Project Read

History of Project Read

Project Read, Madison County's adult literacy program, began in 1985 when members of the Richmond Women's Club and several Eastern Kentucky University faculty members recognized a need to address their concerns about local illiteracy. The program has existed uninterrupted to the present. For many years, Project Read provided GED training for adults, and hundreds of men and women were helped by the program. In the late 1990s, Project Read began working in a partnership with Eastern Kentucky University's Adult Literacy program. Since that time, Project Read has focused on preparing students who read at the lowest literacy level who would then complete their GED work at EKU.

In 2006, Project Read moved into its current site on Gibson Lane, an office that provides three tutoring rooms in addition to a separate office for the Executive Director.

Project Read is an affiliate of the nationally known ProLiteracy organization. ProLiteracy grew out of a collaboration between Laubach Literacy, founded by missionary Dr. Frank Laubach, [known as "The Apostle to the Illiterates"] and Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. ProLiteracy America serves the United States, and ProLiteracy International provides tutoring for countries all over the world. In Africa, ProLiteracy works with local health workers to address the causes and treatment for AIDS; in India, ProLiteracy provides training for women known as "temple widows" who have been cast out of their homes for various reasons and who have no marketable skills. Throughout the world, adult literacy programs seek to bring all adults into the realm of literacy, skills which improve the quality of life for everyone.