City Receives AmeriCorps Volunteer

The Boynton Beach City Library has been named an approved site by the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition to receive an AmeriCorps Volunteer. The Library's volunteer will begin in September and will be primarily assigned to assist children and teens with homework help and tutoring and provide outreach services to local ESOL sites. The volunteer will work approximately 32 hours a week for one year to support these literacy initiatives.

In return for their year of national service, participants in the program, known as AmeriCorps members, receive a modest living allowance, an education award and health insurance. The Library will pay approximately $4,900 from its Donations Account to support the program. Literacy AmeriCorps provides opportunities for leadership development, professional growth and resume building. Many of the program's graduates describe their year of service as "life changing."

Literacy AmeriCorps Palm Beach County is a national service program that recruits recent college graduates to provide literacy services to adults, children and youth in our community. This "domestic literacy Peace Corps" contributes over 42,500 hours per year tutoring and teaching, providing reading enrichment activities for children, participating in community service projects and recruiting community volunteers.
 
The City of Boynton Beach and Mayor Jerry Taylor have had a long partnership with the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition. Last fall, The City won the Literacy Coalition's Mayors' Initiative for its creative participation in the "Read for the Record Campaign."