Loudoun Literacy Council: Enriching Lives and Community
The Loudoun Literacy Council has been changing lives in Loudoun County for over 40 years.
The Loudoun Literacy Council is a non-profit organization that teaches English and provides communication skills to adults and children, in partnership with many organizations, including the Loudoun County Public Library, the Loudoun County Health Department, and Loudoun County Public Schools. They also partner with other nonprofits, like Loudoun Hunger Relief. ”We are in constant partnership with a number of other organizations all to be able to come together to serve the needs of our students,” said Nikki Daruwala, the Executive Director of the Loudoun Literacy Council. Ms. Daruwala oversees the many events and programs that the LLC hosts, including it’s Favorite Book Friday, which encourages people to think about a selected book shared by the Loudoun Literacy Council; another popular program is Read Across Loudoun, when people record themselves reading a book and the recording can be shared to families with younger children. “As Executive Director, I have the absolute honor and the absolute privilege to lead a team of fantastic dedicated volunteers and staff that then provide the programs that we are able to do in the com-
munity,” shared Ms. Daruwala. “So, for me, it’s about how we are able to resource our organization, whether it’s people or financial support. This allows us to be able to do really important and critical work in the community.” For adults, the Loudoun Literacy Council provides classes via Zoom. They also offer training and tutorials to help people who may not know how to get onto electronic platforms. “We’ve been able to provide one-on-one attention through a variety of different media, whether it’s texting, or picking up the phone and having phone conversations with our students. There are several methods we use to be able to stay in touch and be able to support them,” explained Ms. Daruwala. The Loudoun Literacy Council has provided books to children served on a monthly basis in Head Start and STEP programs. These preschool programs are run by Loudoun County Public Schools to help children prepare for kindergarten. For new parents, the Loudoun Literacy Council provides baby book bundles, which are several board books. These could be bilingual books which enable a parent who speaks a language other than English to read in a language they are familiar with. Parents and guardians can learn English side by side as they read to their child.
