Pollard Memorial Library Adult Literacy Program

The Program  The Pollard Memorial Library’s Adult Literacy Program began in  It is affiliated with the Library Volunteers of Massachusetts (LVM)  LVM does the grant writing and acquires funding for the program  They also provide training for the tutor volunteers  In return the program must comply with all Department of Education expectations

The Program …  Offers one-on-one teaching  Currently has 52 learners and 49 volunteer tutors  Approximately 80 individuals are on a 6-12 month long waiting list  Most of the publicity for the Program is done by word of mouth  90% of the students are English Language Learners.

The Program continued …  The Pollard Memorial Library Adult Literacy Program Coordinator is Julie Iatron  Ms. Iatron has been a community planning librarian for four years  She spends about ten hours a week coordinating the program  She also developes a “New Reader” collection at the library, which is organized by category (e.g. citizenship, health, mathematics)

Tutor Training  Tutors attend 18 hours of training  All tutors are trained by the LVM  There are separate ABE and ESOL trainings  Tutors are taught about learning disabilities, sensitivity to different cultures, and a general awareness for other factors which may affect learning  Tutors are also taught lesson planning

ESOL Program  Lowell has a large Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese speaking population  Initially learners are given proficiency tests for need-assessment reasons  Learners are then matched with tutors accordingly  Learner/Tutor contracts are created early in the process (attend all sessions, meet in a public place, do not bring children)  Concurrent Conversation Circles run in four-week intervals

ABE  The library coordinates with other agencies such as Lowell Adult Education.  Adult learners are tested using TABE and MAPT assessments  Many students are interested in building computer literacy and health literacy skills  There are far fewer ABE students than ESOL learners

The Library Literacy connection  Non-library based programs do not always know how much the library has to offer  Tutors and librarians give tours to increase learner awareness of all the Library has to offer them  Adult Literacy Program demands often add strain to a limited library staff  Much of the Library collection is geared toward Adult literacy needs