Library Services

Gary
December 1997

This is an interview of the tutor from a pair that has been studying together for about eight months. Gary is a vital man, interested in many things, approachable, and very serious about wanting to help someone learn to read. Retired from a successful management career, he was recruited when the library presented an overview of their outreach programs to the local Rotary Club. When he heard that the library had a volunteer adult literacy program, Gary immediately decided to become a tutor. When asked why, Gary replied, "I so thoroughly enjoy (reading). It's such a source of joy to me that I want to find somebody and share that joy with them."

In the short time he and Floyd have been studying, Floyd has made progress and Gary knows that his reading is more fluent, and that his is surer of himself than he was when he entered the program. Yet, their progress hasn't come without struggle and frustration. When Floyd has trouble and comes up with an incorrect word that surprises Gary, Gary tries to analyze what's happening so that he can more effectively point Floyd in the right direction. "I'm just rootin for him so hard. I try to figure out - O.K., how did he do that? How did he come up with that?"

In addition to helping Floyd decode words-figure them out from the letters he sees on the page, and develop better comprehension, Gary, like many tutors, has taken on a much more complex challenge-presenting a world of knowledge and information so that Floyd will have more choices of what to read, and thus more control over what and how he reads and learns. They have used reading books for adults with units devoted to various subjects as students develop their reading ability, but Floyd, with Gary's encouragement, chooses other reading material as well. They walk together through the library, Gary pointing out different areas and things that may catch Floyd's interest. Recently, they read a book about shipwrecks on Lake Erie. Gary thought that it was very difficult, but Floyd spent some time with it and got some information, even though he didn't finish the book.

Gary has a passionate desire to see Floyd catch fire, and devour books the way Gary always has. In fact, he confirms that early on in tutoring he fully expected that within a couple of weeks his new student would catch fire and be just like he was as a child discovering reading-never able to get enough and losing sleep over sneaking reading a book by flashlight. "I guess I would like to think, and I don't think that this is the case, that he's taking a book to work and he's reading it at lunch, that he's reading it while he eats breakfast…that he's reading it in the bathroom-like somebody I know (he laughs), "and at the table…I think he'll get there., it's just going to take longer." So he keeps trying to find the material that will "ignite" Floyd. He is a good tutor because he often questions himself and his methods. "What can I do differently? How can I make this more interesting for him…Find better material for him?" Certainly his years in management are of great value to Gary as he learns to tutor, because just as he took great pride in working with people, in finding their talent and bringing it along as a manager, he now does the same with Floyd. He adds that while a manager, he did not have the opportunity to spend this much time with anyone, and get to know them as well as he knows Floyd.

Clearly Gary, admires this man he believes he otherwise would not have had the opportunity to meet. "We're very dissimilar. Without the program, we wouldn't even run into each other…I see somebody who's a hard worker, who's a wonderful father…his kids think the world of him, he's really patient and kind with them. He leads a pretty busy life. He's got a second job for three hours, plus regular eight hours and a long drive to the second job. He's got this quirk-where he's not so good a reader, and that's a small part of the guy. That's a small part of him, and I hope to make a difference in that small part and not damage any of the rest of him in the process." If Gary sounds protective of Floyd, he is no different than many of the other program tutors who feel the same way, often questioning if what they are doing is effective enough, and in no way offensive to the learner.

While he is pleased to see their hard won progress, Gary expects even more, and his face lights up as he describes these expectations. "The potential of what is going to happen here is keeping me enthusiastic about it…I'm enjoying doing it because I'm enjoying the challenge. You know, Columbus sailed a lot of ocean before he discovered the continent. And so I think that I'm at sea right now. And I'm anxious for that day when I see that light bulb light, and the spark there. I'm not sure how long I'll have to wait for it, but I remain optimistic that that is going to happen…I would be amazed if he were to give up.