The American Dream Starts @ Your Library
Literacy Update, Azusa
Library: Jan/Feb 2015
. . . at the Azusa City Library, to be exact. The American
Library Association and Dollar General
Literacy Foundation awarded a 2014 American Dream Starts
@ Your Library grant to the Azusa City Library. This national program helps
immigrants to learn English to continue their education, help their children in
school, get better jobs and become American citizens.
The award will help to expand tutoring for
Spanish-speaking adults who are not literate in their native language.
According to the American Community
Survey 2009-2011, 11.6 percent of adult Spanish-speaking immigrants in Los
Angeles County cannot read or write in any language, creating a barrier to
learning English. The Institute for Work and the Economy’s
2006 report, The Integration
of Immigrants in the Workplace, states that an estimated 32 percent of
adults enrolled in ESL (English as a Second Language) classes lack basic
literacy skills in their native language, making them "slower in learning
a second language than their literate counterparts."
Through the library’s partnership with Centro Latino for Literacy, the
dedication of Leamos (Let’s Read) volunteer Monica Mejia, and with support from
the American Dream grant, adults will be able to gain basic literacy skills in
Spanish in approximately 150 hours of study. They can then successfully
transition into English classes and find themselves well on their way to
achieving their American Dream.
If you know a Spanish speaker who needs to improve
their skills, call Cathay Reta at the literacy office: 626-812-5266.
