FARMINGTON – The Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties (LVFSC) are running their Book Giveaway Program from the new Book Central, located in the basement of the Arthur D. Ingalls Center at 144 High Street.
The mission of LVFSC is to promote literacy in the communities of Franklin and Somerset counties and empower adults through tutoring, which they have offered in Farmington since 1978. With both short-term and long-term options, they work with a variety of tutees: those who just want to brush up on their reading skills or who are working towards a larger goal like getting a GED.
Rita Cantor has been a volunteer tutor for years, even before she moved to the area in her retirement. She recalled her first student from years ago, a woman who immigrated from Lebanon: “[She] never knew how to read or write.” In her sixties, this woman learned how to read with Cantor’s help, a prime example of what LVFSC has to offer.
Cantor’s passion for education and books drew her to spend more time tutoring and sorting through the book donations LVFSC receives. Now, she heads up the Literacy Café and Free Book Saturdays, both part of the Book Giveaway Program. The goal of these events is to promote literacy by circulating books out into the community.
The Literacy Café is a weekly open house. Anyone is welcome to drop by on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and browse through books, enjoy a free cup of coffee or tea, and learn more about Literacy Volunteers.
Free Book Saturdays occur on the last Saturday of every month. Barbara Averill, Executive Director of LVFSC, described these days as “literary festivals.”
Cantor and her husband lug heavy banana boxes filled with hundreds of books out of storage and display them on tables. They post signs on High Street to invite passersby to come in and look through the selection, taking home whatever they please. Oftentimes, literacy-centered activities and tutoring opportunities are offered. The next event will be on March 30. Drop by the Arthur Ingalls Center to explore the books!
On days like Chester Greenwood Day and the Fiddlehead Festival, they get lots of people who file through, taking a book here and there. Once in a while, someone will find a box filled with books they love and take them home.
“People always find something that they like,” Cantor said, recalling an old atlas she held onto, with faith that someone would want it someday. And sure enough, someone did. “I saw a guy looking and he took it,” she said.
Averill described her interactions with book donors as positive: “They bring them with such care and love.” To her, Book Central is a place of valuable community interaction of all kinds.
LVFSC is supported by volunteers from Work First, Inc., a local organization that supports individuals with developmental disabilities with job and volunteer opportunities. A group cleans and sets up for the Literacy Café each week. Another group works with the Traveling Libraries, keeping their ten community bookshelf locations restocked across the area. Cantor has even found books that the volunteers have liked. “It’s such a great reciprocal partnership,” Averill said.
Each of LVFSC’s endeavors is an opportunity to share literacy. The Book Giveaway Program events are put on to support their main venture: tutoring. They help to spread the word about the need for tutors, especially after the drop in numbers after the pandemic. “We’re getting books out into the community, but we’re also sort of advertising,” Cantor said.
For Cantor, tutoring is about lifelong learning. “Neither of my grandparents made it through the sixth grade,” she shared. “English was not their first language.” For them, learning was a way out of poverty. As a child, Cantor saw in her grandmother a passion for education that has stuck with her: “Learning, to her, was super important.” Cantor remembered her grandmother taking adult education classes throughout her life with a fervor that inspired Cantor herself to both learn and teach.
LVFSC currently has 15 volunteer tutors and is always searching for more people interested in fostering literacy in the community. They offer training for volunteers to learn how to tutor adults who read below twelfth-grade level. It is flexible; tutors can meet after work hours or on weekends. To sign up to become a tutor or receive tutoring services, fill out a contact form.
LVFSC can now accept regular donations of books in good condition, especially recent releases.
Call 207-500-3131, email literacyvolunteersfs@gmail.com, visit their website, or stop by Book Central on a Thursday. Volunteers are willing to pick up book donations.
