'We Believe Anyone Can Move Up Through the Power of Reading'

(Lisa Cole, Literacy SC executive director, speaks to Richland Library managers. Photo provided)

In South Carolina, 22.4 percent of adults don’t read at a functional level, and 19 percent of Palmetto State adults don’t have a high school diploma.

Adults who struggle with literacy often have a difficult time navigating life in the 21st century, said Lisa Cole, executive director of Literacy SC.

“When you can’t read at a functional level, you can’t read bedtime stories to your children, you can’t help them with homework, you can’t engage with the 50 million emails your school sends out,” Cole said.

People who don’t read at a functional level have a more difficult time applying for a job online or understanding the follow-up instructions after a doctor’s visit or hospitalization.

Based in Columbia, Literacy SC has been working to change those statistics in the Midlands for several decades. The nonprofit organization has been through several name changes since its founding in 1968 as the Greater Columbia Literacy Council. Earlier this year, it re anded again, changing its name from Turning Pages SC, a name it had held since 2006, to Literacy SC. The organization also has revised its focus.

“Learn more, earn more, do more” is the organization’s new tagline, and its mission has evolved beyond teaching basic literacy skills.

“We believe that anyone can move up and ahead through the power of reading,” Cole said. “And the way we accomplish that is, we teach adults and families practical skills in reading, writing, and math to build confidence in daily life.”

The organization has 26 public partner sites across four counties, most of them in the Midlands region, and three branch offices. The third office opened July 1 in Saluda.

Literacy SC has three part-time senior staff members in Columbia and two branch coordinators in Aiken. But the tutors who work directly with Literacy SC’s clients are volunteers.

The adult programs are only available to people 18 and older, but there’s no upper age limit, and the oldest person taking part in classes is 83 years old.

“Sixty percent of adults who come to us read below a fourth-grade level,” Cole said.

The adults who engage in Literacy SC programs share a variety of reasons for wanting to build their reading skills, Cole said. Some want to read to their children, others want to improve their opportunities in the workplace, while still others want to read their Bible. And some, Cole said, just want to be a better role model to their children.

As Literacy SC has retooled its mission, it has also expanded its program offerings.

The Turning Pages private tutoring program is “the first step on our literacy ladder,” and Literacy SC will be offering more programs beginning this fall, including a twice-weekly program at Transitions Homeless Center in Columbia.

At the same time, the organization is launching Reading Begins Here, its free family literacy program designed to help parents encourage reading growth in their children.

Path to Math, one of the low-cost programs now offered, grew out of Literacy SC’s realization of “the need for lower-level practical math” – skills to help individuals and families with navigating finances, building a budget, keeping track of utilities. The classes start with numbers, counting, operations, and patterns and teach students how to apply those skills in their everyday lives.

There’s a Workforce ESOL class for English as a second language learners who want to advance in their careers. The program teaches “career lingo, how to navigate the workforce, how to feel confident when you get a job out in society if you are not a native English speaker.”

Literacy SC also will offer Modern Study Skills, which helps learners navigate studying in an increasingly online environment. There will be two classes, one for teens and another for adults.

Each class can accommodate up to 20 students, with the exception of the Turning Pages groups, where students benefit from a smaller and more personalized class experience, Cole said.

Some classes are free, while a few are low-cost, around $12 to $20, including Workforce ESOL, Path to Math, and Modern Study Skills.

“We spent two years in strategic mode, thinking through what’s next, what do we need,” she said. “And that’s while we were building our reading program, our one-on-one private tutoring program. … Throughout those two years, we got a buildup of calls that came from around the state that were asking for various different things.”

The strategy sessions and community feedback led to the new programs, including one that begins in September, Reading Begins Here, an eight-session free family literacy series.

Cole is optimistic that the organization will be able to reach more people with its expanded focus. The hope is that Literacy SC’s learners can “build confidence and engagement in their life so they can move up and ahead.”