It’s that time of year again: summer. And with summer, comes summer reading. For some youngsters, summer reading is fun, easy, and comes naturally. For others, it’s a much more difficult task.
That’s why Lodi Whittier Library Director Beth Bevars and her staff tasked themselves earlier this year with building a Lodi Library Literacy Hub for “those who are struggling with reading.” For Bevars, a graduate of the South Seneca High School Class of 1988, it’s an experience that hits close to home – she is the mother of “a severely dyslexic 20-year-old who finally learned to read in the seventh grade through the use of the Orton-Gillingham approach.”
She is hoping building a resource like the literacy hub, that has the right reading materials for all reading levels, helps those who are struggling get an earlier start of their journey. As of last month, Bevars said they had cataloged 140 books and counting. Those include decodable early readers, decodable chapter books, hi-lo chapter books, and other resource materials for adults on dyslexia.
The Lodi Literacy Hub is made possible by generous grants from Finger Lakes Library System’s Coordinated Outreach Services Advisory Council and the Bernard Carl and Shirley Rosen Library Fund of the Community Foundation of Tompkins County. Bevars noted the library is also very grateful to Teach My Kid to Read for their generous donation of materials and resources.
“These materials were funded with grant monies from several different sources,” Bevars said, “and were purchased especially to serve the students and teachers of the South Seneca School District. Others are, of course, able to check out and utilize the materials but my main goal is to serve our students and families.”
Bevars is hoping to build awareness of the hub, especially with the South Seneca Central School District with the outcome being parents and staff contact her with feedback of the hub, including what they like about it, and what it still needs.
“I’m hoping they’ll have time to peruse it over the summer,” Bevars said, “and I welcome feedback about what additional materials they’d like to see included as well as help create a plan for use in as many ways as possible. The focus is on learners who struggle with dyslexia and similar learning disabilities that affect learning to read accurately and with fluency.”
Those interested in browsing the current hub can do so in person, but also online. If you have questions or feedback for Bevars, you can reach her at director@lodilibrary.net. You can also access the catalog by:
* going to: http://lodilibrary.net/
* Choosing Search the catalog
* In the “Quick Library Search” box type: Lodi Literacy Hub
* You will see the screen shown in the image attached. Choose Literacy Hub next to the top Blue Box with the image of a reader. That will take you to a list of all the items in the collection so far.
* Once you choose a specific item, look for the little black flag underneath the Lodi listing. Specific information about the publisher; scope and sequence and any other relevant information that would fit in that area.
Bevars looks forward to the hub becoming something the community is not only aware of, but uses to its fullest potential.
“The Lodi Literacy Hub is a place where ALL readers, including those who are struggling, can find books and materials that meet them right where they are,” she said. “We understand that learning to read can be difficult. And, for those who are dyslexic or have other language-based learning disabilities, learning to read can feel like an insurmountable challenge. Whether your children or grandchildren are attending public school, private school or homeschooling, we are here to help.”
“We are proud to be building a ‘gold standard’ collection,” she continued, “of phonics books; decodable books; kits with manipulatives and parent resources. We also have audio books, graphic novels, picture books and many games for both playing in the library and for checkout. Most of our materials are available to travel to your home library within the Finger Lakes Library System. But, we invite you to come to Lodi, tell us your story, and see what we have to offer.”