LitNet Revamps Website to Better Serve Learners, Tutors
LEE, Mass. — The Literacy Network has launched a new website that furthers its mission of serving the county's immigrant population through language assistance, U.S. citizenship information, and other resources.
This is the first overhaul of LitNet's website in eight years and features improved translation and an intranet gathering space that allows around 160 volunteers to communicate with each other and staff.
The new page was created by Brickhouse Web Design of Pittsfield and was made possible by a grant from the Feigenbaum Foundation.
Executive Director Leigh Doherty compared the former page to a closet in an old house that was so jam-packed it was hard to find anything. The organization is excited to have a clean website that helps be the face of its services and programs.
"Now it's like we are in a new modern home where everything has a place and it's clean, you can find everything," she explained.
"From behind the scenes that's awesome for management and we're just excited about this tutor intranet, which makes it different than just a stagnant website. It's really meant to be active for our tutor community who enjoy talking with one another about tutoring and resources."
Titled the "Tutor Cafe," the feature allows tutors to create a profile and identify what level of learning they work with, how long they have been tutoring, and where they are located.
"There are sections about the kinds of services we offer so there is a section for tutors who are working with beginning learners and someone might say, 'Hey, I'm working with a beginner and I'm using this book and what do you think about chapter seven?' or 'Hey, has anybody used this audio component of the book?'" Doherty said.
"So it just allows the users of the materials to ask questions, answer questions, see conversations. There are different categories and they can start a new one too if they have a new thread to begin."
Founded 32 years ago, LitNet is a volunteer-based nonprofit that offers free tutoring in English for Speakers of Other Languages, U.S. citizenship test preparation, and adult basic education. It currently serves 200 individuals and the leaner base is said to be growing rapidly.
A majority of learners are immigrants from South and Central America who are working on their English language skills.
To better serve this population, the new website has an improved translation function that allows leaders to browse LitNet's programs and services in their native language.
"We have multiple languages now too. It's always been multilingual but we opted for a better service that translates more accurately because we felt that was important," Doherty explained.
"And really, there are sections for our learners, there are sections for tutors, and there are sections for the public to learn about LitNet so it has different audiences too."
Both learners and tutors can sign up through the website and there is also a section that celebrates donors and partners while providing information on how to become one.
The organization is hosting its annual fundraising celebration at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens on Sept. 9. This year, it is in honor of former Berkshire Bank CEO Bill Dunlaevy, who was very involved with the community.
The event will be Latin-themed, featuring drinks, food, and dance.
Doherty was also happy to report that LitNet has two Yale University interns doing research for them. One is focusing on the dropout rate in Berkshire County and what adult learners need to be welcomed back to schooling and the other is studying first-generation college services in the community and how to best serve that population.
"So we're looking forward to rolling out plans on those two fronts once the research is complete," she said.
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