Literacy SC

Program Overview

Literacy SC: Classes for Adults and Families

Literacy SC helps adults and families read well for life and work. We have served South Carolina since 1968. We believe anyone can move up and ahead through the power of reading.

• Turning Pages: Private, 1-on-1 reading help for adults. You meet with a kind tutor at your local library for one hour each week.
• Reading Begins Here: Online classes for SC families to learn reading tips, tricks and resources around the state.
• Reading Check-Ins: Free virtual 1:1 meetings for any family in SC. Our family literacy specialist will answer your questions about your child's reading.
• The Reading Lab @ Richland Library Main: Drop-in 2x each week to Room M to get reading help from our instructor.

We also have programs at Transitions Homeless Center

• Road to Work: Weekly training to help you get a better job and build your career.
• Reading Lab: Drop-in 2x each week to get reading help from our instructor based at the Richland Library Main.

Our low cost classes include:

• Signature Ready: A 6-week in-person handwriting course in Columbia that helps adults and children learn to write in cursive while bonding together.

Where to find us:
We serve Richland, Lexington, Aiken, Saluda, Bamberg, Barnwell, and Edgefield counties. Our 1:1 tutors meet in 39 libraries and community centers.

How to start:
To enroll as a learner, please call us at 803-216-5663. You must leave a message with your name and phone number. We will call you back soon!

Cost Info

Student and Volunteer Success Stories

COLUMBIA, S.C. | Jan 19, 2026 – Literacy SC wrapped up 2025 by bringing together over 75 guests at Satterlee Hall in the historic Trinity Episcopal Cathedral for its first annual Read Aloud Brunch. The event, which drew staff, volunteers, and friends from across multiple counties, served as the backdrop for the launch of “Loretta's Light"—the inaugural Loretta Beckner Legacy Award.

Loretta Beckner, co-founder of Literacy SC's Turning Pages Aiken branch, passed away in November 2025 after a lengthy battle with cancer. This annual honor celebrates an outstanding tutor-learner pair who went above and beyond what they were asked. The first recipients of the award were tutor Sandy Jowers and her two learners, Ethan and Chandler, who are both in their 20s.

Jowers brings over 35 years of South Carolina education experience to her role as a volunteer tutor. Her career began in 1979 as a French and language arts teacher at Olanta High School before spending a decade teaching English at Swansea High. She later served as a teacher and administrative assistant at Airport High throughout the 1990s. In 1998, Jowers transitioned into leadership within Lexington District 1, serving as assistant principal at Pelion High and eventually being promoted to principal of Pelion Middle School in 2006. Today, she applies that lifetime of classroom and administrative expertise to the one-on-one success of adult learners in the Turning Pages program.

Chandler entered the program struggling to read sight words. After 48 sessions with Jowers, he secured his driver's permit for the first time and now builds robots using simplified instructions. Ethan arrived with deep-seated educational trauma that had caused him to stop reading entirely. After 24 sessions with Jowers, he gained the confidence to enroll in community college.

“The progress Ethan and Chandler have made here in Richland County is the exact reason Loretta Beckner started the Aiken Branch," said Lisa Cole, CEO of Literacy SC. “She believed that reading is a foundational right. By celebrating Sandy and her learners, we ensure Loretta's Light continues to change the trajectory of lives right here in our community."

Literacy SC provides in-person instruction across Richland, Lexington, Aiken, and Saluda counties via 27 partner sites. The organization also offers free virtual programs, such as Reading Begins Here, available to families statewide. Their spring semester runs January 19 to May 23.

For more information on the Turning Pages Adult Reading Program or to volunteer, visit literacysc.org.