Leon expresses his gratitude to the audience
(photo by Randy)

Walt Disney had a vision. It was a vision of a place where children and parents could have fun together! I think Mr. Disney would have been very pleased to know that libraries across the country today share his vision by providing fun activities for children and their parents. On June 29, Randy and I were invited to present at the American Library Association’s 2008 Annual Conference at the Disneyland hotel in Anaheim, California. The theme of the workshop was “Adult Learners: Helping Libraries Make Magic!” Personally I could not think of a better place to discuss the magic that goes on in libraries, where everyday people volunteer their time to help a neighbor to learn how to read.

The Magic workshop started off with a warm welcome from Susan Hildreth, State Librarian of California. Ms. Hildreth also gave a report on the state of libraries here in California, and the great work many of these libraries are doing in adult literacy today. Ms. Hildreth also explained how California leads the nation in the library based adult literacy programs. Along with Susan Hildreth we were fortunate to have at our Make Magic workshop, Dale Lipschultz, Ph.D., literacy officer of the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services. Ms. Lipschultz gave a national perspective on what the ALA has been doing to promote library based adult literacy programs. Jacquie Brinkley from the Library Development Services of the California State Library, who helped put together the workshop, was also there, as were many others working in the adult literacy field.

One of the main reasons that ALA asked us to present at this year’s conference was to talk about the magic that happens inside a library based literacy program when people help people by empowering them with the gift of reading. I know it sounds crazy to call learning to read a gift, but for many adults who cannot read, having someone willing to sit down with them to help them learn how to read is a big gift!

During the workshop, I along with other adult learners shared about how learning to read changed our lives. I still get very emotional every time I hear adults talk about all the difficulties we faced as non-readers, and how all that has changed now that we can read. It was a very powerful workshop for some of the librarians from other parts of the country, who never had heard firsthand what life is like for an adult who cannot read and write in a literate world. After our presentations, I had several librarians from other parts of the country come up to me and thank me for sharing our personal story with them.

This was my first time participating in the ALA Conference, and I really enjoyed taking part in it. It has been many years since my last visit to Disneyland. I can still remember how magical it felt being there as a kid, but this time the magic was not about having fun at Disneyland, it was about the magic of reading!