Tutor Job Description

Tutor Application

Useful ESL Links

Tutor/Learner Quarterly Report Form

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Student Application

Language Lab

Recommended CDs and DVDs

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The Library’s Legacy for Literacy program provides FREE tutoring services for adults of limited English proficiency. Volunteer tutors are very much needed. Teaching English as a Second Language is very rewarding work. Just an hour a week of your time can make a real difference. No prior experience is necessary as tutoring workshops are offered at the Library.

To get involved:

Come to our next "Introductory Workshop" OR
Complete the tutor application provided above and bring it to the library OR
Contact ESL/Literacy program coordinator listed at the bottom of this page OR
Check out Talk Time for Tutors blog where Newton tutors share ideas about teaching English

Classes and Events	Start Date/Time	Duration	Location
June Potluck Supper	Monday, June 15, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.	-	Druker Auditorium
Introductory Workshop	Thursday, July 9, 10 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.	-	Trustees Room
Cultural Competency Workshop (3)*	Monday, September 21, 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.	-	Trustees Room

Classes and Events descriptions:

Potluck Supper - a feast for tutors, learners, and their families
Cultural Competency Workshop* - a series for Legacy for Literacy tutors and ELL teachers in the Newton Public Schools interested in communicating across cultural boundaries. Learn more

Cathy Romeo of VNA Care Network will present Communicating Across Boundaries, a series of three cultural competency workshops. The workshop curriculum was developed from an award-winning model recommended by the National Institutes of Health. The initial workshop briefly defines "culture" and "cultural competency," common barriers to cross-cultural interactions, and recognized steps to improve cross-cultural communication.

Each workshop includes a panel discussion, Voices from the Community, featuring two representatives from diverse population groups. Panelists share values, beliefs and traditions from their own cultural perspectives and help training participants to "see" the world or a specific issue, such as acquiring language skills, through those other eyes.

Cathy Romeo, Cultural Competency Program Manager for VNA Care Network & Hospice, has extensive experience in community health education and prevention programs and providing services to diverse communities. Cathy's background includes certification as a cultural competency trainer, national public speaking, program administration, education and counseling. The recipient of several national awards, Cathy was also honored by the MA Department of Public Health in 2001 with the SHERO Award for Women Leaders in Health Care. Cathy has trained over 2,000 health and human service providers in the award-winning "Communicating Across Boundaries" approach to improving cultural competency.

This series is being funded with a generous grant from the Foundation of Racial, Ethnic, and Religious Harmony. Whole Foods has graciously offered to provide dessert.
Introductory Workshop - an orientation for those interested in becoming tutors

* Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. To register, contact the ESL Program Coordinator. Contact information is at the bottom of this page.

Here We Are: Memoirs From A Legacy For Literacy

The library’s Legacy for Literacy program recently celebrated the publication of, "Here We Are: Memoirs From A Legacy For Literacy". The memoirs include entries from 68 learners who come from 16 places of origin; assisted by forty-five tutors. Chapters include topics such as childhood, family, friendship, traditions, transitions and more.

Susan Bécam, the library’s Legacy for Literacy coordinator headed up the project. In 2007 Ms. Bécam had the distinction of being named a Literacy Champion by the Massachusetts Literacy Foundation. Lauded for her visionary leadership, Bécam grew the library’s literacy program from the 2001 enrollment, when it served roughly 40 adult English-language learners, to its current enrollment of upwards of 300. The publication project was funded through a generous grant from the Massachusetts Literacy Foundation and Verizon. Copies of the memoir may be checked out of the library’s collection.

Read the Newton Tab article about the publication party and memoir book.

Try Our Best Recipes!

A Legacy for Literacy is proud to present its ESL Cookbook, Our Best Recipes, with 150 tasty international recipes provided by ESL tutors and learners in the program. Our popular potluck suppers, held twice a year in Druker Auditorium, inspired this fund-raising vehicle. Read the April 18, 2007 Boston Globe article about our cookbook.

The cookbook will make a great gift for friends and family. Look for it at the Friends' Gift Cart in the lobby of the Main Library. A Legacy for Literacy serves more than 250 adults with limited English proficiency. Your support of the cookbook project will help update and expand our literacy collection.

We are grateful to the Friends of the Library for their gracious support.