LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — With a new program coordinator in place, the Lake County Library’s Adult Literacy Program is working to expand by bringing in new tutors and learners from all around the lake.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the challenges in our community to address low literacy skills.
To increase participation, the program is offering both in-person and virtual options for tutoring and is looking to the community for support to grow the program.
The Adult Literacy Program recruits and trains volunteers from the community to work one-on-one with individuals who need help to improve basic reading, writing, and comprehension skills, offering study sessions that are geared to what the student wants to learn.
The program also offers assistance for GED or High School Equivalency preparation, written driving tests, citizenship applications and more.
In addition, the program aims to increase digital literacy for those wanting to improve their skills with computers, cell phones, office computer programs, and more. A grant application is currently in progress to implement an English as a Second Language Program as well.
No experience is necessary to become a literacy tutor. Tutor training, where volunteers learn useful techniques for teaching adults to read, is provided free of cost, and ongoing support and meetings are offered including a monthly meeting with all active tutors and an annual tutor recognition event sponsored by the Lake County Literacy Coalition.
Upon completion of tutor training, tutors will be matched with adult learners in a variety of settings around the county.
Volunteering is flexible for both the tutor and learner, with sessions typically held once per week for one hour. Sessions can take place at library branches, in local park settings, or online via Zoom.
A Family Literacy Program is also available to families of adult learners with young children to help their children become readers and encourage family activities.
As part of the family program, children receive free books from any of our library branch locations and our free monthly newsletter that includes reading recommendations, family activities, and more.
Both programs are available to the public to promote literacy and lifelong learning for all ages.
Becoming a tutor can help someone to a better future. Many adults want to improve their reading and writing skills so they can access better jobs, further their own education, advocate for their children, and overall improve their way of life. Through hard work and perseverance, adult learners can change their own, and their family’s lives, for the better.
The program is supported in part by the California Library Literacy Services and by the Lake County Literacy Coalition.
Since 1986, the Coalition, with the help of literacy volunteers, has conducted the annual fundraising Walk/Run for Literacy and has used funds raised for books, training materials, and tutor support including recognition events.
Survey data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies from the first survey cycle (2012/2014/2017), determined that Lake County had a 26% literacy proficiency level of at or below level 1.
According to ProLiteracy, an organization whose mission is to change lives and communities through the power of adult literacy, more than 43 million adults in the United States cannot read, write, or do basic math above a third-grade level.
Workers who have less education than a high school diploma have the lowest median weekly earnings ($592), three times less than the highest level of education.
After the retirement of Virginia “Ginny” DeVries, the program’s dedicated coordinator for over 30 years, the Lake County Library hired local resident and Lake County Poet Laureate Georgina Marie Guardado to fill the position.
She has prioritized recruiting new learners and tutors for this program and revitalizing the program after the COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted overall retention.
If you are interested in becoming a literacy tutor or know someone who could benefit from our services, please call 707-263-7633 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Your volunteerism could help change a life.
Visit the Adult Literacy Program’s page on the Lake County Library website at http://library.lakecountyca.gov.
Visit the Lake County Literacy Coalition’s website at https://lclcoalition.wixsite.com/lclc and like their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/LakeCountyCALiteracyCoalition/.