Literacy Volunteers of Chautauqua County is expanding adult literacy services to the city of Jamestown.

The expansion focuses on the development of a substantial tutor base so that Jamestown residents can receive specialized, one-on-one tutoring with trained volunteers.

Literacy Volunteers works to provide basic education to those who need to advance their reading, writing and math skills to obtain their professional and personal goals. Assistance is also provided to those who don’t speak or understand English, along with adults who are “functionally illiterate,” meaning they can’t read or write above a fifth-grade level.

Jamestown, along with having the highest poverty rate in the county, also has the largest amount of the above populations in the county, according to Literacy Volunteers of Chautauqua County. Those interested in becoming a Literacy Volunteers of Chautauqua County tutor can attend an informational session on July 23 or July 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the James Prendergast Library. This session will summarize the program and tutors’ roles in it, along with the benefits of being a literacy tutor.

“Our organization runs on 98% volunteers,” said Julie LaGrow, executive director of Literacy Volunteers of Chautauqua County, “and with their support and instruction, we have had 45 successful program graduations in the past year. Our tutors really do change students’ lives, and we are thrilled to be able to have that kind of impact in the Jamestown area now, as well.”

For more information, call Celina Kryk, Literacy Volunteers’ Jamestown-based adult literacy coordinator, at LVchautauqua@gmail.com or 294-1109.