About the Literacy Center

The Literacy Center was founded in 1970 by a librarian who wanted to help adults improve their literacy skills. For over 35 years, the Literacy Center has provided one-on-one instruction using volunteer tutors that are oriented and trained in the phonics-based Laubach curriculum. This method of instruction has proved very successful to many students and is still used at the Literacy Center today.

The Literacy Center continues to offer free services to adults (people over the age of 18, regardless of income) reading below the 8th grade level so they may improve their literacy skills and reach their literacy goals.

Our mission is to empower adults and families by helping them acquire the literacy skills and practices to be active and contributing members of their communities.

Our name - The Literacy Center for the Midlands has been improving literacy in and around Omaha for decades. To make our name more memorable, we're now calling ourselves The Literacy Center. Our name maybe be shorter, but our mission is the same: to teach people in the heartland practical skills for everyday living.

Our accreditation - On August 26, 2009 the Literacy Center was awarded accredited status by ProLiteracy. The Literacy Center has served the metropolitan Omaha area for nearly 40 years helping adults improve their reading, mathematics, listening, writing, speaking, and technology skills.

ProLiteracy is the largest non-governmental organization of adult basic education and literacy programs in the world. It provides support, advocacy, technical assistance and professional development opportunities for programs. ProLiteracy serves more than 350,000 adult learners in the world annually. The accreditation process consists of compliance with 16 standards.

ProLiteracy’s Accreditation provides literacy programs with a comprehensive process for: 1) conducting an organizational self-assessment; 2) developing program improvement plans; and 3) demonstrating that their organization meets the highest standards for governance, program management, program operations, and volunteer development.

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