Phone books help literacy program

Angela Soo

Wednesday, July 25, 2001 | 10:20 a.m.

In five hours the Clark County Library District raised $10,000 to help fund programs that teach adults to read.

During the "Recycle for Literacy" event held Saturday morning by Sprint, the telephone company donated $1,000 for every half ton of outdated phone books collected at its Sprint store at Tropicana and Eastern avenues.

"We're trying to build momentum and awareness for recycling and adult literacy," said Darcie Miller, who is in charge of Sprint's recycling program.

The library needed 5 tons of phone books to reach the $10,000 that Sprint had set aside for the event. Almost 13 tons were collected.

"We were really excited about the community's response," Miller said. "We hope to present a check to the library in two weeks."

All Clark County Library District branches offer facilities for tutoring sessions. The program is available free of charge to those 17 years old and older who are functionally illiterate or need help to improve literacy skills. The program is taught by hired instructors or volunteer tutors.

The library district currently has 500 students enrolled in the literacy program, which is twice the amount from last year. About 80 percent of the students are native Spanish speaking.

The timing of the additional funds couldn't be more perfect, Connie Barker, the district's literacy manager, said, because the library lost $120,000 to $150,000 in funding when the Nevada Department of Education cut all spending this fiscal year for adult basic education. This is the library's main funding source for its adult learning programs.

"The money will certainly allow us to recoup some of the potential loss and allow us to serve a greater number of students this year than we anticipated," Barker said.

The proceeds will help defray the cost of purchasing instructional materials as well as the cost of hiring more instructors, Barker said.

"We'd like to provide more classroom instruction with a standup instructor because it's much more intense, effective and time efficient than the computer-assisted learning classes," Barker said.

About 17 percent of adults in Nevada are at the lowest literacy level, Barker said. People at the lowest level tend to have problems with filling out a Social Security application or calculating the total cost from an order form.

Local businesses, such as the Venetian, Fremont Medical Center, the MGM Grand and Las Vegas Weekly, helped the library tip the scale during Saturday's fund-raiser, Paula Morrison, a Sprint spokeswoman, said.

The phone books are recycled to make paper towels, egg cartons, dairy cattle bedding and new telephone books, Morrison said.

Sprint plans on holding the event annually to build awareness for recycling and adult literacy programs for Southern Nevada, Miller said. They now recognize the library district as one of its literacy partners.

"We want to establish a solid relationship with the library so that we can continue to have an impact on them and the community we both serve, and at the same time, encourage people to recycle," Miller said.

For more information about the adult literacy program, call Literacy Manager Connie Barker at 382-3493.