Making a Difference in Your Community : Program Helps Break Cycle of Illiteracy

In the Los Angeles County Public Library’s Family Literacy Program, teaching adult parents to read is only the first step. The program’s real aim is teaching them to teach their kids to read.

“What we’re trying to do is promote literacy in the home,” says Cindy Costales, coordinator of the county library system’s literacy program. “A volunteer tutor will work with a student who has children under 5.”

The tutor first helps the parent learn to read children’s books, which is a goal of many adults who enter the program, said Costales.

In the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, the program is operated from the San Fernando, Valencia and Quartz Hill libraries. The program is also run in 15 other libraries throughout the county as well as satellite sites that include Head Start groups, drug and alcohol recovery centers and churches.

“It’s going quite well, actually,” said Isabel Perez, who coordinates the Family Literacy Program at the San Fernando Library. “We have tutors and parents who have been in the program for several years.”

A partnership has also been set up involving parents of kids at the Vaughn Street Elementary School in San Fernando and the San Fernando Library segment of the program, which has about 19 volunteer tutors, ranging in age from 20 to 75, teaching about 22 students, Perez said.

Throughout the county, more than 400 volunteers serve more than 3,000 adult students, Costales said.

The tutors come from various walks of life, Perez said. Included among the volunteers are doctors, lawyers and businessmen and businesswomen. About half are retirees.

“A lot of them donate their time for different reasons,” said Perez. Some want to give back to the community, others simply enjoy teaching people how to read.

About 12 potential tutors from the San Fernando Valley have already signed up for the next training, which is scheduled for Aug. 21 and 28, Perez said. The volunteers undergo a total of 12 hours of training during two sessions.

“It’s different from teaching a child,” Perez said.

Being sensitive to the needs and feelings of adult learners, many of whom are embarrassed by their inability to read, is the key to teaching them, Perez says.

During the training, provided free, volunteers become familiarized with books, videotapes and other supplemental materials used in the program.

“This program helps to break the intergenerational cycle of illiteracy,” Costales said. “It’s a very positive program.”

Costales said the program is funded by the state and county library system as well as foundation grants.

Last year, the program also got a $1-million grant from Safeco Insurance Co., Costales said.

“Through our grant we have been able to provide families with free books to build home libraries,” Costales said. Parents are also provided with family literacy packets, which contain a book with one week’s worth of activities related to the book’s theme. The tutors instruct the adults on how to use the materials.

“The parents really do enjoy those packets,” Costales said. “It provides them with the tools and the knowledge to promote reading.”

Costales says potential volunteers need to be able to read above the sixth-grade level, adding that tutors are needed to help with one-on-one and small group instruction.

“We don’t know yet how we’ll be affected by the (county and state) budget situation,” Costales said. “If we are affected, the scope of what our volunteers do will increase.”

For more information about volunteering in the county library’s Family Literacy Program, call the San Fernando Library (818-837-7308), the Quartz Hill Library (805-722-1971) or the Valencia Library (805-259-6411).

Getting Involved is a weekly listing of volunteering opportunities. Please address prospective listings to Getting Involved, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Or fax them to (818-772-3338).