One of the great joys of working in Adult & Family Literacy in the state of California is the wonderful professional network we are part of. Staff and tutors from programs across the state regularly share challenges and ideas, and collaborate on local and statewide projects. One recent collaboration was the Adult New Reader project funded by grants from the Library Services and Technology Act. Literacy staff and tutors from across the state came together to author over one hundred high interest, low-level books for adults who are building their literacy skills. These books cover a range of topics and Salinas Public Library Literacy Program was able to contribute four titles to the collection.

One of those titles was a short biography of our Literacy Assistant, Margarita Medina Romero, who has served adults and families in the Salinas community for over 20 years. The story of her journey as an immigrant to the United States is universal and truly inspiring. As a result, Ms. Medina Romero was invited to take part in another collaborative venture on behalf of Read Santa Clara, the Adult and Family Literacy Program of Santa Clara City Library. After years of being apart due to the pandemic, staff at Read Santa Clara wanted to bring their tutors, learners and staff together to enjoy a day of inspiration and connection and the idea for 'Hope Shines' was born. On July 22nd, Read Santa Clara hosted a watch party of short videos submitted by twelve inspirational speakers drawn from the literacy community and in the same spirit of connection, they have made the videos available to programs across the state.

And so we invite you all to enjoy a little inspiration! 

Hope Shines Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy7uHSqLv9Q (Margarita's Story appears around 55 mins.)

If you are interested in viewing a digital copy of Margarita's Story, or checking out any of the other titles in the Adult New Reader collection, click on this link: https://libraryliteracy.org/special-projects/adult-new-reader-project/. 

For information on all of our Adult and Family Literacy Services, call Literacy staff on (831) 758-7916.