Literacy Programs and Services

ALL SERVICES FREE!

Ozarks Literacy Council offers four essential programs:

BASIC LITERACY focuses on addressing the problem that some 30 percent of American adults function at an 8th Grade reading level or below.  The rapid growth in Greene County alone n the last ten years (15.6%), means that some 72,000 people in this county find themselves in this predicament.  Regional numbers reach easily over 150,000 residents.

            The answer to the problem lies in one-on-one tutoring. The  average adult learner can raise his or her reading level two full grades with just eighty hours of tutoring.  Just this much improvement can raise an individuals earning power over 40%, meaning that Adult Basic Literacy improves not only individual lives, but family security and community economics as well.

            Basic Literacy also encompasses Corrections Literacy work in the Greene County Jail and the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners.  Over 60% of prison inmates are illiterate and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading difficulties.

            ENGLISH FOR SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES (ESOL),  also known as English as a Second Language, has become a critically important regional issue in the past decade, and will continue to be vital as the Ozarks population continues to diversify.  The Hispanic population of Greene County grew 150% from 190 to 2000, the largest but certainly not the only increase in new immigrants.  These new residents need language services to fully function in their new home.

            Working with such agencies as OTC, Group LatinoAmericano and LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), the Ozarks Literacy Council is working to offer individual and small group classes to new residents regardless of their native language.  Current clients include learners from China, Japan, Mongolia, Philippines, Guatemala, Panama, El Salvador, Ukraine, and others.

               Classes are held every Monday and Tuesday evening from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m.  Classes are free and open to anyone wishing to learn Englis;  no pre-registration is required.

            CHILD/FAMILY LITERACY targets the fact that literacy problems are multi-generational.  The children of low literacy parents is twice as likely to have reading problems as their peers.  Working solely with a child, then sending him or her back to an environment where reading is not supported or valued is futile.  The aim of C/FL is to first reach children, and through them the parents, in a combination of child tutoring adult tutoring and joint learning, in hopes of not only improving the immediate situation, but also of creating new values and opportunities for entire families.

            Identifying clients is relatively simple, but securing participation may sometimes be more daunting.  It is the belief of OLC, however, that problems of literacy must be addressed as part of a larger family and social structure.

            READING ADVOCACY is a new program established to stress the belief that reading in and of itself is a positive value, and supporting that belief helps create the bedrock to support the specific literacy programs of OLC.  In other words, this agency does not exist merely to teach a handful of people to read-- a central part of our responsibility is to promote reading among all populations, all ability levels, all ages and aspects of our community.

            This role becomes more and more important as our school systems face economic difficulties.  If OLC can support the work of teachers by exciting even a few students about reading, we will have served our children well.  Best-selling children's author Mem Fox says, "For a book to engage a child, it has to touch him emotionally.  The kid has to laugh or jump up and down or screw his nose up."  That is the impact that the simple act of reading aloud can have, an important task that is in peril with current educational economics, but a task that OLC is willing and able to address.