Literacy Volunteers of Bangor is dedicated to helping Bangor area adults who want either to work on basic English skills or to learn English as another language. Our student-centered methods reduce barriers and get results.

Since 1969, we have helped change the lives of adults, one at a time. Literacy Volunteers is affiliated with ProLiteracy, the world’s largest non governmental adult literacy organization.

Literacy Volunteers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our part-time staff orchestrates the efforts of more than 600 students, tutors, and volunteers. We are overseen by a Board of Directors drawn from the community.

Literacy Volunteers of Bangor strengthens our community by providing free English language tutoring to Bangor area adults.

We affirm the following as guiding principles for everything we do:

• Literacy is a civil right, the foundation of democracy.
• There is no substitute for the caring heart of a volunteer.
• Everyone has the right to access lifelong learning opportunities.
• Barriers are challenges to be eliminated.
• We believe in readiness instead of compliance.
• There is no such thing as an average learner, and there is no such thing as the best way to learn.
• We seek to change the direction of  students’ lives without judgment, not to change their lives.
• We  provide opportunities for lifelong learning, not remedial education.
• Adults expect and deserve individualized, personalized education.
• Mistakes are opportunities to learn.
• The adult learning process is a teacher/student partnership and relationship.
• The process begins by starting where the adult learner is.

Our history includes the busy mother of three preschoolers who couldn’t say no to a nun. The woodsman who signed his name with a X. The immigrant student who became a major supporter. And hundreds more.

For over 50 years, our story has been one of extraordinary people filled with grit and dedication — volunteers, students, and donors. They made us one of the first volunteer literacy programs in the country, and they keep us moving steadily into the future. Click here to read their fascinating stories.

Each year, we compile results of our programming year. We assess how many students we’ve served, what types of goals they have reached, how many volunteers support this mission with their time, and how we’re doing financially.

These Annual Report Cards are quick snapshots that represent our progress and are accessible to the public. Click below to see how we’re doing.

“No one ever makes it by themselves. We all get help from others along the way.”

Growing up in a French-speaking community in Northern Maine, Mary learned that her grandfather couldn’t read or speak English, despite selling insurance for MetLife. It was Mary’s mother who taught him to read. At the age of 19, Mary had her first child and was only able to complete her education and rise up from poverty because of mentors and her family’s help.

That understanding of and passion for addressing the problems of low literacy, poverty and cultural diversity brought Mary to Literacy Volunteers in 2003. She has a master’s degree in communication, a Certification in Volunteer Administration, and is a Nationally Certified Poverty Coach.

Favorite read? Historical fiction.

Model superhero? Stretch from The Incredibles, so she can reach and gather everything and everyone.

Heather has worked in the Greater Bangor community for all of her adult life, much of that time at nonprofit organizations.  After working at a local radio station, she joined the team at the Greater Bangor Convention & Visitors’ Bureau, showcasing the area’s many amenities and helping to bring visitors to our region. 
 
She then served as the Director of the National Folk Festival in Bangor (later the American Folk Festival), and, during that time, relied on hundreds of volunteers who stepped forward to support the annual event.  Through the Festival, she helped to bring hundreds of artists from traditions around the world to a stage in Bangor, where their music and dance was experienced and enjoyed by thousands of Maine residents.
 
Her greatest satisfaction?  Making connections: whether allowing a Maine resident to experience the music of a new tradition, or introducing two people whose interests and goals align.
 
Favorite reads?  Science and Science Fiction
 
Real-life superheroes?  Her father, Jerry McCarthy, who spent his life in service to his community and instilled a love of reading in her. 

As a young woman, Lehann Collins worked in a bank. But it wasn’t long before she found her true calling: anything involving teaching, learning, and books. Lehann worked for years in a small New Hampshire school. She was very happy working with kids in special education classrooms from kindergarten through junior high. And she got to work in the library. “I loved putting books in the hands of non-readers,” she says.

So it’s only natural that this book lover feels completely at home in her role which she began in September 2018. “I really, really love the organization and what they do,” she says.

Superheroes: Her mother, Lorraine Groh, and Mother Teresa. Both were women of small stature who had profound faith, remarkable strength, and tremendous compassion for others.

Donna Keirstead
President
VP Alumni Engagement, Annual Giving, & Advancement Communications (retired)
Rutgers University

Gianna Marrs
Vice President
Financial Aid Administrator
University of Maine

Danielle Berube
Treasurer
Finance Director
City of Old Town

Denise Allen
Secretary
Educator (retired)
Brewer School System

Sally Dobres
Human Resources (retired)
University of Maine System

Brian Folster
Financial Services (retired)

Shelby Hartin
Communications Specialist
Versant Power

John Lopez Valencia
Product Manager
Bangor Savings Bank

Kathleen Shane
Client Service Associate
UBS Financial

Janet Speranza-Moran
Business Owner
The Bedworks of Maine

Leslie Sturzenberger
Consultant / Corporate Trainor
Self-employed