GREENSBORO, N.C. — This week, WFMY News 2 participated in a special community project! As part of the Volunteer Center's Corporate Caring Challenge, we partnered with Reading Connections to build and refresh Little Free Libraries around Greensboro.
Every day this week, members of the WFMY News 2 team got to use power tools and paint. Working with community members, we assembled four new libraries. Five other libraries were already installed and just needed a little love, which we provided by cleaning them up and giving them a fresh coat of paint! By the end of the week, nine neighborhoods now have Little Free Libraries with a fresh look!
If you're not familiar with the Little Free Libraries, here's how they work: walk up and take a book! That's it! No need to register or pay. If you have a book at home that you like and think others would enjoy, you can put it in the library for someone else to enjoy! For a map of all Little Free Libraries, click here.
Literacy can have a huge impact on a community. Lisa Escue, Reading Connection's Director of Adult Basic Education and English for Speakers of Other Languages said, "One in five adults in our area struggles with literacy and that has enormous impact on their ability to get decent paying jobs, to have good health outcomes when they're sick, and to interact with the justice department."
Reading Connections mission is transforming our community by improving literacy and promoting educational equity for people of all ages, empowering them to navigate changes in an increasingly complex world. They offer programs to help clients improve their reading and prepare for high school equivalency exams. They also offer English classes for for speakers of other languages, and family literacy classes -- so adults and children can learn to read together.
Escue said whether people take the family literacy classes or not, reading can change a family's legacy. "Reading impacts generations. Your ability to read as an adult, and or a parent or a caregiver, will improve outcomes not only for yourself but for your children and for generations to come."
If you already know how to read, you can help others learn! Reading Connections is also looking for tutors to teach! You don't need to have a background in education. There is training available to help you become a reading tutor. For information on becoming a tutor, click here. For more information on Reading Connections programs, click here.
