BRIEF HISTORY of the Roswell Literacy Council

The Roswell Literacy Council, the oldest literacy council in New Mexico, was
formed out of needs recognized by the Altrusa Club in 1974. The Council was officially
organized in 1975. The Board of Directors' first president was Earla Martin. She and
Jane Clarke took literacy to be adopted as a core service to Altrusa International, and Earla provided training around the state for many of the current literacy centers.

The first tutor training was held in 1976 with a Catholic nun, Sister Rene, from
California. The first tutors were trained in the Laubach method for reading. Today, a
tutor training team is providing tutor training in many strategies for Basic Literacy and
learning English as another language as well as ongoing professional development, parts of which are available online.

In 1978, a literacy room was established at the Educational Services Center on
Kentucky; the Council worked there with the Adult Basic Education program. In 1984,
ABE and RLC moved to ENMU-R. Late in 1987, St. Peter's Catholic Church leased a
small house at 113 E Matthews to the Council. Through a grant from a private
foundation and with the assistance of the community, the present facility at 609 W. 10th
was purchased and remodeled and dedicated in 1995.

Earla Martin helped coordinate the first tutors and students. The part-time office coordinator/manager role was filled by 2 ENMU-R Work-Study students in 1984. The first paid literacy coordinator, Marilyn Faust, was provided by the university ABE program from
1988 through 1991. The office manager/literacy coordinator was a volunteer or sponsored position (by VISTA and H.E.L.P.) from 1991-1999 when Lily Renteria was hired as Office Coordinator. The Literacy Coordinator/Director's position was part-time until 1996. In 2003, the position became part-time again.

The New Mexico Coalition for Literacy sponsored our first Family Literacy project
in 1990. The Literacy Council became a United Way sponsored agency in 1991 with the
help of people like Betty Long and Dee Redd. The Roswell Literacy Council is funded
primarily by the United Way of Chaves County, the New Mexico Coalition for
Literacy and many local literacy development supporters through our direct mail campaign and our annual fundraiser, the Knowledge Bowl.

In addition to Basic Literacy and English language learning for adults in Chaves County, tutors provide tutoring each cycle for cadets in the New Mexico Youth Challenge
Academy and Workforce Literacy for employees [currently] at/from Hampton Inn, Comfort Inn and J&G Electric. Tutors and students have access to a computer lab with both Basic Literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages materials, including
the software from the Lions' Crane Reading Program for both literacy and cognitive
development and the Rosetta Stone English language learning program in partnership with ENMU-Roswell.

Former to Present Literacy Coordinators/Directors

1988-91      Marilyn Faust        1991-92      Pam Mills               1992-96 Julie Wilcox

1996           Joy Kurtz               1996-99      Dora Paz               1999      Anna Rose Teelin

1999-2001  Jan Bostic              2001-03      Melissa Urban        2003-4   Judy Stubbs

2004-Present Andrae England