Literacy Summit in Muskingum County

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Reading and writing are taught to most at a young age, however, it doesn’t always come easily to everyone.

A summit was held to bring together the organizations that work with literacy in Muskingum County. Pro-Literacy Project Manager Sarah Howell said while reading and writing are often thought of first when it comes to literacy, it expands beyond that.

“Reading isn’t easy for everybody and there’s a lot of different types of literacy,” said Howell. “There’s the reading and writing portion that we hear about and we think about in school, but there’s financial literacy, there’s health literacy, there’s a lot of different things that come into effect.”

Muskingum County Literacy Council member Connie Shriver said they wanted to bring the different organizations together so that people know what is out there. She said there are many groups that offer literacy support and that by working together they can have a larger impact.

“I think we can do better as a community,” said Shriver. “I think we can come together, work together, avoid duplicating services, and really make an impact on the issue of literacy in this community.”

Shriver said the summit was just the beginning. She said they were able to discuss the challenges in the community and how each organization can work together to help those who need it. She said they hope to continue meeting and setting goals about what they want to accomplish.