Library Services

Margy
November 1997

On a dark, blustery day before Thanksgiving, Margy and I shared the afternoon tucked away in the corner of the library. I asked her about her involvement in literacy and before long she was sharing with me her experiences. What a joy it was to talk with her! As she spoke, energy emanated from her being. She has a love of life that is contagious and glitters in her eyes and smile.

Margy brings with her to the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library (M/RCPL) Literacy Connection a wealth of experience as a parent, as a teacher, and as a learner. She worked her way through college while raising her three children. After graduation, she began teaching and discovered she liked working with the children who needed more specialized reading instruction.

She found that, even under the best circumstances, some children just can't read, even when trying. While working with her first literacy student, Margy found this to be true with adults as well. She said whatever instruction the learner received before didn't work; that's why he sought an alternative. "Yet, as tutors, we have to realize we are not magical. Our best-laid plans may not have any success. We need to be patient and keep trying and do more research and investigate new approaches to teaching reading." She mused that she felt unequipped to help the young man who wanted to work on attaining a GED. The whole process seemed too overwhelming for him. He wouldn't show up a lot of the time and when he did he was heavily medicated. Finally, because of lack of attendance, she moved on to another learner. Margy's second learner went through some hard times after he lost his job. He wanted to study twice a week and eventually go to truck driving school. Again, Margy said she felt the degree of intent he projected made her suggest to him trying the ABLE classroom route. So, he did.

Margy talks about her former literacy students with a sense of unresolved sadness and frustration. She said she beat herself up for a long time wondering if she could have found a way to make it simpler. "We just don't teach people to read, we teach values and responsibilities. I learned you can't tell others what to do; I try to follow this but sometimes it's hard when you see how badly they want and need help.

Her first two learners were the same age as her children. "I couldn't help but mother them. I realized, though, that I was not as effective of a teacher when I became too involved. Their success will come when they learn to detach themselves from their other needs and focus on reading. They may not get it now, their life may lead them away from their goal of wanting to read, but what we give them is an option they may pick up again later."

Margy said her goal as a tutor is to provide confidence to those who, in past learning situations, may have felt vulnerable, scared and threatened as she did when she first started taking piano lessons. She said she can empathize more with her learner's perspective as she struggles with reading music. "More and more analogies come out of this experience for me than any other." Yet, it is something she wanted for herself and so she does her homework.

Margy, who's 32-year teaching career included 16 years of teaching reading, stated "I love reading! It is so important! I was so excited last week when one of my favorite authors visited the library that I actually embarrassed myself."

When asked why she chose to work with adult learners, she said she felt she had something to offer from her own experiences. She said she liked working with adults because you can sense how badly they want to learn.

Margy is working with her third learner now in the Library Literacy Connection program. She said her current relationship clicks; it's mature and understanding.

She talks fondly of her current student. "He knows deep down inside he has knowledge; he knows more than he gives himself credit for. His wife said he had wanted to do this for a sometime."

"Working with him has been interesting. He wanted to know about things I had forgotten. He questioned different books' explanations of English grammar rules. He is curious and smart but yet he would forget how to write letters of the alphabet. He just needed practice."

Luckily for her, they both liked to talk. She feels she has learned so much from him. She said he in into cooking and nutrition. He goes to the health food store and teaches her about eating for better health. Their open-ended conversations give them ideas and subject matter for his life experience stories. This learning technique has worked very well for him. Their early success gave him confidence to work towards his goal of becoming a better speller as well. "I am not that fond of working with words in isolation, but when my learner said he wanted to work on spelling, using basic phonics and word patterns really helped."

Most important for them has been reading together. They take turns reading paragraph by paragraph and when the text is more difficult; he shadows her by reading softly along with her.

Progress is slow. He doesn't want to be patient, but he tries. What makes him different from her other learners, Margy points out, is that his reasons for learning are not driven by dollars and cents. He is an older retired person and he is not going out and getting another job and contributing to the economy.

Margy said "this program is different; if it helps, it's good. I can't put words to why, but it is a good thing. If someone can enjoy reading more, then the world is a better place."