Literacy Volunteers of Wayne County
Our guest speaker today was Derek Poole, Family Literacy Coordinator for Literacy Volunteers of Wayne County (LV Wayne). Derek started by expressing his appreciation for Rotary, mentioning that Wayne County Rotary clubs are major sponsors of his organization’s annual spelling bee. (For the past several years, our club has sponsored the Pal-Mac Interact Club's entry to the spelling bee, and sent a team of our own members.) If you grew up with books in your home, if you are an average or better reader, then you are privileged, he told us.
In Wayne County, some 6000 adults (8%) lack basic literacy skills. These people cannot read a map or their child’s report card. Neither can they read instructions on forms. They cannot fill out a job application or read the label on a medicine bottle. They can’t read a bedtime story to their children. These are all things most of us take for granted. And as our society becomes more and more dependent on technology in the information age, those with literacy deficiencies are more likely to be left behind.
Pictured, l-r: Derek Poole of LV Wayne; Brian Brooks; Pam Dean, club Literacy Chair; and Club President Bob Yost.
As Family Literacy Coordinator, Derek has worked to improve reading skills in families throughout Wayne County. The “Little Green Bookshelf” project now has grown to over 100 locations in the county. Through this program, anyone can take any book from the shelf, anonymously. Anonymity is part of the reason for the program’s success, as there unfortunately tend to be a stigma attached to illiteracy.
Another project Derek started is “Books from Birth”. Through this program, every newborn at Newark-Wayne Hospital receives a literacy packet. The packet includes information about literacy and programs and services offered by LV Wayne; a library card application; a copy of the Wayne County Community Resource Guide; a board book “Good Night Moon”;and a postage-paid postcard If the parents choose to send in the postcard with the newborn’s date of birth, Literacy Volunteers will send a new book to the child on their birthday, up until they start kindergarten. This program started with 30 families, and has grown to 2800 families.
Derek and the staff at Literacy Volunteers believe that increasing literacy grants those individuals access to vital information, but it also increases their self-esteem, independence, and productivity. There is so much more to the mission of Literacy Volunteers than space here allows. If you would like to know more about Literacy Volunteers of Wayne County or to volunteer or donate, please visit their website at www.lvwayne.org or call their offices at (315)946-5333.
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