{"id":11321,"date":"2021-03-31T17:05:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T00:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=11321"},"modified":"2021-03-31T17:05:53","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T00:05:53","slug":"the-bridge-to-somewhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=11321","title":{"rendered":"The Bridge to Somewhere"},"content":{"rendered":"

Admiring Santa Barbara Public Library’s Adult Literacy Programs<\/h2>\n
\"The<\/a>

The Bridge to Somewhere (SB Public Library’s Adult Literacy Programs) was originally published in the Santa Barbara Independent on March 18, 2021.<\/p><\/div>\n

Pivoting, but still paving the way to knowledge,\u00a0despite budget cuts and so many services shut\u00a0down during the pandemic, the Santa Barbara\u00a0Public Library\u2019s Adult Education Programs<\/a> have found\u00a0creative ways to provide service during the past year. I\u00a0recently joined the City Library Advisory Board and was\u00a0impressed with all of the free programs they still offer,\u00a0despite their physical doors being closed to the public.<\/p>\n

Headed by Devon Cahill<\/a>, an adult education librarian\u00a0and former volunteer tutor, the Adult Literacy Program\u00a0trains volunteers to work one-to-one with learners to help\u00a0them achieve language literacy and other adult education\u00a0goals. Prior to the pandemic, the tutor-learner pairs\u00a0would meet up at the library to work on their language\u00a0skills together. Since last spring, they\u2019ve switched to 100\u00a0percent remote and have about 50 tutor-learner pairs
\nworking together.<\/p>\n

Though it\u2019s challenging, Cahill said that pandemic\u00a0learning has been a success. Grants provided funding for\u00a0Chromebooks and Wi-Fi hotspots for those that needed\u00a0them. \u201cOur success rate normally is over 90 percent with\u00a0learners reaching the literacy goals that they have set,\u201d he\u00a0said. \u201cDuring the pandemic, we\u2019re working with fewer\u00a0learners and tutors, but our success rate has gone almost\u00a0up to 100 percent\u2014it was at 98 percent last quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel Altman, a retired grant writer, has been a tutor\u00a0for the past four years, working the entire time with Cecilia,\u00a0a native Spanish speaker. Part of Cecilia\u2019s motivation is\u00a0that she works as a housecleaner and her employers want\u00a0to be able to leave her written instructions. In addition,\u00a0she is in her fifties and would like to be able to find less\u00a0physically demanding work eventually, explained Altman,\u00a0who was partially motivated to volunteer because\u00a0her own parents were immigrants who learned English\u00a0as a second language.<\/p>\n

The two women meet for about an hour twice a week\u00a0(one hour a week is the minimum requirement). They\u00a0are currently meeting by phone, which is a bit more challenging\u00a0than in person or on Zoom, but Cecilia is not\u00a0computer savvy. Rather than read side-by-side, Altman\u00a0mails materials to Cecilia from the variety of resources\u00a0the library offers. \u201cShe\u2019s very interested in history and\u00a0current events,\u201d Altman said.<\/p>\n

While being apart isn\u2019t ideal, there are some upsides.\u00a0\u201cI think the biggest advantage to the phone is we talk\u00a0more \u2026 and she needs to practice more conversational\u00a0English,\u201d said Altman. \u201cIt seems like the phone allows for\u00a0that a little more, rather than just going right to the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Improving her conversational English was also one\u00a0of the reasons Sebnem Vural joined the program about\u00a0a year ago. \u201cI have always struggled with my English\u00a0pronunciation in the past, so I decided that it would be a\u00a0good idea to obtain an environment where I could hear\u00a0the language more often,\u201d said the native Turkish speaker.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve had tons of people supporting me and encouraging\u00a0me all throughout my journey. I can\u2019t explain how helpful
\nthis program was.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tutors go through eight hours of initial training,\u00a0with an emphasis on a learner-centered peer tutor\u00a0approach, patience, cultural competency, and empathy.\u00a0The nuts and bolts of how to help a learner achieve their\u00a0goals depend on the person and what they want from the\u00a0program. Learners\u2019 goals run the gamut, Cahill explained,\u00a0from being able to read a story to their children or help\u00a0with homework to passing a citizenship test or getting\u00a0a GED or driver\u2019s license to shopping at a retail store,\u00a0improving digital literacy, or being able to read and write\u00a0in graduate school in a second language.<\/p>\n

Being able to read to kids or talk to their teachers is\u00a0a common goal, said Cahill. Malena Mackinlay, whose\u00a0first language is Spanish, joined the program about four\u00a0months ago. \u201cI\u2019ve always found motivation in wanting to\u00a0be able to communicate in English, but my one-year-old\u00a0granddaughter inspired me to continue learning,\u201d she\u00a0said. \u201cMy experience has been amazing. I got the best\u00a0tutor, and I\u2019m finally able to enjoy each of my lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working remotely has been a plus in some cases,\u00a0Cahill said. He\u2019s been able to record his Zoom tutor\u00a0trainings, so if someone isn\u2019t able to attend, they can\u00a0make it up later. In addition, \u201cSometimes that one hour\u00a0a week that the tutor and learner meet is the only hour
\nthat that learner has to work on their English because\u00a0they\u2019re so busy working multiple jobs or caring for kids,\u201d\u00a0he said. \u201cThis really frees up all that extra time it would\u00a0take for the tutor or the learner to get back and forth to\u00a0the library.\u201d<\/p>\n

He anticipates they will continue to offer a\u00a0hybrid option for training and tutoring sessions when the\u00a0pandemic is over.<\/p>\n

Library technicians also run weekly English and Spanish\u00a0conversation groups, which are open to all learners,\u00a0with no registration required.<\/p>\n

To learn more, call (805) 564-5619 (English) or (805) 962-7653\u00a0#3 (Spanish), email literacy@santabarbaraca.gov, or visit\u00a0santabarbaraca.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Santa<\/a>Click here<\/a> to see this story as it originally appeared in the Santa Barbara Independent<\/em><\/a> on March 18, 2021.<\/p>\n

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