Literacy for Life Unveils South Park Neighborhood Literacy Zone

The Literacy for Life Coalition is pleased to announce the unveiling of Tucson’s second Literacy Zone May 19 at Quincie Douglas branch library.

The celebration – Fiesta Quincie Douglas! – is a presentation of Pima County Public Library’s Nuestras Raíces and is sponsored by the Kino Teen Advisory Board.

“After a lot of hard work, we are excited to officially announce the South Park Neighborhood as a Literacy for Life Literacy Zone,” said Bill Krauss, Executive Director of Literacy for Life. “Through collaboration and grass-roots community support, we expect to make a real difference in the literacy outcomes of South Park children and adults.”

Also at the event will be speakers, a teen mariachi band, dancing, a piñata, food, free books and a laptop raffle. The festivities begin at 6:00 p.m.

In the Literacy Zones – Sunnyside Neighborhood is the other – community schools, government, business leaders and providers of literacy services focus their resources to significantly improve literacy levels, as well as measure outcomes such as high school graduation rates and fourth grade reading scores.

The Sunnyside Neighborhood kicked off its Literacy Zone at Mission Manor Park in March. Since then, the Coalition has been busy collecting baseline measurements and building partnerships between literacy providers, schools and libraries. Literacy for Life has also recently implemented the Women’s Literacy Network, a tutoring program that will help more low-income women in the Sunnyside Literacy Zone get their high school diplomas and enter college.

Literacy for Life is a Coalition of government, nonprofit, business, media, funding and educational organizations that believe increasing literacy in Southern Arizona is the best way to ensure a prosperous economy and an improved quality of life for everyone in our community. It is also a key partner of the Festival of Books, receiving one-third of the Festival’s proceeds last year to pilot innovative literacy programs in Tucson.

“There is nothing more transformational to a community than increased literacy,” Krauss said. “Making people aware of the resources available to them is the first step.”

For more information about Literacy for Life, please visit literacyforlifeaz.org.