Project Read Opens in New Location

Project Read is now open for business

 in its new location:

Main Library - 5th Floor, the Bridge at Main 

literacy and learning center.

New Hours:  

Monday - 10:00 to 6:00

Tuesday through Thursday - 9:00 to 8:00

Friday - 12:00 to 6:00 and

Saturday - 10:00 to 6:00

Project Read is Moving on Up.

As you may know, this fall Project Read will be moving to our new location on the 5th floor. We are looking forward to the new instructional opportunities that the new space will allow. The new center will be opening in mid to late October. Here’s some important information that will be helpful during this period of transition: 

• In order to facilitate the move, Project Read will be closing our current office as of 5:00 PM on Friday, September 5.

• Between September 6 and the opening of the new learning center, meeting space will be available in study rooms on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors, and at specially designated tables set-up on the 6th floor. These tables will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis.

• If you and your learner have a set regular schedule and would like to reserve one of the glass study rooms on levels 3, 4, or 5, please contact Susan Fink (415-557-4388) for assistance.

• Beginning on Monday, September 15, the Project Read staff will be temporarily located on the 6th floor of the library. You can reach us through email or by phone.

• Drop-in Math classes will continue to be held on Thursdays from 6:00 to 8:00. We will let you know about the location of these classes.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We will try to make this period of transition as easy as possible as we look forward to our exciting new space on the 5th floor.

 

 

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

San Francisco Main Library

100 Larkin Street - Skylight Gallery (6th Floor)

 

This 30th Anniversary Celebration will include:

* Project Read tutor and learner hosts * Special guest speakers * Complimentary food and beverages * A "Share Your Project Read Memories" video booth

 

Please call 415-557-4388 if you plan to attend.

 

 



Learner & Tutor Celebration: June 11, 2013

Please Save this Date:

for Project Read's Annual

Learner & Tutor Celebration

Tuesday, June 11, 2013 - 6:00pm

Join your fellow Project Read tutors, learners and staff for an exciting evening of sharing and celebration featuring:

• Volunteer Service Awards
• Learners sharing their thanks and achievements
• Excellent catered food courtesy of Pluto's
• And much, much more!

Annual Tutor-Learner Celebration - June 12

Please join us for the annual

Tutor and Learner Celebration

Tuesday, June 12
6:00 — 8:00 p.m.

Main Library — Latino-Hispanic Meeting Room — Lower Level

Featuring:
*  City Librarian Luis Herrera *
* Volunteer Service Awards *
* Adult Learners & Tutors as Guest Speakers *
* The UNESCO Right to Literacy Scroll *
http://www.righttoliteracy.org/
* Delicious Catered Food *

Please call (415) 557-4388 if you plan to attend.

New All-Electric Project Read Van On the Road!

Project Read goes GREEN! Soon you will see a brand new Project Read Outreach Van traveling around the city.  This Ford Transit Connect van will be the first all-electric van in the city's fleet.  We want to thank the State Library (California Library Literacy Services grant) for providing the funding, the San Francisco Department of the Environment for supporting this purchase, the Office of Contract Administration for enabling the purchase process, SFPL graphic artist Barbara McMahan-Dennis for creating a wonderful exterior design, and our own Facilities Division (Roberto Lombardi, April Wan & Rhonda Porter) for their devoted hard work that made this project possible. 

Cautiously Good News for Libraries in Governor's May Budget Revision!

Governor Brown's May budget revision includes the $15.2 million for libraries that many of you fought so hard for earlier in the year.  The $15.2 million includes $8.5 million for the California Library Services Act, $3 million for the Public Library Fund, and $3.7 million for California Library Literacy Services.  Clearly we are not out of the woods yet, as the Governor's budget revision still relies on a series of tax extensions, but it is good news for now.  Let's take the opportunity to thank the Governor and our legislators for acknowledging the value of libraries and literacy!

Join your fellow tutors, learners, and library staff for Project Read's annual

Holiday Party & Potluck

Thursday, December 9, 2010

6:00 - 8:00 PM

Main Library - Latino-Hispanic Meeting Room, Lower Level

You'll enjoy some great food, music, a free raffle, and special door prizes for everyone.

Friends and family members are always welcome.

Call (415) 557-4388 if you plan to attend,

and please bring a favorite holiday dish to share.

International Literacy Day -- September 8

The United Nations has chosen September 8 to celebrate International Literacy Day.  Since 1946, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has used this occasion to highlight the continued challenge of educating 786 million adults lacking basic literacy skills world-wide. http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/literacy/


You can help in this effort.  As many of you are already doing, you can volunteer to tutor an adult learner and thereby open new doors of opportunity not previously available to that individual.  You can also simply share your experiences with others in your community.  Volunteer tutors and adult learners are the best ambassadors for programs like Project Read.  Letting others know what you do and what you have learned form being involved in the adult literacy effort can help Project Read become even more visible in the community.


Thank you for your continued commitment to a more literate and participatory society.

Author Joins Discussion at Project Read Book Club Meeting

(Project Read Learners and Tutors in conversation with author Peter Zheutelin via speakerphone)

On August 25, members of Project Read's Wednesday Night Readers Book Club were treated to a very special discussion which featured a conference call with Peter Zheutelin, author of the August book selection Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride.Peter contacted Project Read, after reading on this very blog, that we would be reading and discussing his book in August. On the night of the book discussion, he called from western Massachusetts and spoke with book club members for about 45 minutes. Learners and tutors at the meeting had excellent questions to ask about his book which details the real life adventures of Annie Kopchovsky as she circumnavigated the world on her bicycle in 1895.

(James, Suzanne, Tim, Joanna, and George chat with author Peter Zheutelin via speakerphone)

One of the adult learners who took part in the discussion had this to say about the author's participation: "The author speaking about the way things were at the time gave me a real appreciation for Annie's venture".

Thanks to author Peter Zheutlin, book club facilitators Mary Hilton and John Gildersleeve, and all the tutors and learners who attended, for an unforgettable evening of thought-provoking discussion.

Peter Zheutlin

 

Learner & Tutor Recognition - Thursday, June 10

You are cordially invited to a special evening to honor

Project Read's learners and volunteers.

Featuring:

Fine Music

Tasty Food

Volunteer Service Awards

Tutor and Learners as Guest Speakers

Make plans to join your friends at Project Read on

Thursday, June 10, 2010

6:00 - 8:00 PM

Main Library, Latino-Hispanic Meeting Room, Lower Level

Friends & family are always welcome!

Please call 415-557-4388 if you plan to attend.

Help Make the Learner & Tutor Recognition a Great Success

Learner & Tutor Recognition Event

June 10, 6:00—8:00 PM

Here are two ways that you can help make

this year’s Learner & Tutor Recognition a success.

 Tell us how the tutoring experience has changed your life. We invite you to prepare one or two paragraphs that describe your experience as a learner or tutor. Then at the Recognition Event on June 10, you will be able to share your thoughts with fellow Project Read members, library staff, and community supporters.

 Help out at the event. We’re looking for a few tutors and learners who can help present and host the event.

If you can lend your support for this event, please call Sarita Charitar

(415-557-4388) at the Project Read office.

Formal invitations will come your way later in the spring.

Magazine Highlights Wednesday Night Readers Book Club

The Wednesday Night Readers in Action (Photo by Brian)

The April 2009 issue of The Clarion, a publication of the California Library Association, features an excellent article all about Project Read's Wednesday Night Readers Book Club (pages 9 - 11). The author of this article is John Gildersleeve who is co-facilitator of the book club and 15-year-volunteer with Project Read. Mary Hilton (current co-facilitator), and Renee Feldman (previous co-facilitator) also contributed to this article. John did an outstanding job of capturing what makes the Wednesday Night Readers special and empowering .

The entire April issue of The Clarion is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of California Library Literacy Services and features some excellent perspectives on library-based literacy efforts.

Please click the image below to view or download the on-line PDF version of this publication. Enjoy!

Project Read Honored with National Award

On February 4, we heard the news that Project Read will receive the 2009 Advancement of Literacy Award presented by the Public Library Association and Library Journal.

Here is a brief description of the award from the Public Library Association website:

Advancement of Literacy Award honors a publisher, bookseller, hardware and/or software dealer, foundation or similar group (i.e., not an individual) that has made a significant contribution to the advancement of adult literacy. A plaque is awarded annually at the ALA Annual Conference. Established in 1984. Sponsored by Library Journal.

Some of the previous recipients have included: Verizon Foundation, The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, The Bell Atlantic Foundation, READ San Diego, New Readers Press, and Michigan Literacy, Inc.

We look forward to traveling to Chicago this July to accept this important award at the American Library Association's annual conference.

Thanks to the San Francisco Public Library, our incredible volunteer tutors, and courageous adult learners for helping Project Read to be recognized and honored on a national level.

Thanks for Celebrating with Us!!

A view of the main floor atrium splendidly decorated for the party.

We'd like to thank everyone who helped us celebrate Project Read's Silver Anniversary on October 27th at the Main Library. We would not be celebrating 25 years of service were it not for the dedicated learners, tutors, library staff, and community partners who have been part of the Project Read family.

A special thank you to the learner-tutor teams who served as program MC's for the evening: William Barrett & Andrew Belschner; Noel Hernandez & June Nakajima; Mario ST. Rose & Marianne Oest; Monica Barrera & Anjolie Chidambaram; Ruby Trejo & Linda Dusanic, and former Project Read learner Carlos Soto.

A highlight of the evening was a special music and interpretive dance performance based on the writing of a former Project Read learner. Cuddles the Cockroach, a four-part story, is one of the selections contained in the Silver Anniversary Collection, a book of learner writing selected from two decades of submissions to the Project Read Update newsletter. If you were unable to attend the anniversary event, please come by the office and pick up a free copy of this fabulous book.

25th Anniversary Celebration - October 27 !

Join us to Celebrate Project Read's
Silver Anniversary
Monday, October 27
7:00 - 8:30 PM
Main Library
(Entrance on Larkin Street only - the library will be closed to the public)

The celebration will include:

• Complimentary food and beverages
• A Tell Your Story Station to capture your memories of Project Read
  (video and audio recording)
• Project Read tutor & learner teams to MC the proceedings
• Featured guest speakers
• Volunteer & community service awards
• A complimentary book of learner writings, selected from two decades of submissions to the Project Read newsletter, FREE to all who attend.
• A special musical and theatrical performance based on one of the selections from this book

Please make plans to join us and bring your friends and family.

Call the Project Read office (415-557-4388) to RSVP.

Library Literacy Funding Alert

Gentle Reader,

As you may know, there have been some difficulties this year in balancing the California State Budget. The Governor’s current proposal includes a 10% cut across the board. This includes Education Code 4.6 California Library Literacy and English Acquisition Services Program 18880-18884, Line Item in 08/09 Proposed Budget 6120-213-0001 which provides funding to programs such as Project Read.

We recently found out that there is a proposal from some members of the State Senate to help balance the budget by suspending all funding to California Library Literacy Services.

Many library literacy staff members, tutors, learners, and other supporters are contacting the proponents of this proposal by phone, post, and / or e-mail to suggest that dismantling these vital, and cost-effective, services is not in the best interest of the State of California.

You can get detailed ongoing information on this matter by clicking on the following links to the California Library Association website http://www.cla-net.org/weblog and http://capwiz.com/ala/ca/issues/alert/?alertid=11904546&type=CU.

All the best, Brian

Library Legislative Day

Hey Folks,

As you may know, there is a proposed 10% cut to the California State Budget. This includes public libraries and the many services they provide to our community - including literacy services such as Project Read.

Tomorrow, Wednesday April 16, 2008 is Library Legislative Day. Many library staff members and supporters will visit Sacramento to meet with their local representatives and inform them of the importance of libraries. Many others will contact their representatives by phone, post, and e-mail to suggest that cutting these vital services is not in the best interest of the State of California.

If you are interested in finding out more about this event, and perhaps even participating, then please click on this link to the California Library Association.

If you would like to find contact information for your local representatives, then please click on this link to the Easy Voter Guide.

All the best, Brian

Reading Minds Video Now Online

 (The links and some of the text on this post were updated on May 14, 2014 by Brian)

Howdy Folks,

The powerful short film Reading Minds is now online at Current TV and Google Video. It was created for Current TV by Bay Area filmmaker Kevin Epps. It offers a window into the inspiring work of Project Read - the adult literacy program of the San Francisco Public Library. It portrays the challenges and triumphs of Leon Veal and Maurice Roberson, two adult learners who have improved their basic literacy skills and continue to achieve important life goals. For more information about Project Read of the San Francisco Public Library, please go to www.projectreadsf.org.

 You can view the film by clicking the Play Button below. Enjoy, Brian

Below are image snapshots from newsletter articles written by or about Maurice or Leon. We will provide links to the original newsletters in the near future - once we have created an online newsletter archive.

Statewide Public Awareness Campaign for Library Literacy Programs

(California Library Literacy Services Billboard at the corner of Van Ness & Turk)

During 2005 and 2006, the California State Library conducted a statewide survey of library literacy program participants in order to determine the most effective ways of promoting our services. One of the results of this research is now visible on streets and highways throughout California. We have already received a few calls directed to our office from the statewide referral number shown on the billboards. So keep an eye open for these billboards as you stroll or drive through the city or around the state.