Literacy Program Begins Recruitment of Volunteers

The Los Angeles Public Library will host an orientation session Saturday to recruit volunteers to teach literacy skills to people whose reading level is at the sixth-grade level or below.

The session will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Venice Public Library at 501 S. Venice Blvd., said William Byrne, spokesman for the library’s Adult Reading Project.

The recruitment is part of a citywide effort at six regional centers, he said. The next recruitment effort will be held Dec. 10 at the central library.

Citywide, about 350 program volunteers have committed themselves to instruct for a minimum of three hours a week for six months, he said. About 20% of Americans read below the sixth-grade level, meaning they can’t address cards or write checks, he said.