"The best of my education has come from the public library. My tuition fee is a bus fare and, once in a while, five cents a day for an overdue book. You don't need to know very much to start with, if you know the way to the public library."
– Lesley Conger
Programs
Read Up!
Just over ten years old, Nevada County's Literacy Program is stronger than ever. At the Truckee Library alone, more than 25 Truckee community members volunteer as literacy tutors to over 30 students who wish to develop increased literacy abilities. These volunteer tutors include retired teachers and other professionals, scientists, attorneys, bank managers, leaders in local nonprofit organizations, business owners, and employees. All provide a free, confidential tutoring service to improve the lives of their students and their students’ familes. Actually, the entire community benefits as the students’ new knowledge results in increased job, parenting, and citizenship skills.
Over time, the nuturing relationship between tutor and student turns into a strong bond of mutual respect. “We all need a little help from our friends” as the song goes, and the tutor and student develop a trust in each other as strong as any friendship. Most of the tutor-student literacy teams meet weekly, some more often, for a minimum of one hour. Both tutor and student come prepared, and work as a team to develop goals, objectives, and lesson plans.
You can find these dedicated individuals meeting all over town: upstairs in the loft at the Truckee Library; by the firelight of a woodburning stove in each other’s homes; and in the community rooms and club houses in Truckee’s low-income apartment complexes. One of our new tutors was recently matched with a student living at the new Henness Flats Apartment Complex where they study together once a week in the clubhouse meeting room with Internet-access computers and a pot of coffee.
Literacy and ESL tutors are well prepared for their position. After being screened for this challenging volunteer activity, new tutors study the new Lit Start Tutor Training Manual in time for their five-hour tutor training class, which is taught by a professional literacy tutor trainer who makes the trip to Truckee from Nevada City every couple of months, come rain or shine. After the initial training class, tutors meet informally once a month to discuss their new tutoring experiences and any problems they are encountering. Guest speakers with a background in literacy or ESL education are also invited to these meetings which are held at the Truckee Library or even at a tutor's home.
Interested in becoming a tutor or student? Here are two ways to get started:
1. Call Rolann Aronson, Literacy Program Coordinator, at 530.575.7030
2. Drop by the Truckee Library to fill out either the Literacy-ESL Tutor
Application or the Student Application.
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