Countywide : New Literacy Service Targets Pupil Needs

The Orange County Public Library is offering a new program to help functionally illiterate adults acquire reading and writing skills.

“We’re going to focus on the things they need most improved right now and tailor the tutoring to those needs,” said Scott Cheney, coordinator of the literacy service.

Anyone at least 16 years old is eligible for the program, called READ/Orange County. Centers have been established at libraries in San Juan Capistrano, Tustin, Westminster, Garden Grove and La Habra.

“But we are not limited to those locations,” Cheney said. “If someone lives in, say, Stanton, and we have a tutor in that area, they can meet wherever they want. All you need to teach English is a paper and pencil.”

The program offers free, confidential tutoring at twice-a-week sessions. Participants, Cheney noted, may have varied goals.

“Maybe they are trying for a job promotion and read at a fifth-grade level but the job they’re going for requires a 10th-grade reading level. Or they may have children in eighth grade and they don’t have the skills to help them with their homework,” he said.

For quick improvement, tutors will use materials that relate directly to their pupils’ goals.

“They may bring in their kids’ homework or the test they have to pass to get that job promotion. We’re focusing directly on their learning needs, not just plugging them into an existing system,” Cheney said.

It is estimated that one of every five adults in the nation is either functionally illiterate or able to read and write but limited in their skills. An estimated 350,000 to 450,000 adults in Orange County are functionally illiterate.

The program offers tutoring to anyone whose English skills are sufficient for daily management but does not offer English-language lessons. It is funded in part by a five-year grant through the California State Library’s California Literacy Campaign.

The program is scheduled to begin offering services to North County cities by September and countywide by the end of the year, Cheney said.