library   Literacy Outreach Program
   251 South A St., Oxnard, CA 93030
   Phone: 805/385-7536   E-mail literacy@oxnard.org


Open doorway Need Help Reading
or Writing?
Help is HERE!


Volunteer to tutor an adult learner!



Reading and Writing Open Doors!
We provide BASIC ENGLISH INSTRUCTION that is
§ Free
§ Personalized
§ One-on-One
Let us help you improve your skills.

Call us at (805) 385-7536

or visit the LITERACY ROOM, 2nd Floor, Oxnard Public Library
 Literacy opens doors. We can provide you with the key!
 Volunteers
Training Will Be Held on
Saturday, June 23, 2001 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
at the
Oxnard Public Library, Meeting Room A
251 South A Street, Downtown Oxnard.
For more information or to register please call the
Literacy Outreach Program
385-7536.
The Oxnard Public Library’s Literacy Outreach Program is funded in part by a grant through the California Library Services Act.

Dear Prospective Volunteer:

Thank you for your interest in the Literacy Outreach Program. We are dependent on the support of volunteers whose time and services are greatly appreciated. There are many volunteer opportunities available. If you are interested in sharing your skills with people who need your help, please contact us. Or, please complete and forward the volunteer application. The application allows us to match your skills and talents to a need in our community.

I am sure that you will find promoting literacy is a rewarding experience.

Sincerely,
Lisa L. Sandoval
Literacy Coordinator

Oxnard Public Library
Literacy Outreach Program
251 South A Street · Oxnard, CA 93030
(805) 385-7536 · (805) 385-7526 FAX
Thinking About Literacy

Traditionally literacy has been considered a clear-cut issue. Either people can or cannot read; they are either literate or illiterate. But in our constantly evolving times, that definition of literacy fails to address our needs. New research has begun to look at “levels of literacy.” A person at the lowest levels may be able to sign his/her name or identify a few simple words but is unable to read a job description, fill out a health care application, vote, or enjoy a picture book with his/her children. A Portland State University study (http://www.casas.org/lit/litcode/Detail.CFM?census__AREAID=4855) estimates that 34% of the adult population in Oxnard functions at the lowest level of literacy; 58% is considered “at risk.” Furthermore, low literacy levels have been linked with increases in poverty, crime, and number of welfare recipients, and decreases in employment, median income, and voter participation.

The new Literacy Outreach Program at the Oxnard Public Library, funded in part by a grant from the California Library Services Act, hopes to address these issues by offering literacy instruction through volunteer-based tutoring to promote greater access to economic and educational opportunities, greater participation in the continuing growth of our community, and enrichment in the personal lives of community members and their families. The program will initially focus on adult English-speakers who wish to improve their reading and writing abilities by providing them with free and highly-personalized English language instruction.

If you or someone you know is in need of their services, please call the Literacy Outreach Program at 385-7536 or visit the Literacy Room on the second floor of the Oxnard Public Library at 251 South A Street in Downtown Oxnard.

Opening Doors at Oxnard Public Library

Even before she received a set of keys to the Literacy Room, Lisa Lividini Sandoval, our newest employee at Oxnard Public Library, was ready to start “opening doors.” As Literacy Coordinator, she is developing the grant-funded Literacy Outreach Program here at the library.

Lisa, her husband (Oxnard native Aaron Rothrock Arenas Sandoval), and their three children resettled in Ventura County three years ago. While family has always been her first priority, Lisa’s career has been driven by two main interests: her love of the English language and her desire to help people. Since 1989, Lisa has been involved in many community-based organizations here in California and in her home state of Massachusetts. She coordinated and manned a crisis hotline service in Waltham, co-founded an inter-city parents’ group based in Boston, and was the Assistant to the Executive Director of the Hospice of Cambridge which provided support for terminally ill patients and their families.

Simultaneously, Lisa has also pursued her interests in English. A published writer and poet, she graduated from Brandeis University in 1992, and then received her Masters in English Literature in 1994 from Boston University.

Her first opportunity to combine these two fields came in 1993. She began as a volunteer tutor for the Ventura County Library’s Adult Literacy Tutoring Project. This early experience led her to Oxnard College, where she is a part-time English instructor, teaching composition courses at all levels during the evening continuing education program. As a teacher in our community, Lisa believes that literacy is an issue of particular relevance in Oxnard and that the Literacy Outreach Program will fill an important need in our community. She is enthusiastic about working with the Oxnard Public Library staff, volunteers, and patrons. According to Lisa, “Literacy opens doors for people. We know that the Library can provide the key.”

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Created 4-24-01 1