Mission

To support a network of advocates working to achieve literacy for everyone.

Develop resources. Cultivate initiatives. Engage the community.

Vision

A thriving community where everyone reads and everyone succeeds.

Goals

  • Advocating for literacy

  • Building partnerships

  • Providing resources & building capacity

  • Evaluating our work & reporting progress

  • Keeping the community informed

Download the Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County logo

Partners

Over 200 community members met in extensive planning sessions during 2007-2008 to establish community literacy indicators and priority recommendations for achieving a shared vision of “100% Literacy through 100% Community Engagement” which then led to the creation of the Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County.  Inspired by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, we joined and aligned our efforts with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in 2012. As such, our ranks have grown in numbers, scope, and effectiveness.

Our longtime, key partners include the following:

 
 
 

Our History

  • The LCOC awards $100,000 to 19 local literacy projects across Onondaga County.

  • The LCOC’s Literacy Champions Grants program awards $100,000 to 18 organizations serving Onondaga County residents.

  • In an effort to increase enrollment in GED programs, the Adult Education Roundtable launches an awareness campaign on social media platforms.

  • Matt Whitman takes on the director role for the LCOC.

  • The LCOC Executive Committee partners with Le Moyne College to assess the impacts of the pandemic on literacy across Onondaga County.

  • After years of dedicated service to increasing literacy in Onondaga County through the LCOC, Virginia Carmody retires from the executive director position.

  • Thousands of children and their family members attend the Summer Learning Day to celebrate the importance of summer learning with the popular PBS character Super Why!

  • Close to 3,000 community members attend the LCOC’s Summer Learning Day with Daniel Tiger at Destiny USA.

  • The Adult Education Roundtable launches a new awareness campaign with support from the Rotary Club of Syracuse and the Central New York Community Foundation

  • The birthplace of the modern literacy movement receives recognition as a finalist for the All-America City Award for Early Literacy.

  • The Literacy Coalition hosts a Summer Learning Day, attracting 2,000 attendees.

  • The Syracuse community receives the designation of a Community Solutions Pacesetter by the Campaign For Grade-Level Reading.

  • The Dolly Parton Imagination Library expands its access to include all Onondaga County families with children under five years old.

  • The Salt City receives the distinction as a Community Solutions Pacesetter by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

  • The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading recognizes Syracuse as a Community Solutions Pacesetter.

  • Funding is allocated to support local literacy projects.

  • The LCOC launches the Dolly Parton Imagination Library so that local families receive an age-appropriate book in the mail for their child until they are five years old.

  • The LCOC’s plan works to increase resources, expand access, provide coordination, expand best practices, ensure accountability, engage leadership, and keep literacy visible. (See https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/communityliteracy/vol5/iss2/6/ for more information.)

  • The LCOC hires Virginia Carmody as the Coalition’s first executive director.