Overview

Founded in 2011, Book Harvest (www.bookharvestnc.org) is a North Carolina nonprofit organization based in Durham that provides an abundance of books and ongoing literacy support to families and their children from birth. Our innovative programs serve as a model for communities committed to ensuring that all children are lifelong readers and learners. Our vision is of a world in which reading, learning, and access to information are considered rights, not privileges, so that all children thrive.

Grounded in evidence and following best practices that produce measurable results, Book Harvest’s programs span a child’s life beginning from birth. We help children start kindergarten ready to learn, combat summer learning loss once they are in school, read proficiently in third grade, and fall in love with reading.

To date, we have provided more than 1,800,000 books and a wide array of literacy supports to North Carolina children and families. We are committed to replicating, sharing, and expanding our work so that the successes we realize may enable academic and life success for children across our country.

Service Description

Book Harvest is eager to welcome a NC Literacy Corps Member to our team of passionate childhood literacy advocates. With a shared commitment to interrupting entrenched cycles of generational poverty, we work to provide books and literacy supports to children during their first decade of life and to support parents so they experience the competence and confidence to be their child’s best brain builder and advocate.

The Book Harvest NC Literacy Corps Member will serve alongside the Book Harvest team to provide direct program support to ensure the organization continues to operate with the expert efficiency and collaborative excellence for which it has become known over its 11 years. Much of the focus of the service the Book Harvest NC Literacy Corps Member will conduct will help Book Harvest address the disruption in learning and book access that has been the result of the Covid-19 pandemic. She/he/they will be supervised by the Assistant Director of Learning Partnerships and will collaborate closely with individual program managers to implement, deepen, and sustain essential Book Harvest functions.

The Book Harvest NC Literacy Corps Member will work 11-7 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9:00 am - 5:00 pm on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Specific duties include:

PROGRAM SUPPORT

• Support all aspects of our evidence-informed Books on Break program,which ensures that students take home books to read over the summer and keep forever: Communicate with internal & external stakeholders. Order high-quality, inclusive children’s books and other program supplies. Create and update documents for internal data tracking. Develop training materials for volunteers. Coordinate and schedule volunteer teams. Organize books in the warehouse. Transport books to various locations. Prep and deliver program materials to various school sites. Lead on-site team during program delivery including introducing students to the program and assisting students while they select their books.
• Parent engagement: Supporting the Book Harvest team of parent leaders the Book Harvest NC Literacy Corps Member will ensure that materials for parent leaders are coordinated, updated, and assembled to facilitate easy use and accessibility and complete data entry after events for grant reporting.. He/she/they will also provide on-site support at school and community events throughout Durham. Create outreach strategies to increase parent engagement efforts.
• Evaluation: support evaluation efforts of Book Harvest’s programs. Assist with survey distribution and reporting.
• Research: assist program managers with identifying new outlets for book provision and program opportunities including working with PTA’s, Child Care Centers, and PreK providers.

COORDINATION SUPPORT

• Book provision: The Book Harvest NC Literacy Corps Member will help ensure the safe organization and provision of books through Book Harvest’s many programs with specific emphasis on the Books on Break program.
• Sustaining Outreach Capacity: The Book Harvest NC Literacy Corps Member will staff the Book Harvest Family Space engaging with children and families to provide resources and to assist with book selection.

Chatham Reads | Pittsboro, NC

Chatham Literacy, Siler City, NC

Overview

This position will support two organizations, Chatham Reads and Chatham Literacy. The overall mission of Chatham Reads is to foster community partnerships that are dedicated to ensuring that literacy and reading resources are accessible to all Chatham County residents with a specific focus on increasing 3rd grade literacy proficiency.

The mission of the The Chatham County Literacy Council is to help adults, living or working in Chatham County, N.C., acquire the literacy and educational skills they need to function successfully in society.

Services will be a blend of locations: Pittsboro, and Siler City.

• Monday/Wednesday: Chatham Literacy (Siler City, NC)
• Tuesday/Thursday: Chatham Reads (Pittsboro, NC)
• Friday: 1⁄2 Chatham Reads and 1⁄2 Chatham Literacy

Service Summary - Chatham Reads

• Chatham Reads (20 hours per week - Pittsboro, NC). This role fits our programmatic mission to put books into the hands and homes of Chatham County residents using various strategies. This position also builds capacity for our organization to align this work with our long term goal - 3rd grade reading proficiency - by expanding our staff and allowing our Program Manager time to build additional collaborative partnerships in the county. This position is a key partner in increasing our collective impact as an organization.
• Book access - organizing book sorts, book drives and re-distributing gently used books to organizations and members of the community in need. Managing the stewardship of Chatham Reads' 8 Little Libraries. In a typical 4-hour book sorting session, volunteers may sort and box up to 2,000 books for our community. Manage over 50+ volunteers over the course of the year.
• Book access - support the Books on Break program. The program goal is to put new, high-interest books into the homes of low-income students. Number of students annually: 2,500. Duties include: inventory of current books, creating lists of high-sought books, assisting in book purchase, book sorts, book delivery, managing volunteers for the day-of and hosting book fairs in May 2023.
• Active Reading - assist Program Manager to train parents and teachers in Active Reading. Duties: receive training in active reading, create a virtual active reading training, host active reading training at Chatham schools and preschools for teachers and parents.
• Organizational capacity - working with the Chatham Reads Program Manger to support their efforts to increase 3rd grade literacy scores in Chatham through our collaborative efforts. By leading the book access efforts, the Program Manager will re-focus efforts on our long-term goals to increase school readiness, increasing access to quality pre-k, engaging parents on the importance of literacy and others.
• Website Updates - maintain and update the ChathamReads.org website.
• Manage volunteers - assist Chatham Reads volunteer efforts including volunteer recruitment, retention and stewardship. Work with community partners to build a volunteer base that is active and educated on the importance of literacy so they can advocate in their peer community.

Service Summary - Chatham Literacy

• Chatham Literacy (20 hours per week -Siler City, NC). This role helps Chatham Literacy to create awareness of program services (adult literacy) and increase accessibility of diverse and inclusive populations.
• Develop and manage a communication plan and social media strategies.  Take charge of the website, making sure the home page is freshened weekly, and all material is freshened, throughout the website, at least twice a year.  Develop and post materials on social media, including videos, photos and copy. Take photos for posting from events, tutor sessions, fundraisers, etc.
• Organizational capacity: working with the financial literacy coordinator to recruit learners and tutors, and implement the start-up of this program.
• Manage volunteers - assist Chatham Literacy volunteer efforts including volunteer recruitment, retention and stewardship.

Coming Soon!

International House | Charlotte, NC

Overview

Our mission is to promote international understanding and help immigrants integrate fully into our community.help immigrants and international cutlureculture thrive in our community. International House enriches the lives of immigrants, refugee residents, and the community of Charlotte through cross-cultural connections that foster understanding and fuel inspiration. Our hands-on programs help immigrants settle and succeed in this region while helping residents and businesses connect with people and cultures from around the world. We offer direct services through our immigration law clinic, Adult ESL classes, and after school tutoring program for children in CMS.

Service Summary

Our NC LiteracyCorps Service member will be responsible growing and enhancing our volunteer efforts includingforrecruiting volunteers to support our programs, managing our volunteer database to track hours and contributions, and coordinating volunteer-focused appreciation events and engagement opportunities. They will also provide general IH Volunteer Orientations to help new volunteers determine which IH program they’re best suited to support. The majority ofMost of our volunteers support our adult education programs, including ESL class instruction, workforce development, career coaching, citizenship-prep, and 1:1 tutoring. Our education programs are designed to teach daily living skills focused on areas like health literacy and financial literacy. Our NC LiteracyCorps Service member will help us build upon our existing volunteer program to become more robust and extensive, as we expand our other programming.

NC LiteracyCorps Member will                                                                                                                       

• Build and Ccoordinate volunteer-focused engagement events and activities
  • Plan annual volunteer appreciation event and create a how-to guide
  • Create volunteer-focused newsletter, email schedule, and newsletter template
  • Develop system for on-going volunteer recognition and gratitude for service  
• Enhance recruitment and training systems for new volunteers Recruit and on-board new volunteers
  • Attend community volunteer recruitment events
  • Provide general IH Volunteer Orientations on a regular basis
  • Improve our onboarding materials by creating a series of Volunteer Handbooks for each volunteer role
  • Reply to and track new volunteer inquiries
  • Develop a protocol and tracking system for Rreferring new volunteers to departments based on skill set, availability, and agency need   
• Stay connected regularlyOutreach to with interested non-active volunteers  
  • Provide engagement and networking opportunities to keep non-active volunteers connected
  • Develop a system for evaluating the volunteer experience for program improvement
  • Find ways to improve volunteer retention and program experience
• Manage the volunteer section of the database (Apricot Essentials) and create a handbook for database tasks including
  • TIncluding tracking volunteer demographic information
  • Volunteer hours, start date, end date, assignments, etc.
  • Volunteer exit surveys, feedback forms, notes on volunteer assignments, etc.
  • Collect and upload relevant forms and documentation (vaccine documents, confidentiality forms, etc.)
• Ensure that existing volunteer positions are filled as needed Work to build organizational capacity through increased community involvement and volunteer engagement Identify organizational volunteer and intern needs, and create systems to help source volunteers to fill those needs, including those needed for the Department of Education and Workforce Development and the Immigration Law Clinic.    

Student U | Durham, NC

Overview

Student U is a community organization that uses the power of education to build a just and equitable Durham.  We empower and equip first-generation college students in Durham Public Schools, their families, and educators to become the leaders that will transform our city. Together, we’re creating a Durham where all students succeed.

As a result of structural racism, poverty and other systemic injustices, we acknowledge that first generation college-bound students face significant personal and institutional obstacles to educational success. We want to change the odds for children in our community.

Service Summary

The Student U Literacy Programs Assistant will serve with the Director of Learning and Academic Support to enhance and evaluate the literacy-focused programming Student U is able to provide for middle school students and families. The Literacy Programs Assistant will pilot direct literacy intervention with a small cohort of middle school students and ensure other literacy programs are in place to support all students at Student U. They will also work to build and maintain partnerships with other literacy-focused community organizations and find and/or create useful resources for students and families.

Duties and responsibilities:

Programming/direct student support

School year

• Plan and implement direct literacy instruction to a small cohort of 3-4 Student U middle schoolers who show a need for targeted literacy intervention. Create a “how-to” guide for future tutors.
• Manage library and book distribution at Student U’s after-school program
• Plan and implement monthly literacy-focused activities for middle school students. Create a guide for future programming.
• Serve with Director of Learning and Academic Support to evaluate and make recommendations for future Student U literacy programming

Summer

• Coordinate and develop small-group literacy program (“Read Fearlessly”) by preparing materials, supporting part-time staff, and observing/gathering data on implementation
• Serve with Director of Learning and Academic Support to coordinate/document/organize individual literacy assessments with Student U middle schoolers

(Capacity-building) Resource development & partnerships

• Sustain and deepen Student U’s relationship with Book Harvest and ensure students & families have access to high quality texts
• Build new partnerships that will help support student literacy development
• Develop resources & materials focused on adolescent literacy development that can be used by Student U families, students, and staff

Read to Succeed | Asheville/Buncombe County

Overview

Read to Succeed is on a mission to help close the race-based opportunity gap through community-powered literacy programming that engages children, families, and community partners. We envision an equitable world where all children are strong, confident readers who succeed in school and in life. We know learning begins at birth and that literacy unlocks potential and opens the door to opportunity. 

Our core values focus on literacy, family and community partnerships, education equity, diversity and inclusion, lifelong learning, cultural responsiveness, achieving impact, and acting with kindness, courage, and humility. We strengthen our community impact by actively listening and engaging in authentic, intentional conversations. We believe in cultivating relationships, building diverse and inclusive coalitions, and respecting a child’s and family’s agency. We advocate for literacy through creative and effective collaboration with family and community partners. 

Read more about our core values here: https://www.r2sasheville.org/our-mission.html 

Service Summary 

Read to Succeed’s LiteracyCorps service position will support our three primary programming pillars - K-3 Tutoring, Kindergarten-Readiness, and Community Literacy Engagement. The LiteracyCorps member will help strengthen program support for students and expand R2S reach to more local families and community partners.  
 
Job responsibilities include: 

• (Capacity Building) Day-to-day duties - strengthening volunteer program through resource building, supporting volunteer recruitment and retention, creating and growing existing systems for tracking/supporting volunteers, managing office coordination tasks, overseeing book/family reading resource distribution networks, etc. 
• (Capacity Building) Communications - increasing awareness and engagement with R2S brand, generating family reading content for the R2S website and blog, distributing outreach materials for family literacy events, supporting R2S eMarketing and social media presence, and engaging with our education and community partners.  
• (Direct Service) Training/tutor support - actively supporting tutors, students, and families R2S engages at literacy events, workshops, and trainings. Providing literacy tutoring to students enrolled in the K-3 tutoring program. 

Overview

The Triangle Literacy Council (TLC) improves the lives of adults, youth, and families by teaching basic literacy and life skills for economic and social success. YouthBuild is an international program which works with low-income youth to help rebuild their communities and their lives. Bull City YouthBuild is a full-time, 10-month program that helps young adults earn their high school equivalency/diploma while providing hands-on job skills training in the construction industry.

Service Summary

Position: Bull City YouthBuild Program Assistant, (NC Literacy Corps)
REPORTS TO: Bull City YouthBuild Program Director
POSITION SUMMARY: The Program Assistant works with participants ages 16 to 20 and ensures their readiness for successful participation in the Bull City YouthBuild program.

Duties and Responsibilities

The individual will be responsible for the following:

• Assisting YouthBuild students with their educational needs while pursuing their High School Equivalency (GED) utilizing approved instructional guides provided by the Academic Instructor
• Developing partnerships and interest inventories that will provide career opportunities that are aligned with Bull City YouthBuild students’ interests and goals
• Creating a roster of potential speakers, a site visit inventory, and job shadowing opportunities
• Meeting with students at monthly to review their individual development plans and document progress towards their career goals
• Assisting students with mock interviewing, resume writing, and soft skills development using the Work Smart independent skills curriculum.
• Developing a social media marketing plan to help promote the program to potential employers
• Maintaining quarterly contact with employers of students to maximize student employment retention and success. Data should be notated on employer verification form and student case note.

Durham Children's Initiative | Durham, NC

Durham Children’s Initiative (DCI) is committed to building pathways to equity by improving outcomes for children, families and youth living in Durham. Our long-term vision is to have all youth affiliated with DCI successfully graduate from high school, ready for college or a career. We work to achieve this vision by providing a pipeline of high-quality services for children, youth, and their families extending from birth through college and career that overcomes the barriers to their success. DCI collaborates with over 40 local organizations and community members who share our vision to provide these needed resources and supports to Durham children and families.

Service Summary

Sample service includes:

• Providing specialized content specific coaching/tutoring and homework help with a literacy or math focus.   
• Preparation, implementation, and tracking individualized interventions to improve student’s proficiency.  
• Assisting with organizational skills/ learning strategies.   
• Building study habits (accountability) in scholars.  
• Extra support for scholars in specific core subjects (ELL/ELA, Science, Math).   
• Providing support for college enrollment.  
• Tracking student proficiency/growth and help implement interventions when necessary.  
• Conducting virtual or in-person meetings with scholars as needed. 
• Discuss, plan, and work towards academic or personal goals.   
• Communicate with scholars’ families about student goals and progress.  

• Communicate with scholars’ teachers, counselors, or support staff as needed. 
• Communicate with appropriate DCI staff (i.e. Advocates, Academic Support Team members) as needed to streamline communication about successes, areas of growth, and support structures/plans.

Schedule

*DCI’s official office hours are Monday – Friday 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM.  However, a flexible work schedule is often required.  Candidates should be willing to work an occasional weekend or evening to meet the needs of our scholars and families

Partners for Success | Durham, NC

A support office for the Duke Program in Education, Partners for Success (PfS) works with select service-learning education courses to support meaningful field experiences for education minors, teaching certification candidates, and any undergraduate who has an interest in service-learning, child development, and the field of education.

The goals of PfS are to:

1. Connect Durham teachers and programs with a consistent source of trained volunteer tutors.
2. Provide opportunities for Duke undergraduates to participate in and observe school- and community-based learning environments.
3. Encourage Duke undergraduates to engage prek-12th grade students academically and socially through the cultivation of positive relationships.
4. Facilitate Duke undergraduates’ development through critical reflection that connects field experiences with education coursework.

Currently, PfS is partnered with the following courses:

• Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education (EDUC 101)
• Educational Psychology (EDUC/PSYCH 240)
• Children, Schools and Society (EDUC 243)

Service Summary

Assist with service-learning placement of Duke Undergraduates; Research other tutoring and mentoring program models; Assist with volunteer tutor training and ongoing support; Create tutor support materials and stay up-to-date on literacy- and education-based trainings and educational talks available; Create virtual and in-person small group reflection activities; Read and respond to service-learning reflections; Maintain and update tutoring program records and the PfS website; Create a program newsletter.

Freedom School Partners | Charlotte, NC

Freedom School Partners minimum-time members will teach small group literacy classes and enrichment activities in locations throughout Charlotte (Summer 2022).