Afternoon Social Celebrating Mesa County Libraries Literacy Center Anniversary

WHAT: Afternoon social to celebrate the Mesa County Libraries Literacy Center's 30th Anniversary
WHEN: 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, 2016
WHERE: Mesa County Libraries Central Library, Fifth Street and Grand Avenue.

Mesa County Libraries Literacy Center volunteers have literally been changing lives for 30 years.

Since the January day in 1986 when it launched, the Literacy Center has helped thousands of Mesa County residents improve their self-sufficiency and communication skills, leading to educational opportunities, better employment, and improved quality of life for those students and their families.

This 30-year record of success will be celebrated with an afternoon social from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, at the Mesa County Libraries Central Library, Fifth Street and Grand Avenue in Grand Junction. Literacy Center tutors, students, former literacy staff members, and community partners are invited to drop in and share their stories about the history of the Literacy Center and the effect the program had on their lives.

The Literacy Center's mission is to improve students' self-sufficiency and to provide opportunities for broader engagement with the Mesa County community. This mission is achieved through a student-directed program that allows for individual goal-setting and pacing.

Students are matched with tutors and are provided with a curriculum of study based on the goals they set for themselves. Student goals vary; common goals include attaining U.S. citizenship, obtaining better employment through improved reading and writing skills, and increasing students' ability to communicate with their children's teachers.

In 2015, the Literacy Center served 257 students from 26 countries; 163 of those students were new to the program in 2015. Also in 2015, the Literacy Center used 80 volunteer tutors to provide instruction. Those tutors donated 5,276 hours to the center's mission. According to the Points of Light Economic Impact Calculator, the economic impact of this work is equivalent to $123,247.

The Literacy Center is an award-winning program recognized by the library community (the 2014 Colorado Association of Libraries Jean Maio Award for Excellence in Adult Literacy) and by community partners (the Hispanic Affairs Project John Kiernan Award for Outstanding Community Organization, awarded in September 2015).

The Mesa County Libraries Literacy Center receives generous support from Friends of the Mesa County Libraries and Mesa County United Way.