The following article was submitted by Margo Meyer, the Adult Services Associate at the Manitowoc Public Library.
“Reading is a portal—into the past, the future. It’s a parent reading ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ to the child on his lap. It’s someone filling out a job application to better her life or following a recipe from a cookbook to feed their family. It’s a quiet hour on a rainy afternoon, a note from a friend, the instructions on a bottle of medication. It’s elemental, and it’s magic, and it’s vital.”
These eloquent words from author Nora Roberts get to the core of what Manitowoc Public Library’s One-to-One Adult Literacy Program is all about. Our volunteer tutors work with adults ages 18 and older in our community who would like goal-oriented, individualized literacy tutoring. After experiencing our free training, tutors are equipped to develop and enhance their learners’ skills in reading, writing, comprehending, and speaking English. These literacy and reading skills truly lead to wonderful things.
In a given month, I feel fortunate to hear about the many goals our tutors and learners are working towards. It could be the gains in pronunciation an ELL learner is making through conversation practice or the sharing of recipes and how to cook something from someone’s home country to practice the imperative form in English. Throughout the pandemic, our learning pairs were very creative and adept at taking advantage of online learning. Reading aloud to each other through Google Duo, Zoom, or Face Time allowed instruction to continue, often including pets who would curl up and listen to the shared stories. Obviously, one of the Silver Linings of connecting from home in the virtual world is being able to see each other’s furry friends.
Even with the challenges of COVID, we have seen some of our amazing learners work toward passing the US citizenship test and enroll in classes at LTC to pursue a GED or other certification thanks to our wonderful volunteer tutors. The scope of our program allows us to work with those just starting to learn English, as well as students ready to take on higher level courses in our community.
So, perhaps you would like to join our efforts to help our hard working learners reach some of their goals? Goals such as learning how to fill out a job application, improving reading skills to be able to read bedtime stories, or increasing vocabulary and working on pronunciation. Maybe it’s more easily studing for the written driver’s test, speaking better English in the community to help with shopping, banking or doctor appointments, or pursuing a GED or post-secondary course that is the focus. We would love to have you join our program to help in these endeavors!
One does not need a background in education to be a volunteer tutor. Free training is supplied, as well as all of the teaching materials. We match every new tutor with a mentor in our program, so there is a lot of support in place right from the start.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer tutor, you can submit the brief form found at www.manitowoclibrary.org/volunteer/. You can also contact me directly. I’m Margo Meyer, the One-to-One Adult Literacy coordinator. You can call me directly at 920-686-3026 or email me at mmeyer@manitowoc.org. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about the process. We’d love to see you join in the rewarding pursuit of sharing literacy—which is both magic and essential.
