Get Involved
Volunteers are the heart and soul of our organization. Nearly 200 community members give their time every year, serving as tutors, joining our board and committees, and offering their skills in a variety of other ways.
Our main need is for tutors. We pair tutors with students, based on their needs and areas of interest. Then a tutor works one-on-one, helping a student reach his/her goals.
Besides tutoring, there are other ways to volunteer, including marketing, fundraising, finance, governance, and office support. Please visit our Other Ways to Volunteer section to learn more.
Become a Tutor
All interested volunteer tutors complete the application below and take roughly 15 hours of training before we pair you with a student whose needs align with your abilities and interests. We do our best to create learning matches that will thrive.
Tutoring requires about 1-2 hours a week. You will meet with your student one-on-one, either in-person or remotely using a virtual meeting platform like Zoom, and help them work towards their goals. Examples of goals might be receiving a high school diploma, obtaining a driver’s license, securing a better job, voting for the first time, reading to children, or becoming a U.S citizen.
Many people think that tutoring requires teaching experience or the ability to speak another language. But it requires neither. All you need is the desire to help someone.
Our Spring 2024 Training Schedule will begin in March. To be notified of the dates, please complete this.
Apply Today
To become a tutor, please fill out the application form below. We will use the information to notify you of our next scheduled training.
Once you have submitted your application, we will be in touch within 1-2 weeks.
To get started as a volunteer, you may do one of the following:
- Download and complete our Volunteer Application and email it to us at info@LVBangor.org
- Contact us at (207) 947-8451 and we’ll mail you a paper version.
Print out the form, complete it, and hand deliver or mail it to:
Literacy Volunteers of Bangor
354 Hogan Road
Bangor, Maine 04401
Tutor Trainings
All tutors receive orientation and training, which are typically offered twice annually. Volunteers can choose one of two tracks: Basic Literacy or English Language Learning.
Basic Literacy Tutor Training
Helping an adult improve his or her reading does not require an education degree. It does require patience, flexibility, and the desire to help transform an adult’s life through literacy. The training certification provides teaching strategies, adult learning models, information on learning disabilities, and lesson planning.
English Language Learning Tutor Training
Teaching a person to speak and read English doesn’t require that you know their language. You just need the patience and desire to teach language, reading skills and cultural differences. This training certification covers second language acquisition, working with cultural differences, and teaching methods.
Training Schedules
We are looking for volunteer tutors. As a sample, our Fall 2023 Training is below. Our Spring 2024 Training Schedule will be posted in January. To register for the training, click here.
Basic Literacy Tutor Training:
The written word bombards us daily. We’re expected to read information constantly. For about 25% of our population, reading proficiently is difficult and sometimes impossible. Teaching an adult to read does not require an education degree. It does require patience and desire to transform and adult’s life through literacy. The 14-hour training certification provides teaching strategies, adult learning models, information on learning disabilities and lesson planning.
| Date | Session | Instructor | Location | Time |
| 9/19/23 | Introduction to Literacy | Mary Marin Taylor | Brewer Community Center | 6-8pm |
| 9/26/23 | Session I / How to Begin | Dee Nichols | Brewer Community Center | 5:30-8:30pm |
| 10/3/23 | Session II / Who Are Our Students | Mary Marin Taylor | Brewer Community Center | 5:30–8:30pm |
| 10/10/23 | Session III / How to Go Deeper | Wendy C. Kasten | Brewer Community Center | 5:30-8:30pm |
| 10/17/23 | Session IV / How to Adapt | Danielle Gabrielli | Brewer Community Center | 5:30-8:30pm |
| TBA | Follow-Up | Tutor Training & Support | EMCC TBD | 6:00-7:30pm |
English Language Tutor Training:
Imagine living in a community where you do not understand the language and cannot read the written word. Now, imagine yourself as part of someone’s solution. Teaching a person to speak and read English doesn’t require that you know the other’s language. It means you have the patience and desire to teach language, life skills and cultural differences. This 14-hour training certification introduces English language acquisition, culture, teaching strategies, approaches and drills.
| Date | Session | Instructor | Location | Time |
| 9/19/23 | Introduction to Literacy | Mary Marin Taylor | Brewer Community Center | 6-8pm |
| 9/26/23 | Session I / Welcome to Teaching EL Students | Cheryl Robertson | Brewer Community Center | 5:30-8:30pm |
| 10/3/23 | Session II / Getting Started | Nancy Connor | Brewer Community Center | 5:30–8:30pm |
| 10/10/23 | Session III / Techniques, Tools, & Process | Nancy Connor | Brewer Community Center | 5:30-8:30pm |
| 10/17/23 | Session IV / Improving Comprehension | Wendy C. Kasten | Brewer Community Center | 5:30-8:30pm |
| TBA | Follow-Up | Tutor Training & Support | EMCC TBD | 6:00-7:30pm |
SPRING 2024 Tutor Training Sign Up
We will release our new Tutor Training Schedule in January of 2024. To be notified of its release, please complete this form.
Volunteer Stories
Our volunteers say the rewards of volunteering are far greater than the effort. Read the stories to see how getting involved with Literacy Volunteers could impact your life.
JoAnne Rollins
My student has made amazing progress despite significant setbacks. She’s had health issues as well as home emergencies. For example, she’s had floods in her home from frozen pipes that made it inhabitable and caused her to lose everything. Then again at the apartment she was living in while her home was being rebuilt, there was a fire. Once again, she lost her clothes, furniture, and many other belongings. Through all of this, she was always ready for me to come for a tutoring session.
Her strong will and persistence, as well as her positive attitude, has been a powerful example to me.
Doug Ferguson
I have learned a lot of math, tutoring my student Hanan. But what I APPRECIATE most about tutoring is my student. Hanan and I are friends. I respect her immensely. Hanan has experienced so much—she endured war, fled her country with her mom and siblings, and has established a life here with her fiancé. She works 70+ hours every week providing residential care.
I find it incredibly gratifying to see my friend and student as she gains confidence applying skills she has learned.
Mary Lausier
Fifteen years ago, I began this journey with my student helping her to enhance her reading skills and hoping that I was making an impact on her. But as it turned out, she was the one who impacted me in so many ways. So, when asked my answer is simple: Rhonda.
Rhonda has demonstrated perseverance and determination that I have found amazing. I am so proud of her and her accomplishments and consider her an extended member of my family. Not a week goes by that she doesn’t say, “So, Mare, how’s your husband, your kids and Reesie (my dog)?” It is an honor and a privilege to be a Literacy Volunteer and I look forward to continuing in the years to come.
Kris Currier
Kris is one of dozens of volunteers who doesn’t tutor, but work behind the scenes. For over ten years she has been the genius behind our radio ads and many of our marketing materials. She also served a record four years as president of the Board of Directors.
Kris says, “The importance of being of service was instilled in me at an early age. I love using my communications skills to help promote LVB in our community so future students know there is hope out there. Knowing we are helping adults enhance their literacy skills so they can live more prosperous lives does my heart good.”