Hilo, HI
August 2007

Never To Late For Literacy

Hosted by Tony

Next: Stay On Established Trails

Who said improving your writing skills couldn't be fun, too? The day we visited the Computer-Assisted Learning Center, everyone seemed to be enjoying their lessons. Smiles, from left to right: James, Dean, Peter, Tami - Kit Holz (Project Manager and writing instructor) - and Mike.

Peter Pauole, Adult Learner and Project Advisor, did a fine job of explaining how 'gnome' and 'tiki' are people nouns and how 'travel' and 'learning' are idea nouns. Hmmm, I don't remember Mrs. Finkbeiner making grammar concepts so easy to understand...

HPL Branch Manager, Claudine Fujii, and Library Technician, Mona Tavares, insisted we hold out the WELCOME sign for anyone seeking enlightenment of the 'reference question' sort. Personally, I think they're much too friendly.

Speaking of friendly! Is that any way for a Children's Librarian to behave? I think Auntie Cheryl has a serious hankering for gnomes.

So many gnomes, so little time....

After our stimulating visit to the Children's Room, we spent some time in HPL's awesome, lanai-surrounded garden, which, by the way, is off-limits to regular "human" folk. But since it's obviously a gnome's paradise, we posted the WELCOME sign in all nooks and crannies.

After the brief spell of subversive behavior in the garden, we assembled once more for a group shot. That RG, he's such a poser! (Pretending to read while still being part of the group.) Come to think of it, we were all posing....

RG decided the book he was pretending to peruse, being a whale tale, would be in fact appropriate reading material while thumbing around an island in the middle of the Pacific. Helen, the nice Library Assistant at Circulation, was too polite to tell him - good story, different ocean.

Speaking of nooks and crannies, RG ditched the group to sneak back over to the Children's Room...

...where he nonchalantly ambled down a row of books, trying to fit in with the pint-sized surroundings...

...until he made it back to Auntie Cheryl's desk. But, alas, no matter how much she loves gnomes, she had to go on her union-mandated lunch break.

In an effort to look like he had legitimate business in the room until she returned, RG struck up a friendship with one of the room's many residents. Staring at family albums is always a good way to look busy.

One can only ooh and ahh over family photos so many times without raising suspicion, so RG moved to cruising the travel sites on the Net and reading the local paper to plan where our thumbs would lead us the next day. Tiki and I met up with him outside, later, but he never did tell us if Cheryl Crane, Children's Librarian Extraordinaire, ever made it back from lunch.

(Photos: Tony V. / Dialogue: Kit H.)

Mahalo to everyone we met on this day.

Looking back a few months later I don't have a clear image of everything that was said but I recall leaving this encounter with a better understanding of what adult literacy is about.

There has been alot of stigma and assumption placed on those people with learning disabilities. Many of these folks suffer from dyslexia which made learning to read nearly impossible for them when they were younger. Judgements were made on their intelligence and the stigmas were set in place.

The people I met on this day were very open about why they are attending this program and how they had found the courage to move past the stigmas and fear. Each one of them had hope glowing on their face that their efforts will take them down the roads to success in their own lives that they are seeking.

Thank you all for including and educating me as well and thank you Kit for caring enough to make a difference. I think I speak for all of those that you have helped.