterprise: 8.6.2011 by Erin Waldner

The Beaumont Library District will celebrate its 100th anniversary Aug. 13 with a slew of public festivities.

The district was formed by popular vote Aug. 12, 1911.

"I always tell people, 'The library will be one hundred (years) and one day (old) when we have the celebration,'" said employee Lucy Sims, who is organizing the affair.

For the celebration, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the library, 125 E. Eighth St., the district is presenting a memory festival.

"It is a gathering of people in a community to share memories of themselves and organizations," Sims said.

People will be invited to make squares for a quilt that will be hung in the library's community room. In addition, adults can make memory cards, a type of greeting card that will read "remember when" on the cover. People are asked to sign up for the memory card program in advance.

The Beaumont Library District will commemorate its 100th anniversary on Saturday with a memory festival theme. The community event will be held at the library, 125 E. Eighth St., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day will be filled with journaling, quilting, games, crafts, music, food and taped oral histories. READ MORE !

Los Angeles Public Library - Tutor Stories 2011

Tutor Stories
LAPL Newsletter: Summer 2011
Zachary Walter

I recently completed my service with the U.S. Marine Corps and have been preparing for graduate school. During this transition period, I wanted to serve the local community. I love any kind of instruction, whether it is teaching or coaching, so I was excited when I discovered the Adult Literacy Services.

Working with Manoon brings me joy and fulfillment, and I look forward to our meetings every week. He approaches his learning with eagerness, diligence, and humility, and has progressed very well.

Our sessions go beyond me teaching him, and are an exchange of lessons. I admire his devotion to his family and the sacrifice he makes to ensure the success of his children. His values are clear because he lives them. I feel blessed to work with such a humble, genuine, and caring person. He has taught me as much as I have taught him, and I am grateful to have touched Manoon’s life, even if just a little.

John Goldfarb
After retiring last year from my job with the Department of Corrections, I was looking for something fulfilling to do with part of my week when I discovered a link to the Adult Literacy web site.

This soon led me to Coordinator Kathy Hall, then a day of training, and finally to my learner, Maria. Since our first meeting last January, Maria has provided me with a consistent example of cheerful industry in her approach to learning and living. Over the years that she has lived in this country, she has periodically sought out opportunities to improve her English, most recently through Adult Literacy Services.

She spends a significant amount of time preparing for each of our meetings and accepts my feedback on her homework graciously. In working with her, I get the chance to explore fundamental aspects of English that I might have forgotten or taken for granted, and am constantly reminded of the beautiful complexity of the language.

When Maria tells me that her co-workers have commented lately on the greater fluency of her speech, I feel gratified to be a participant in her learning process and a tutor on Kathy Hall’s team. READ MORE !