On September 16, the Redlands City Council approved a proclamation declaring September 28, 2025 “Adult Literacy Day in the City of Redlands.” Mayor Mario Saucedo presented the proclamation to Bill Hatfield, Library Board President, Don McCue, Director of A.K. Smiley Public Library, Diane Shimota, Adult Literacy Program Coordinator, Katerina Biryukova, Adult Learner Leader, and Katherine Gifford, her tutor. Through this proclamation, the Council affirmed its commitment to educational equity and encouraged Redlands residents to promote literacy efforts and education throughout our community. Since 2010, the Redlands Adult Literacy Program has been providing free, confidential, one-to-one tutoring tailored to the specific needs of adult literacy learners. This past fiscal year, the program was able to serve 92 hardworking adult learners with the support of over 100 dedicated volunteers.
This month also marked the publication of the Redlands Adult Literacy Program’s eighth volume of the literacy anthology, Our Stories, A Collection of Writings. Each year, adult learners are encouraged to capture in writing their personal stories. Their contributions reflect a wide range of reading and writing levels. For some authors, the first step was simply dictating their stories to tutors and then working through the writing process with their tutors’ help. Other learners spent months rewriting multiple drafts until they were satisfied and ready to submit their work for publication. Regardless of their literacy level, these adult learner-authors work hard to develop important literacy skills that will help them to better communicate in the workplace, with their families, and in the community.
To honor “Adult Literacy Day,” the Redlands Adult Literacy Program invited the community to celebrate with adult learner-authors, who read the works they had contributed to the adult literacy anthology. This Celebration of Authors has become a much-anticipated annual event. This year, 26 adult learner-authors read their stories to an overflow crowd of tutors, learners, families, friends, and community members. As each author finished reading their work, the audience could feel the learner’s pride, confidence, and relief as they completed this challenging goal.
Audience members shared how inspiring it was to hear adult learners read their own writing. One tutor said, “The stories gave me a reason to feel hope.” Another shared, “The readings demonstrated the importance of A.K. Smiley Public Library to our community and the life changing impact that improved literacy has on adult learners, their families, and the community of Redlands.” Renee Kennedy, Family Literacy Lead, observed, “The multigenerational impact of literacy is evidenced in the Budding Blossom chapter of the anthology where the children of adult learners wrote stories of their own for publication.” Some of these children stood proudly with their parents when a group photo of authors was taken.
To read this compilation of inspiring writings, visit A.K. Smiley Public Library. Copies of Our Stories, A Collection of Writings, Volume 8 are now available for checkout.
If you know of an adult who wants help with reading and writing, please encourage them to take the first step in changing their life by contacting Diane Shimota, Adult Literacy Coordinator, at (909) 798-7565 ext. 4110 or email literacy@akspl.org. All inquiries are treated confidentially. The Redlands Adult Literacy Program welcomes new volunteers. If you are interested in learning more about volunteering with the Redlands Adult Literacy Program, please contact Diane Shimota.