Community and Literacy
 Questions and Answers
The interviewees and guests on RIF Exchange 302: "Literacy and Community" answer these commonly asked questions:
Q: Why are community-based literacy programs so important?
A: Children's learning is not confined to the classroom. Each child's education starts at home and is further shaped by all the factors in the community he or she comes into contact with, including schools. Community programs related to literacy reinforce knowledge learned in formal instruction and offer much needed additional resources.
Dr. Mavis Sanders:
"When [children] get common messages from the significant adults in their family and their school and community, it just reinforces the importance of learning and literacy. And it gives them opportunities to apply literacy and actually use the skills they develop."
Louis Mattina, Newark, N.J.:
"We have mentors come in, work with children one-on-one. And it really builds the self-esteem within the children … it gives them awareness that people do care about them, it’s a loving environment and they can see that outside it’s not all doom and gloom. There are people who do care."
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Q: How do children benefit from community involvement in literacy education?
A: Literacy is a necessity of society, a bedrock skill at the foundation of a successful life. Ensuring that children experience the joy of reading both inside and outside the classroom helps children thrive in that society.
Dick Sells, RIF vice president and chief operating officer:
"[Community involvement in literacy] benefits the kids in a lot of ways. First of all, they recognize that it isn't just school work. It's exciting. There are adults involved. It’s both fun and important to the community …That's what Reading Is Fundamental is about. As we all know, reading shouldn't be a chore. Reading should be part of our community."
Heidi Baker, Quitman Community School:
"The volunteers … demonstrate to the children that there are people in the world that care about them, that don’t necessarily look like them or come from the same neighborhood, yet they are capable of empathy and caring and they become devoted to each other."
Jesse Ventura, Governor of Minnesota:
"When you do it as a community, I think it inspires children that much more to be a part of that community. You start them reading and they'll continue reading their whole lives. We all win then."
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Q: How does society benefit from community involvement in literacy programs?
A: By involving every part of the community, these literacy efforts build strong networks of people who recognize their shared goals and how to work together to accomplish those goals. This leads to healthier communities.
Dr. Mavis Sanders:
"We can think about the benefits to the community in a couple of ways. We can look at it first in terms of political benefits. This is a democracy. What we require for the democracy to really work is citizens who can actually act on what they read and understand how they understand and then become involved in the political process. That is what is so fundamental to a democracy. We are ensuring that these young people have the ability to be productive individuals in a democratic society.
Dr. Douglas Powell:
"The entire community stands to benefit when we're all educated and informed about our roles and our contributions."
Winston Hewitt, Lawson Software:
"Readers are leaders. By investing in readers we are investing in, potentially, our future employees as well as our citizens."
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Q: How does one begin a community-wide literacy effort?
A: There are as many ways to begin a community-wide literacy campaign as there are communities. The only necessary element is the will of a few people to get the ball rolling.
Pat Harvey, Saint Paul Reads:
"We didn’t start out with a program that was well defined. What we wanted was everybody to be able to put their thumbprint on it. So here’s what happened: Organizations like the National Council of Jewish women and the League of Women said, 'Well, if Saint Paul’s kids are going to read 25 books or more a year they’re going to need more books.' So they started a book collection … one year 20 tons of books found their ways into the homes of kids."
Victor Swenson, Vermont Council on the Humanities:
"… in Eden, it’s just an unusual set of circumstances. The town doesn’t have much in the way of rich institutional organizations, but it has people who are devoted to working together."
Dr. Douglas Powell, Purdue University:
"… the question becomes how can this organization or this program maximize learning and connect it to other things in the child’s life? So a starting point for us has been to ask the question what is literacy? what is learning? and to help nonschool organizations see that literacy and learning are not owned by the local library. They’re not owned exclusively by the local school … we all share in this."
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