She Gets a Thrill Out of Building Esteem

When she was growing up, Dolores Pedro discovered the delights of reading as an escape, traveling to lands she would never see and experiencing vicariously the adventures of others. She became a librarian for the County of Los Angeles public library system, retiring in 1994 as community library manager at the Baldwin Park Library. For the past three years she has been a volunteer literacy tutor at the same library, helping adults learn to read.

Since early spring, Pedro, 66, of Altadena, has spent an hour on Tuesday afternoons working with Maria Gallegos, a 34-year-old truck driver’s wife and mother of three from Mexico. On this day, workbooks on the table, Pedro listens to Gallegos read words with an “ow” sound--”clown,” “shower,” “towel,” “frown”--using them in sentences when necessary to make their meanings clear. She hears Gallegos read two stories, corrects her pronunciation and asks questions about content. She smiles as her student successfully tackles words with an “au” sound, such as “taught” and “bought,” then points out the difference in pronunciation between “daughter” and “laughter.”

Gallegos, who wants to improve her English to help her children with homework and to study to be a medical or dental assistant, says, “I think of Dolores as a friend. She’s a very good teacher. She’s very patient. I like to read. It’s very exciting.”

Instilling the excitement and accomplishment of being able to read is one reason Pedro became a literacy tutor. “I watched one evening here when a man came in with his wife and two or three small children to sign up for a literacy program,” she recalls after her session with Gallegos ends. “You never saw such pride. I thought, ‘That is going to mean so much to them. I’d like to be part of bringing someone that feeling.’

“It’s as though a load drops off their shoulders once they’ve made the decision to come out of the closet and admit they can’t read,” she says. “If they’re this proud now, it’s because they were ashamed before.”

Gallegos is the only one of Pedro’s students learning to read English as a second language. One previous pupil was a young woman who was jealous because her husband could read to their daughter and she could not. The three later joined a family literacy program, at Pedro’s suggestion.

“I could see a great improvement in the young mother. She had the confidence to get a job at UCLA,” Pedro says. “And one lady in this program, not my student, was partially dyslexic. She was passed over, going downhill. Once she discovered she could read, she made a complete turnaround. She’s in a nursing assistant program, and she wants to teach others.”

“Reading raises your self-esteem. You find you can do things you didn’t think were possible,” Pedro says.

“We have a huge reading problem,” says Cindy Costales, literacy coordinator for county libraries. “Dolores tries to make a difference in her community. She’s very dedicated. She’s always willing to be there for her students. Sometimes, because of students’ own issues, they have doubts: ‘Can I do this?’ Dolores provides a lot of motivation--seeing what they’re interested in, what they want to learn.”

Pedro also volunteers once a week for the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic program, recording textbooks and other material and working in the office. She is an English-as-a-second-language tutor for the San Gabriel Valley Literacy Council, teaching a twice-weekly class in conversational English; is chairperson for the annual October scholarship luncheon of the California Library Assn.’s Black Caucus; and sings in her church choir. And, despite the fact that she did not know if she could even hammer a nail in straight, she helped build a house in Glendale for Habitat for Humanity. She is now chairwoman of Habitat’s speaker’s bureau.

Stephanie Clark-Ochoa, who served with Pedro on Habitat’s board of directors, and is a literacy outreach specialist for the county libraries, says, “Dolores is warm, caring, always willing to go the extra mile. She’s a dynamo. I think she’s busier now than when she had a job.”

Pedro agrees. “I always thought I’d go to senior centers. Everybody says they’re a lot of fun, but I haven’t had time yet. One day, I’ll retire from retirement. I’ll go to a senior center and line dance.”

* This occasional column tells the stories of the unsung heroes of Southern California, people of all ages and vocations and avocations, whose dedication as volunteers or on the job makes life better for the people they encounter. Reader suggestions are welcome and may be sent to Local Hero Editor, Life & Style, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053.