It’s not about pride or competition - it’s about helping people gain life-enrichment, and enriched economic opportunity, through reading, writing and communication skills.

The Richmond County Literacy Council and Richmond Community College signed an agreement to enter a unique partnership - one that both sides hope will offer more resources to the illiterate and slow readers throughout the county.

Now, individuals planning to enroll at RCC will have the opportunity to study at the Literacy Council, and get up to a reading level that gives them an opportunity to succeed at the college level.

For the college, it frees up instruction time. For the Literacy Council, it means access to resources that make their own pale in comparison.

“This partnership is very timely, especially with the dislocated workers that are coming through the door at RCC,” RCC Vice President of Continuing Education and Literacy Council member Rich Garrett addressed the board. “This will really help us to meet that need.”

“I think it’s a unique opportunity for both of us,” President of the Literacy Council Jody Coward said Thursday. “Ordinarily, a literacy council does help non-readers and slow readers, but we don’t handle GED things because that’s what the college is there for, but this allows us to piggy-back on what they’re doing and expand our services.”

He noted the two organizations are usually seen as competition.

“That’s what makes this ground-breaking,” he said. “We’re really trying to break down those walls to help people in the community.”

RCC Director of Basic Skills Sherry Byrd was also present representing the college. She discussed the importance of working one-on-one with people as they go through the process of learning phonics - something that is not as easy to do in the community college setting as it is at a specialized learning center like that provided by the Literacy Council.

“People are assessed as they come through the door at the community college, now we’ll be able to set up a referral process for those who need that smaller group setting,” she said.

“It just makes perfect sense,” Council member Lee Anne Sago commented. “I’m ready to take this on. I can remember (Byrd) coming to the meetings, and the resistance you met.”

Byrd responded this was the definition of “full circle.”

“I started with RCC about 20 years ago, and we had a basic skills class at the library in Ellerbe,” she said. “The Literacy Council would come out there and work with them at the library on the evenings we didn’t have class. I’m looking forward to being able to have that type of partnership again.”

Discussion on the board pointed toward marketing this partnership, and recruiting and training tutors as the next step to help everyone in Richmond County have the resources to learn how to read on an adult level.