Turner library working with Bush Foundation
IN THE CITY
by Lisa Shaw and Sonja-Plummer Morgan
if my eyes have fallen onto your magazine.
For I’ve been watching and wondering
Why your face is changing with every line
you read.
If she could it would be wonderful, but my pride is in the way.
I cannot read to save my life,
I’m so ashamed to say.
I live in silence, afraid to speak
Of my life of darkness because I cannot read.
For all those lines and circles, to me, a mystery.
Eve pull down the apple and give taste to me.
If she could it would be wonderful.
Then I wouldn’t need someone else’s eyes to see what’s in front of me.
No one guiding me.
It makes me humble to be so green
At what every kid can do when he learns A to Z.
But all those lines and circles just frighten me
And I fear that I’ll be trampled if you don’t reach for me.
Before I run I’ll have to take a fall.
And then pick myself up, so slowly I’ll devour every one of those books in the tower
of knowledge.
“Established by Barbara Bush in 1989, the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy supports the development and expansion of family literacy programs — in settings where parents and children read and learn together — across the United States.” (http://www.barbarabushfoundation.com)
All of us have experienced illiteracy at some point in our lives, whether it be the time before we learned to read or time spent in a culture whose native language is one in which we are not conversant. A brief Google search for a definition for literacy brings up the University of New Mexico’s website and their working definition: “The definition of ‘literate’, then, depends on the skills needed within a particular environment. Of note, also, is the emphasis on English.”
The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy grants funding for programs which work to enhance literacy, as defined by the skills needed to read and write English at levels to function proficiently in society and in the family – or at least at a higher proficiency level than when the participants begin the program. Programs teaching reading skills tend to conjure up unpleasant images of a tired parent or grandparent after a full day’s work sitting in front of “See Spot run” with the eventual goal of working up to the dreary day-to-day pinings of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, a path of learning that would cause even our most primitive ancestors to rue the day they ever put stone to cave wall at the inception of written communication.
The Barbara Bush Foundation knows that the first goal of literacy is to help people be able to carry out the day-to-day functions in society that so many of us take for granted: reading the top story in a newspaper; writing a permission slip for a child at school; reading a recipe for cookies; taking a written driving exam; helping a son or daughter with a homework question. Organizations applying for and receiving Bush Foundation grants partner with area agencies to deliver four core services: 1) literacy services to children; 2) literacy services to adults; 3) literacy services to families as units; and 4) parenting skills assistance for families who have been trying to “make do” with what might be limited literacy tools.
The library serves as a welcoming place for toddler storytimes, homework help for school-aged children, research and writing for older students, and reading for overall learning and pleasure for all ages. It’s a logical environment for a program which strives to bring these skills to individuals and families who for whatever reason might have missed out on them previously in life.
Scientist and author Timothy Ferriss (The Science of Liberty) spoke in February 2010 at the Cato Institute about his book. At one point in his presentation, he makes the following observation: “ … In the book I try to boil down some [attainments] to what I think are fairly universal values. What can everyone agree is good for people to have? Like health, wealth, and happiness. … Happiness is hard to measure. One thing I looked at is literacy, because clearly people are better off if they can read and write and feel better off and more in contact with their community. …” (http://mises.org/daily/4236)
Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library looks forward to working with the Barbara Bush Family Literacy Foundation and area agencies to offer family literacy training to our community. The library will continue to announce its progress in this endeavor. The library also values the happiness of its community members, and it is our prime directive in working with the Bush Foundation to make measured improvements in family literacy and in that happiness.
Lisa Shaw is reference librarian and Sonja Plummer-Morgan is library director at Presque Isle’s Turner Memorial Library.
