The Literacy Rochester Bahler Library has been in existence since 1964, and over the decades has been run by volunteers only. Current volunteers are Bonnie Martin, Cathy Pospula, and Barb Spector.
The library has many categories of books and these are just a few:
Adult reading instruction
Spelling
Vocabulary
Grammar
Writing
Math
Biographies and autobiographies
Religion
Sports
TABE
English instruction for foreign-born learners
American English
U.S. Culture
World History
Science
Social Studies
Map skills
Workplace and Job skills
These are just some of the many different subjects that our library covers. We also subscribe to an online adult newspaper, News for You, that is written at reading levels 3-6. It can be accessed with a password by computer, smartphone, or tablet, and has a read-to-me feature that is easily enabled.
What makes our 4,000-item library different from a public library? Most of our acquisitions are from specialized publishing companies that write or rewrite adult books at lower reading levels, making them accessible to our adult learners. Our 89-page copy of Moby Dick by Herman Melville at reading level 2-3 never ceases to astonish me.
Over a period of 56 years, our changing world has required updates in many of the book categories, and technology has impacted the library in a positive way. We acquired library software in 2009, and regularly make additions and deletions (books can be lost or damaged, fall apart from age, or become out-of-date) to our library inventory. In 2019, we added 124 books to the inventory and deleted 34. A paid service uploads the inventory to an offsite server daily, making it searchable from any computer with an internet connection. The collection is searchable by title, author, reading (difficulty) level, ISBN, subject, notes, or publisher. Hopefully, this convenience aids our tutors and learners in finding appropriate materials. Individuals can conduct a search from our website literacyrochester.org or from a link: https://20350.rmwebopac.com.
Our library is in a state of flux, adapting to the needs of our tutors, learners, and federal and state requirements. Input is always welcome. Interested parties can contact us at librarian@literacyrochester.org.