Don’t take reading for granted.

There are those who might have difficulty reading this paragraph, and others who couldn’t read it at all.

That’s why, 20 years ago, Placer Adult Literacy Services was formed to provide free, one-to-one tutoring to English-speaking adults who want to improve their reading and/or writing skills, said Del Oro High School graduate Paula Westeren, the Library Literacy Specialist for the Placer County Library.

Richard Cushman is president of the Literacy Support Council of Placer County, the support group for Placer Adult Literacy Services, known as PALS.

He was also one of the early volunteer tutors, the selfless individuals who undergo training and are then matched to a “learner.”

Learners, Cushman said, can be your friends or neighbors.

There are currently two learners from Loomis waiting to be matched to a tutor.

“The interesting thing about many people who can’t read and write is that they are able to hold a job and some have been able to get through school.”

Many must have very good memories, he said, because they’ve they have had to memorize so much.

“The people who come to us are not necessarily totally void of any reading ability,” Cushman points out. “It’s just that they’re not able to read well. Of course, some are unable to read at all.”

The biggest problem, he said, is getting learners to step forward to ask for help.

Adults who are not able to read conceal the fact very well and from just about everyone.

To step forward and say, “’I want help to read,’ it’s a very big step,” Cushman said.

“There’s plenty of people out there who can’t read and never ask for help, and we never hear about it.”

Westeren said there are learners in the program from ages 21 to 81.

“They come from all different kinds of backgrounds. There’s no picture of what a learner looks like,” she said.

“It isn’t necessarily that the learner will find out about the program. It’s someone who knows about it that will tell them about the program.”

Cushman said PALS was formed in 1985 by the California State Library as one of the many programs introduced around the state to teach adults to read and write English. It received a five-year grant, “with the idea in mind,” said Cushman, “that in the five years it would gain community support and it would continue on its own.”

Cushman was one of the volunteers recruited by Susan Lindreth, the county librarian at the time, to form a group to help raise funding for the program. Lindreth is now the state librarian.

In 1991, the board of supervisors also agreed to support the program, including giving PALS office space at the Placer County Library in Auburn.

But the bread-and-butter fundraising is the responsibility of the Literacy Support Council. Membership is $10 a year, and according to Cushman, there are currently about 150 members.

If you know someone who would benefit from PALS, is interested in becoming a tutor (the next training session begins in August), or wants to join the Literacy Support Council, contact Westeren at (530) 886-4530.

As Westeren points out, it’s free, it’s one-on-one and it’s confidential. All it takes is a phone call.