If we could look under the water, what might we see? Our learners needed courage to come through the door, to take the risk to admit to a Coordinator and then a tutor their difficulties with learning. They may have had to face bad memories of school that they have tried to bury. Tutor and learner had to work hard together not only on building skills, but also building confidence. Some needed to learn that they had a story to tell that was uniquely their own and was important to tell. Then there are any number of challenges that are common in adult life that may have made learning an uphill struggle this year. There may have been many temptations to quit as life got more and more complicated.

So, I think that each learner and tutor should be extremely proud of seeing work published in this collection. They alone know the effort and dedication that this achievement represents. Congratulations and keep on writing.

A Message from the Regional Literacy Coordinator, Halifax Public Libraries

Sandy Crocker

This year was my first year as literacy coordinator and it was a real learning curve. I had coordinated ESL before but it was my first time in the literacy program at the library. I came halfway through the year and so everyone was in place, all the workshops had been planned and all the dirty work was done for me. I have to thank the literacy coordinators and Denise Morley for making my transition so easy.